Distinctly Russian Sport

This was only the beginning of the weirdness. After a brief trip to the United States with his mother in tow, Perelman retreated to St. Petersburg and ceased communication with all but a few colleagues vetting his work. He declined the Fields Medal, a gesture equivalent to snubbing the Nobel committee.

For the New York Times, Jascha Hoffman reviews Masha Gessen’s Perfect Rigor: A Genius and the Mathematical Breakthrough of the Century.