Why noble prize is not given for contributions in Math?

Answer 1

A number of theories have been put forward to explain the omission of mathematics from Nobel's original list. The most colorful suggestion is that Nobel was miffed at mathematicians after discovering that his wife had had an affair with the Swedish mathematician Magnus Mittag-Leffler. Of all the theories, this is the easiest to dismiss, for the simple reason that Nobel never had a wife. Another oft-repeated suggestion is that Nobel hated mathematics after doing poorly in it at school. It may or may not be true that Nobel wasn't good at math, but there is no evidence to suggest that a negative high school experience in the math class led to a desire to get back at the mathematicians later in life by not giving them one of his prizes.

By far the most likely explanation, I think, is that he viewed mathematics as merely a tool used in the sciences and in engineering, not as a body of human intellectual achievement in its own right. He also did not single out Biology, possibly likewise regarding it as just a tool for medicine, a not unreasonable view to have in the late 19th century.

The Abel Prize was established by the Norwegian government in 2001 as an annual "Nobel Prize for Mathematics".