Atiyah的说法
The IMU published a series of bulletins before the ICM. One of these（July 15） contains an interview with Atiyah, who was asked,``AfterPerelman's work, can the Poincare conjecture be considered proven?''Here is Atiyah's answer:
``The work of Perelman on the famous Poincare conjecture is widelyadmired. But in mathematical questions of this complexity finaljudgement is suspended until the complete proof has been writtendown, scrutinized by the mathematical community and accepted. Thatstage has not yet come.''
I think this should be the standard, and, UNTIL NOW, has been thestandard in the mathematics community on important problems,including the award of the Fields Medals. In the recent drama on theresolution of the Poincar\'e conjecture, all parties are loser:
（1） Perelman leaves mathematics （or the mathematics community） witha sense of bitterness.
（2） Yau, for all his best intentions and mathematical prowness,ruined his own reputation by being too self-promoting in the eyes ofothers.
（3） The IMU compromised the high standard of the Fields Medals.
（4） The mathematics community now is ready to accept ``sketches''for ``proofs''. Whereas before the ICM, not a single importantmathematician, apart from Yau, confirmed that the conjecture hadbeen settled. By now, after the ICM, ``everyone'' agrees （or has toagree）. What a big fall!
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