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A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash (Paperback) (平装)
by Sylvia Nasar
| Category:
Biography, Story |
| Market price: ¥ 178.00
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¥ 158.00
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MSL rating:
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| MSL Pointer Review:
A journey through one man's life from the heights of his brilliance to the depths of his isolation in a world of delusion and loneliness. |
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AllReviews |
  1 2 Total 2 pages 15 items |
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Esther Nebenzahl (MSL quote), Portugal
<2007-01-29 00:00>
Much has been said about this book and movie, pros and cons whichever way you may look at it. Much can be gained and enjoyed from these two different outlooks into the life of a man who not only was a mathematical genius but also a man with a controversial personality. John Nash embodies those rare cases in which an individual is endowed with a mind that surpasses the normal and also does not fit into what we term as "socially acceptable behavior." He was able to develop one of the most complex mathematical theories (Game Theory), and in his personal life he was sadistic, arrogant, and selfish. His friends and colleagues felt divided between admiration for Nash's intellectual feats and his awkward behavior.
Nasar's approach in writing this biography is strictly professional and academic. She has done a vast research into the personal life of Nash, his time, the academic environment, the effect schizophrenia had on Nash, and the intricacies of Noble Prize winning. She does get carried away in detailed explanations of the academic milieu, of the competitive environment and life circunstances of several mathematicians who directly or indirectly had contact with John Nash. She does browse over some advanced mathematical concepts but the reader should not expect in this biography a theoretical analysis of Game Theory (there are several technical books on the market solely dedicatd to this theory and its effects on social and biological sciences).
As to how Nasar addresses Nash's schizophrenia, she successfully recounts the trials Nash had to face, the methods then used to deal with a serious mental illness that affects more than two million Americans and 1 in 100 people across the world. Although this is a biography and not a treatise on schizophrenia, the author could have further expanded on this topic since it is the core of Nash's problems, of his personality traits, of professional career, and his inspiring remission. To what extent were his high intellectual capabilities responsible for his rebouncing into reality, for his abilities to overcome his delusions?
Despite the flaws that might have been previously mentioned, the story of Nash is by itself interesting and fascinating. Whoever saw the movie should read the book as well. You will have some surprises, because movies and books are different means of communication, the emotions they convey can be radically different.
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F. Orion Pozo (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-29 00:00>
The book A Beautiful Mind is delightfully different than the movie. The movie is accurate in principle, but uses artistic license to make a good story and good visual impact. The book was written by a journalist who did extensive research on the life of John Nash, a famous mathematician who developed paranoid schizophrenia. John Nash, the subject of the biography, didn't get involved in the research at all. So it is based on his written statements, and interviews with almost everyone who knew him. Sylvia Nasar has written a wonderfully detailed, yet always interesting, biography of a deeply complex man. To do this she must have interviewed hundreds of people who knew Nash. Fortunately, the author had the full cooperation of Nash's family and quotes heavily from interviews with them. Ms. Nasar is scrupulous in identifying her sources for everything in the book. The number of footnotes concerned me at first. There are over 2,000 numbered footnotes in the 45 page Notes section at the end of the book. However, these are only to identify the author's sources and seldom contain additional material. So they do not disrupt the flow of the book.
A Beautiful Mind is good on so many levels. It provides wonderful insight into the whole process of becoming a research faculty. It is also a great informal history of 20th century mathematical research. Although there is a some discussion of mathematical theory in the book, it is written for the general reader and should not be problematic for anyone who has an interest in math.
On top of that it is a great biography of a person with a difficult personality and it is a sensitive treatment of schizophrenia. All in all a delightful read if you don't get easily depressed by the tragic illness that changed this man's life.
This paperback edition published in 2001 contains an Epilogue that provides
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Mark Coffey (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-29 00:00>
With this book, Sylvia Nasar has made a contribution the list of great books about mathematical ideas and their impact on the larger world (for others, see, for example, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", "The Man Who Loved Only Numbers", and "Fermat's Last Enigma"). What struck me, besides the book's considerable merits, among them being a good story exhaustively researched, and well told, was how much of this will be overshadowed by the Oscar-winning movie adaptation.
