Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani on 13 August became the first woman to be awarded the Fields Medal, mathematics’ equivalent to the Nobel Prize. The professor at Stanford University in California was among four Fields Medal recipients at the International Congress of Mathematicians held in Seoul, and the first female among the 56 winners since the prize was established in 1936. The prizes are awarded every four years. Wednesday’s prizes were presented by South Korean President Park Geun-hye, the first woman to hold that post.
Mirzakhani, 37, was born in Tehran and lived there until she began her doctorate work at Harvard University. She said she had dreamed of becoming a writer when she was young, but she pursued her enthusiasm for solving mathematical problems.
AN ISLAMIC PRAYER APP FOR SMARTPHONES
A new smartphone application called The Imam App has been developed to make Islamic prayers for Muslims easier to perform, providing them simple instructions, a prayer time table and Qibla compass functions. S. Matthias Mende, a German entrepreneur who reverted to Islam in 2008, created the app with the help of Shaikh Mohammed bin Majid Al Maktoum and Abdul Khaliq in the United Arab Emirates.
The app also includes a “PRAY TRAINER or “LEARN how to PRAY” feature in addition to a calander of upcoming Islamic events to help beginners learn how to pray and seek knowledge. Mende is now working to make an Android version available in the Apple store.