As far as I can tell, it’s still unclear if Perelman will accept the $1 million Millennium prize awarded to him last week. This week brings news of two more million dollar prizes:\t<\/p>\n
There was a bit of a kerfuffle<\/a> over the fact that the announcement was made at the National Academy of Science (Ayala is a member), with Sean Carroll quoted as:<\/p>\n Templeton has a fairly overt agenda that some scientists are comfortable with, but very many are not. In my opinion, for a prestigious scientific organization to work with them sends the wrong message.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Science magazine has an article here<\/a> about the award and about what some scientists think of Templeton’s activities, including the following:<\/p>\n Even those who are put off by Templeton’s mission agree that the foundation does not attempt to influence the outcomes of the research and discussions it sponsors. “I am not enthusiastic about the message they seem to be selling to the public\u2014that science and religion are not incompatible; I think there is real tension between the two,” says Steven Weinberg, a Nobel Prize\u2013winning physicist at the University of Texas, Austin, who has been an outspoken critic of religion. “But for an organization with a message, they are pretty good at not being intrusive in the activities they fund. I don’t wish them well, but I don’t think they are particularly insidious or dangerous.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As far as I can tell, it’s still unclear if Perelman will accept the $1 million Millennium prize awarded to him last week. This week brings news of two more million dollar prizes: John Tate is this year’s winner of … Continue reading