Born Jerusalem, December 10, 1961. Died near Snoqualmie Pass, Washington, September 1, 2008, aged 46.
October 23, 2008 11:43By
Mathematics genius Oded Schramm made his name in the study of fractals, shapes such as snowflakes and ferns, which never change under magnification.
He studied maths and computer science at the Hebrew University, gaining his first degree in 1986 and master's degree in 1987. He went to the USA for his doctorate in topology, which he gained at Princeton in 1990.
After two years at the University of California, San Diego, he moved back to Israel in 1992 to work at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. In 1999 he was recruited by the computer software giant, Microsoft, to work in pure science in Redmond, Washington.
He worked in many mathematical branches, working out problems as he went along, rather than looking them up. He was often found to have improved on earlier lines of approach and proof.
Among the topics to which he made significant contributions were percolation - how long it takes coffee or disease to trickle though - and circle packing. Mere mortals pack oranges into a crate but mathematicians play with differences of size, shape and density.
From 2001 on, Schramm won prestigious awards but missed the major prize, the Fields Medal, on age grounds. He was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences earlier this year.
He died from a fall from Guye Peak while mountain walking. He is survived by his wife, Avital, and two children.