Editing Niels Henrik Abel (section)

== Legacy ==
{{See also|List of things named after Niels Henrik Abel}}
Under Abel's guidance, the prevailing obscurities of [[Mathematical analysis|analysis]] began to be cleared, new fields were entered upon and the study of functions so advanced as to provide mathematicians with numerous ramifications along which progress could be made. His works, the greater part of which originally appeared in ''[[Crelle's Journal]]'', were edited by Bernt Michael Holmboe and published in 1839 by the Norwegian government, and a more complete edition by [[Peter Ludwig Mejdell Sylow|Ludwig Sylow]] and [[Sophus Lie]] was published in 1881. The adjective "abelian", derived from his name, has become so commonplace in mathematical writing that it is conventionally spelled with a lower-case initial "a" (e.g., [[abelian group]], [[abelian category]], and [[abelian variety]]).

On 6 April 1929, four Norwegian stamps were issued for the centenary of Abel's death. His portrait appears on the 500-[[Norwegian krone|kroner]] [[banknote]] (version V) issued during 1978–1985. On 5 June 2002, four Norwegian stamps were issued in honour of Abel two months before the bicentenary of his birth. There is also a 20-kroner coin issued by Norway in his honour. A statue of Abel stands in Oslo, and crater [[Abel (crater)|Abel]] on the [[Moon]] was named after him.

The [[Abel Prize]] in mathematics was established in Abel's memory and named in his honour. Although it was originally proposed in 1899 to complement the [[Nobel Prize|Nobel Prizes]], it was first awarded in [[Jean-Pierre Serre|2003]], while [[Atle Selberg|Selberg]] received an honorary Abel Prize the previous year.

Mathematician [[Felix Klein]] wrote about Abel:
{{Blockquote|But I would not like to part from this ideal type of researcher, such as has seldom appeared in the history of mathematics, without evoking a figure from another sphere who, in spite of his totally different field, still seems related. Thus, although Abel shared with many mathematicians a complete lack of musical talent, I will not sound absurd if I compare his kind of productivity and his personality with [[Mozart]]'s. Thus one might erect a monument to this divinely inspired mathematician like the one to Mozart in Vienna: simple and unassuming he stands there listening, while graceful angels float about, playfully bringing him inspiration from another world.
Instead, I must mention the very different type of memorial that was in fact erected to Abel in [[Oslo|Christiania]] and which must greatly disappoint anyone familiar with his nature. On a towering, steep block of granite a youthful athlete of the Byronic type steps over two greyish sacrificial victims, his direction toward the heavens. If needed be, one might take the hero to be a symbol of the human spirit, but one ponders the deeper significance of the two monsters in vain. Are they the conquered quintic equations or elliptic functions? Or the sorrows and cares of his everyday life? The pedestal of the monument bears, in immense letters, the inscription ABEL.<ref>Klein, Felix. ''Development of mathematics in the 19th century''. Math Sci Press, 1979, p.&nbsp;97.</ref>}}

<gallery class="center">
File:NOK 500 V recto.jpg|Niels Henrik Abel on a Norwegian 500 kroner banknote, 1978
File:Abelmonumentet 1.jpg|Statue of Niels Henrik Abel, called the "Abelmonumentet", in Oslo (former Christiania) by [[Gustav Vigeland]].
File:Abelmonumentet av Vigeland. - no-nb digifoto 20150625 00154 NB MIT FNR 11682.jpg|Abelmonumentet in front of the [[Royal Palace, Oslo]]
File:Holmengard-119.JPG|Niels Henrik Abel memorial in [[Gjerstad]]
File:Abelmonument.jpg|A monument for Abel at [[Frolands verk]] by [[Gustav Lærum]]
</gallery>
<gallery class="center">
File:Stamps of Norway, 1929-Niels Henrik Abel1.jpg
File:Stamps of Norway, 1929-Niels Henrik Abel2.jpg
File:Stamps of Norway, 1929-Niels Henrik Abel3.jpg
File:Stamps of Norway, 1929-Niels Henrik Abel4.jpg
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