A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash [Paperback]

 

 

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This book, which inspired a motion picture, is arguably most important for things that have nothing to do with MeTZelf, like mathematics, mathematicians, and universities. It is a very thick book, apparently well-researched, yet written to read like a novel, occasionally to the point of stretching credibility. How would the author know what the weather was like on a particular day, or how somebody felt?

Nash's purported schizophrenia has attracted enormous media attention, certainly more than his work, which few people understand anyway, or his colleagues, who are little-known outside of their field. Yet to me the most interesting part is not his "schizophrenia," but what Nash was like before it started.

Now I have a dilemma. Firstly, I don't want to "diagnose" somebody, anybody, let alone someone I don't even know personally, though after 450 pages I do feel like I know Nash personally. Secondly, I myself am most wary of pseudo-medical labels, which seem to legitimize professions for which I have no use. But the author's description of Nash is so thorough and consistent, I can't help noticing that it perfectly fits what nowadays is called Asperger.

Not a psychiatrist, psychologist, or the DSM convince me of this, but the zillions of contacts I have (had) with parents and spouses of (usually) boys and men with strikingly similar personalities. The words Asperger or autism appear nowhere in the book. Either Nash really does fit this pattern and the author in her excellence unwittingly described it, or she patterned the Nash character after someone else who is Asperger. Read it and tell me if you don't agree.

The author reports that at one time Nash told friends that he was thinking of experimenting with (recreational) drugs, but nobody knows whether he actually did. She does not draw a connection between this and the onset of Nash's behaviors attributed to "schizophrenia." It fits neatly into my theory that most cases of this type of bizarre behavior are triggered by narcotics, whether taken illegally or by prescription (all psychiatric drugs are narcotics). Once knocked off balance, the delicate neurotransmission may take many years and even decades to settle down again. Psychiatric (mis)treatments could have further exasperated the disarray of Nash's nervous system and delayed its return to normal. If he ever confirms that he used the (illegal) drugs, my theory will be supported. I haven't asked him, because if I were he, I wouldn't answer such a question.

Never mind the lies in the movie. The book states clearly that Nash took no more neuroleptics once released from the "hospital." He spent most of three decades wandering about undrugged. Lo and behold, eventually something happened that never happens to people who stay psychiatrized. Nash's behavior stabilized enough for him to return to a somewhat normal life, and give a coherent speech during a Nobel prize ceremony.

Although the author acknowledges that neuroleptics cause tardive dyskinesia, she overlooks them as the explanation of why the vast majority of other people considered schizophrenic never recover. Quoting research, she concludes that Nash's experience is rare but not unique. She fails to mention whether the (few) others who do recover, like Nash, are the ones who manage to stay out of psychiatry and away from its extremely destructive (mis)treatments.

Nash's good fortune is that he was offered board and care by his ex-wife, Alicia, and tolerated by his university. This enabled him to stay out of psychiatry. It must be excruciatingly painful to Alicia that she was unable to do the same for their son, who, like Albert Einstein's youngest son and millions of people of less well-known parentage, became stuck in psychiatry forever. The author is evasive about it, perhaps because the book is not about the son, or perhaps because only someone who has experienced it can know the formidable task Alicia took upon herself, and the pressures which compelled her to give up on another John Nash.

A Beautiful Mind is a beautiful book.

A while back I was glancing through one of my wife's magazines and found this article on John Nash. I read with interest and inexplicably began staring at one of the photos. "Oh, my God!" I recognized him. D floor. Firestone Library at Princeton University. For a while I had studied there rather steadily and spent a fair amount of time on D floor - coke machines and chatter. John Nash used to show up there fairly regularly and saw me as well. There was some gossip from the other D floor patrons about a professor in whose life something had gone wrong. Eventually Mr. Nash started to talk to me and started to show me books he was reading. I was fairly young and quite honestly became uncomfortable and uneasy for various reasons and did not promote future contacts although now I wish I had. Mr. Nash's life is fascinating to me, and I salute his achievements and recommend this book.

John Nash's story is truly inspirational. I could not stop the audio until I got to the end!

John Nash, a mathematical genius, had many ups and downs in his life, including a diagnosed mental illness and various social problems that made his life painful and complicated. His Nobel-prize winning work occurred while he was writing his dissertation at Princeton. He was not recognized until later in his life for his ground-breaking contribution to "game theory".

His story is one not only of his incredible gift, mental illness and remission, but really one of personal victory. In the end, he learns to live in harmony with those around him doing what he enjoyed most.

One of my most recent favorites!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Livre passionnant!
Ce livre relate la vie de John Forbes Nash, Jr grand
mathématicien, prix Nobel. Mais il nous introduit dans
aussi dans un monde fascinant, le monde des grandes... Read more

Published 12 months ago by Danielle

4.0 out of 5 stars An amazing piece of detective work
As I have said in the title, this book is an amazing piece of detective work about the life of Great John Nash. This is by far the work that beats the movie. Read more

Published on July 13 2004 by Alan Klanac

3.0 out of 5 stars a not-really-that-beautiful mathematician
(hey everyone else is making a pun with their titles so why not me?)

well this book has been well commented on so i'll try to keep this brief. Read more

Published on Jun 23 2004 by merlinnimue

4.0 out of 5 stars A Curious Life, A Good Movie, and Sexy Mathematics
Like many others I only came to this biography through the 2001 Ron Howard movie starring Russell Crowe. Read more

Published on May 23 2004 by Christopher Nelson

4.0 out of 5 stars This biography is intriguing and an interesting read
The story of John Nash, a Nobel Prize winner, who recovered from schizophrenia after a 30 year bout with the disease. Read more

Published on April 30 2004 by J. Okamoto

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Mind Review
"A Beautiful Mind"

The author of "A Beautiful Mind," is Sylvia Nasar. This book is absolutely extraordinary as well as unbelievable. Read more

Published on April 27 2004 by luke johnson

4.0 out of 5 stars Genius and Madness
A Beautiful Mind has received much praise,and deservedly so.I don't think anyone could have written a better biography of this extraordinary mathematical genius ,who was lost to... Read more

Published on April 8 2004 by Georges Melki

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Book! Even Better Than the Movie!
This great biography describes the very bizarre genius from his days in a small West Virginia town, through his undergrad days in a very sooty, unhealthy Pittsburgh ,just after... Read more

Published on Feb 13 2004 by S. Henkels

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Mind, Beautiful Math, and Very Fine Biography
I remember reading in night school John Rawls's A THEORY OF JUSTICE, which referenced one J.F. Nash's 1950's paper, and thought how I never heard about any subsequent work or... Read more

Published on Dec 26 2003 by C. E Witteck

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Mind, Beautiful Math, and Very Fine Biography
I remember reading in night school John Rawls's A THEORY OF JUSTICE, which referenced one J.F. Nash's 1950's paper, and thought how I never heard about any subsequent work or... Read more

Published on Dec 26 2003 by C. E Witteck

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