Don't be surprized when you spot four Ferraris at 1 Einstein Drive in Princeton. Nicely parked next to each other next to the entrance of the Institute for Advanced Study.
Fresh director Robbert Dijkgraaf must be proud that four of his institute members each collected a $ 3 million Fundamental Physics Prize. All thanks to Russion internet investor and billionaire Yuri Milner. Milner, who in a previous life studied theoretical physics, donated a total of $ 27 million to nine theoretical physicists to recognize their contributions to provide mankind with a deep view into the mysteries of physics and the universe. He is quoted to have uttered the wise words “this intellectual quest to understand the universe really defines us as human beings”.
The nine winners were hand-picked by Milner himself. That man has a fine taste not only for investment opportunities, but also for excellence in fundamental physics! Or perhaps he simply calculated some Einstein Indexes to get to the nine winners? In any case, with physicists like Maldacena and Witten among the inaugural recipients, this prize beats other mega-cash science prizes like the Templeton Prize not only in terms of total cash awarded. The fact that the winner(s) of the prize in a given year will determine the winner(s) of next year, seems a safe bet to sustain the reward of top-quality.
Also, I am very happy to see Indian physicist