How many members of the Academy had read this book before casting their Best Picture votes? I would submit, very few indeed. Although the movie has some fine points (the lovely Jennifer Connelly, a decent performance by Russell Crowe, and a nice visual look), it so distorts the story as to turn it into a work of fiction. Others have detailed these discrepancies in greater detail than I have the time, patience, or space for, but just to name two very obvious ones will suffice - the delusional fantasy of the college roommate and his daughter, a key, if not central, element of the movie, is a complete falsehood; and the hokey, if emotionally satisfying, speech at the Noble Prize ceremony is another Hollywood add-on that struck me as false even before I read this fine book. In any event, read the book - it has plot twists and turns enough, without fictional embellishments, and deserves its own audience, and for that matter, enjoy the movie, too - as a fictional work based very, very loosely on the truth.
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Diane L. Schirf (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-29 00:00>
A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash by Sylvia Nasar. Recommended.
The prologue to Sylvia Nasar's biography of Nobel Laureate John Nash, Jr., summarizes the mathematical marvel's life thus: genius, madness, reawakening.
Nash, who was awarded the 1994 Nobel Prize for Economics in a controversy that would ultimately change the nature of the prize, is the child of mostly unremarkable parents. His father, John, Sr., held a middle-manager position with the Appalachian Power Company inspecting power lines, while his mother, Virginia, was a "public-school thinker." Despite his mother's efforts to push him, he remains socially isolated, without any close friends. In the fourth grade, he begins to demonstrate the original approach to problems that will become his hallmark as a genius. Interestingly enough, it will be an extensive network of friends and peers that helps to ensure Nash's place in academic and Nobel history.
Nash may have a "beautiful mind" with a unique way of looking at difficult problems, but Nasar does not portray him as a likeable man in his pre-mental illness heyday. Lacking in social skills and graces but not in ego, he is a class snob. Like many boys and young men, he plays pranks-but many of his have pathological undertones. Some cause serious physical pain and embarrassment. Others have the potential to cause death (one person recounts how a Nash prank might have resulted in electrocution of the victim). As a student and young academic, he delights in one-upmanship and in the humiliation of less-gifted men. In a recurring theme, he will flirt romantically with other bright young men. Much is forgiven Nash by his mentors and peers, however, because of his unquestioned mathematical gifts and because such behavior (at least, to some extent) is expected of great mathematical minds.
At the peak of his career, Nash succumbs to what is diagnosed as schizophrenia, which Nasar implies may have been the result of stress brought about by concerns about being drafted and Nash's insistence on tackling near-impossible problems and the resulting frustrations. Whatever the cause, Nash becomes delusional, thinking aliens are speaking to him through The New York Times and feeling a compelling need to renounce his U.S. citizenship and to become a world citizen. For the next 30 years, Nash-and his genius-will be lost to the world, which, if it thinks of him at all, thinks him dead.
It is only a few years before he is nominated for the Nobel Prize in Economics (for his contributions to game theory) that Nash will slowly emerge from his illness. During this time, much of the mathematics community, including friends and rivals who were uncomfortable with his illness, rally behind him. Through most of his adult life, his wife, Alicia, is there to take care of him-even after marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
To write A Beautiful Mind, Nasar read and interviewed dozens of mathematicians, physicists, economists, and other academics as well as psychiatrists and mental health experts, making the book more than just a biography of John Nash, Jr. It is also an insightful overview of the tightly knit mathematics worlds of Princeton, MIT, and RAND Corporation during the 1940s and 1950s. Nash's treatment at several private and public mental health institutions is revealing and sometimes horrifying, especially when he is treated with insulin shock therapy. The political climate-the draft for the Korean conflict, anti-Semitism, McCarthyism and its chilling effect on American academia, and the arms and space races with the Soviets-are all vivid parts of Nash's story.
