"Lies, damned lies, and statistics" — considering the deluge of data the modern world is showering us with, this famous quote by Benjamin Disraeli seems all the more relevant. Science, as well as policy making, rely on statistical analyses of this data wealth, which makes them vulnerable to statistical mischief.

This year's Abel Prize has been awarded to Andrew Wiles "for his stunning proof of Fermat's Last Theorem [...] opening a new era in number theory."

Andrew Wiles outside the Institute of Mathematics at Oxford University, named in his honour. Photo: John Cairns.