Why can only those younger than 40 years old win the Fields Medal? There are some prizes in Mathematics nowadays that may be considered probably as hard to win, like the Abel Prize, but they were established quite recently. Looking back to a few years ago, the Fields Medal was the most prestigious award in Mathematics and the Nobel Prize the most prestigious award in many others, with no age limit to get one... My question is **why there is a limit age for the 'hardest' award in mathematics and no age limit for the 'hardest' award in science (physics or chemistry, ...)?** If someone under 40 years old in mathematics is assumed to be a 'genius' we don't see such ideology in for instance the Nobel Prize. Putting it another way: **why does someone less than 40 years old 'deserve' a great reward but not someone older?** It doesn't seem fair to me!

Fields wanted the award to encourage recipients' further achievement and stimulate others' renewed effort.