It is probably in the nature of biography that the author cannot be entirely subjective toward his or her subject; after all, he or she must have enough passion about that subject to research and write hundreds of pages about it. Nasar is clearly a fan of Nash's; she often excuses or glosses over his youthful bad behaviour, his capacious ego, his poor treatment of those he considers inferior (including his girlfriend Eleanor and their son John David Stier), and his obsessive competitiveness. She describes him repeatedly as "handsome" with an "Olympian body" and "finely modeled" or "chiseled" features. (The photos included show Nash to have an average face and body.)
Nasar speeds through the 1970s and 1980s, no doubt because they were uneventful for the "Phantom of Fine Hall." This leaves the reader to wonder what Nash's official position was at Princeton (he tells a visitor he shouldn't go into the faculty club). At this time, he appears to have had an office and is tolerated by students and staff alike.
I am always interested in genius, especially genius derailed by an enigmatic mental illness such as schizophrenia. A question (not to be answered) might be: Is Nash a genius despite schizophrenia, or is the schizophrenia an inherent part of what makes him a genius? Are the two conditions distinct, or are they inseparable? At any rate, while Nash may not have what I would consider a "beautiful mind," it is certainly a gifted-and cursed-one.
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Stephen Pletko (MSL quote), Canada
<2007-01-29 00:00>
This biography chronicles the life of John Forbes Nash Jr. (born: 1928).
This book consists first of a prologue then five parts that make up the narrative. As a brief synopsis, part one details Nash's mathematical genius. This is, I feel, the most important part of the book. Part two gives us insight into Nash's relationships. Part three describes Nash's slipping into mental illness and his first hospitalization (around age thirty). Part four gives readers an account of Nash's full-blown mental illness, his several hospitalizations, the love and patience of his ex-wife who helps him cope, and the support, loyalty, and patience of the mathematical community. Lastly, part five tells us of his remission from mental illness (after thirty years) and his sharing of the 1994 Nobel Prize in economics (for his part in the pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games).
This book has a number of good features:
(1) THE PROLOGUE. This is really a summary of the five parts discussed above. It prepares the reader for the detailed chapters that follow. I feel that this extremely well written prologue is a major feature of the book.
(2) "MINI-BIOGRAPHIES." In the main narrative, the author does not only briefly mention important people (such as mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers) but in many instances gives a good description of who they are and what they accomplished.
(3) VIVID DESCRIPTIONS OF PLACES. For example, the author's description of Princeton in the late '40s/early '50s made me feel that I was really there. Her description of what occurs behind the scenes before a Nobel Prize is given out is exquisite.
(4) INFORMATION ABOUT SCHIZOPHRENIA. As the biography progresses, important up-to-date information about this disease that can shatter lives is given to us for our understanding.
(5) NASH'S MATHEMATICS. The author introduces the reader to important mathematical concepts. Some of these include game theory, Prisoner's Dilemma, cooperative versus non-cooperative games, symmetric versus asymmetric games, bargaining, algebraic manifolds, and quantum mechanics. For those readers who want more information on these concepts, they can refer to the references included in the notes (footnotes at the back of the book) section and bibliography section.
(6) PHOTOGRAPHS. There are twenty-six black-and-white ones located at the end of part one. These range from Nash's youth to when he won his shared Nobel Prize.
(7) THE EPILOGUE. This is very brief but informative. It tells us about Nash's life after his Nobel Prize win.
The main problem I had with this book is when the author attempts to explain the mathematical concepts that she introduces (as explained in (5) above). I think the problem here is that her mathematical descriptions are all written and thus difficult to follow. The use of diagrams and charts would have made these concepts more concrete. For example, the concept of the Prisoner's Dilemma can be explained very clearly with a chart. As well, a mathematical glossary would have been helpful. It should be mentioned that understanding these mathematical concepts is NOT necessary to follow this biography.
This problem brings up the movie (which I saw after reading the book first). The movie has to condense a lifetime into a two-hour film. Thus, much of the book's content is not in the film. But the movie, being a visual medium, does illustrate the Prisoner's Dilemma well (near the beginning of the movie where Nash and his friends are attempting to pick up girls). And the movie is very creative in explaining Nash's mental problem.
In conclusion, if you want to learn about a man who "ranks among the greatest mathematicians of the post-war era" and learn how genius can be cloaked in madness, then read this interesting and moving biography!!
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