Mikhail Gromov is a mathematician who has profoundly influenced many fields, including geometry, differential equations and probability theory. In particular, he is considered to have revolutionised Riemannian geometry, which has important applications in branches of physics such as general relativity. Mikhail is also credited with spurring the establishment of geometric group theory as a distinct area of mathematics.
His research is marked by deep insights as to how questions in one mathematical area can be tackled using techniques from another. He is particularly noted for doing so in geometrical terms. Recently, he has turned his attention to biology, after noting a similarity between mathematical objects called hyperbolic Markov partitions and the process of cell division.
In the field of mathematics for his revolutionary contributions to global Riemannian and symplectic geometry, algebraic topology, geometric group theory and the theory of partial differential equations.