What We Are Reading Today: ‘A Beautiful Mind'
Sylvia Nasar's 'A Beautiful Mind' from 1998 chronicles the extraordinary life of John Nash, the mathematician who shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with John Harsanyi and Reinhard Selten for groundbreaking work in game theory.
Nasar explores Nash's genius, his battle with schizophrenia, and his unexpected recovery, crafting a rich portrait of one of the 20th century's most complex minds.
Born in Bluefield, West Virginia, Nash's exceptional intellect distinguished him from an early age.
Nasar carefully traces his academic journey, spotlighting revolutionary concepts like the Nash equilibrium, transformative for economics and strategic thought.
Nasar also unflinchingly details his paranoia and delusions, and the heavy toll they took on his career and family. Most compelling is Nash's eventual recovery — a slow, medically unusual journey central to his story.
Nasar's writing blends insight with precision. She weaves personal history, scientific context, and accessible explanations, making the mathematician graspable while honoring his resilience. This balance ensures value for scholars and casual readers alike.
The 2001 movie starring Russell Crowe is certainly gripping and brought Nash's story to a huge audience. I remember being moved by it myself, but it takes massive creative liberties, simplifying the science and dramatizing his relationships for the screen.
I would suggest reading Nasar's book by way of contrast as it feels like it uncovers the real, layered truth behind the headlines.
After reading it I appreciated so much more deeply the messy, complex reality of his life as opposed to the cinematic hero arc.
It is not just more accurate; it offers a richer, more profound understanding of who Nash truly was — honoring both his towering intellect and the quiet, enduring strength he and his wife Alicia showed.
This elegant mathematical insight, a result of his turbulent genius, transcends economics to illuminate everything, from nuclear standoffs to everyday competition.
That such a universal principle emerged amid his personal struggle with mental illness makes 'A Beautiful Mind' not just a biography, but a testament to the fragile duality of brilliance.
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Al Arabiya
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Tom Lehrer, song satirist and mathematician, dies at 97
Tom Lehrer, the popular song satirist who lampooned marriage, politics, racism, and the Cold War, then largely abandoned his music career to return to teaching math at Harvard and other universities, has died. He was 97. Longtime friend David Herder said Lehrer died Saturday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He did not specify a cause of death. Lehrer had remained on the math faculty of the University of California at Santa Cruz well into his late 70s. In 2020, he even turned away from his own copyright, granting the public permission to use his lyrics in any format without any fee in return. A Harvard prodigy (he had earned a math degree from the institution at age 18), Lehrer soon turned his very sharp mind to old traditions and current events. His songs included 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,' 'The Old Dope Peddler' (set to a tune reminiscent of 'The Old Lamplighter'), 'Be Prepared' (in which he mocked the Boy Scouts), and 'The Vatican Rag,' in which Lehrer, an atheist, poked at the rites and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church. (Sample lyrics: 'Get down on your knees, fiddle with your rosaries. Bow your head with great respect, and genuflect, genuflect, genuflect.') Accompanying himself on piano, he performed the songs in a colorful style reminiscent of such musical heroes as Gilbert and Sullivan and Stephen Sondheim, the latter a lifelong friend. Lehrer was often likened to such contemporaries as Allen Sherman and Stan Freberg for his comic riffs on culture and politics, and he was cited by Randy Newman and Weird Al Jankovic, among others, as an influence. He mocked the forms of music he didn't like (modern folk songs, rock 'n' roll, and modern jazz), laughed at the threat of nuclear annihilation, and denounced discrimination. But he attacked in such an erudite, even polite, manner that almost no one objected. 'Tom Lehrer is the most brilliant song satirist ever,' recorded musicologist Barry Hansen once said. Hansen co-produced the 2000 boxed set of Lehrer's songs, The Remains of Tom Lehrer, and had featured Lehrer's music for decades on his syndicated Dr. Demento radio show. Lehrer's body of work was actually quite small, amounting to about three dozen songs. 'When I got a funny idea for a song, I wrote it. And if I didn't, I didn't,' Lehrer told The Associated Press in 2000 during a rare interview. 'I wasn't like a real writer who would sit down and put a piece of paper in the typewriter. And when I quit writing, I just quit. … It wasn't like I had writer's block.' He'd gotten into performing accidentally when he began to compose songs in the early 1950s to amuse his friends. Soon he was performing them at coffeehouses around Cambridge, Massachusetts, while he remained at Harvard to teach and obtain a master's degree in math. He cut his first record in 1953, Songs by Tom Lehrer, which included 'I Wanna Go Back to Dixie,' lampooning the attitudes of the Old South, and 'Fight Fiercely, Harvard,' suggesting how a prissy Harvard blueblood might sing a football fight song. After a two-year stint in the Army, Lehrer began to perform concerts of his material in venues around the world. In 1959, he released another LP called More of Tom Lehrer and a live recording called An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer, nominated for a Grammy for best comedy performance (musical) in 1960. But around the same time, he largely quit touring and returned to teaching math, though he did some writing and performing on the side. 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That's what I wanted to be, and unfortunately, you can't be a Ph.D. and a grad student at the same time.' He began to teach part-time at Santa Cruz in the 1970s, mainly to escape the harsh New England winters. From time to time, he acknowledged a student would enroll in one of his classes based on knowledge of his songs. 'But it's a real math class,' he said at the time. 'I don't do any funny theorems. So those people go away pretty quickly.'
Al Arabiya
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Nih cuts spotlight a hidden crisis facing patients with experimental brain implants
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'Lilo & Stitch' stars reflect on film's success and are eager for a sequel
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