The epilogue of my book is devoted to the Poincaré conjecture, the famously challenging 98-year old topological puzzler that was proved in 2002 by Grisha Perelman.

Perelman was awarded the Fields Medal in 2006 for this accomplishment, but he declined to accept the award.

Today the Clay Mathematics Institute issued a press release that begins:

First Clay Mathematics Institute Millennium Prize Announced Today

Prize for Resolution of the Poincaré Conjecture Awarded to Dr. Grigoriy Perelman

The Clay Mathematics Institute (CMI) announces today that Dr. Grigoriy Perelman of St. Petersburg, Russia, is the recipient of the Millennium Prize for resolution of the Poincaré conjecture. The citation for the award reads:

The Clay Mathematics Institute hereby awards the Millennium Prize for resolution of the Poincaré conjecture to Grigoriy Perelman.

It is well-known that the Clay prize comes with $1 million in prize money. As you might guess, Twitter is abuzz with the news and speculation as to whether Perelman will accept the money.

The most reliable information I have seen are two tweets by Alex Bellos, who wrote:

Just spoke to Jim Carlson, pres of Clay institute. Perelman has been informed…but has not yet given his response…#perelman

and

Carlson: “[Perelman] probably needs a little time to think about it” #perelman

Oh, if you would like to know what the Poincaré conjecture is, check out this video…