Russian Genius Solves 100 yr Old Math Question but Refuses $1 Million in Prize!!!

A reclusive Russian genius is in deep thought about whether he'll accept the $1 million he won for cracking one of the world's most difficult math problems.

The Clay Mathematics Institute of Cambridge, Mass., announced last week that Grigoriy Perelman of St. Petersburg, Russia, had won the first Millennium Prize for solving the Poincaré conjecture.

The problem, first posed in 1904 by the French mathematician Henri Poincaré, is about the geometry of three-dimensional shapes. Poincaré proposed a test for recognizing when a shape is a three-dimensional sphere, the most perfect and simplest of all shapes.

While many others tried and failed, Perelman, 43, proved that the conjecture was correct, relying on an existing theory and solving the problem with his own ideas.

The Millennium Prize, established in 2000 by the independent institute, recognizes outstanding intellectual achievement.

"By golly this certainly is it," James Carlson, the institute's president, told AOL News today. "It's not every day a problem open for 99 years has been solved."

Carlson called Perelman last week to tell him he had won.

"He replied that he needed to think about it," Carlson said. "Whether he accepts the money -- that's in his hands at the moment."

"I have not yet made a decision," Perelman said, according to a recording of a phone call with him posted by a Russian Web site, ABC News reported Tuesday.

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