Jean-Pierre Serre received a Fields Medal for his work in topology, the study of geometric figures whose properties are unaffected by physical manipulation. He has received international acclaim for both his theoretical contributions to mathematics and the clarity of his writings. Serre has authored a dozen books and numerous technical articles in the areas of topology, analytic geometry, algebraic geometry, group theory, and number theory.

Serre was born in Bages, France, on September 15, 1926, to Jean and Adèle (Diet) Serre. Both pharmacists, his parents instilled in him an early interest in chemistry. That interest eventually gave way to mathematics, however, when Serre began reading his mother's calculus books. By the age of 15, he was teaching himself the fundamentals of such topics as derivatives, integrals, and series. During high school at the Lycée de Nîmes, Serre found a practical use for his mathematical talents...