John Forbes Nash: Biography Of The Wonderfully Minded Mathematician

John Forbes Nash was one of the most brilliant mathematicians of our century. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his game theory and negotiation processes. However, if there is one aspect he is remembered for, it is for his prodigious (and wonderful) mind able to cope with paranoid schizophrenia by dealing with irrational thoughts.

Sylvia Nasar, journalist and professor at Columbia University, wrote a book about the life of Nash, which was subsequently presented to the big screen under the title A Beautiful Mind . This work describes for us, above all, the most creative era of this mathematical genius who used to roam the halls of Princeton University.

John Forbes Nash: some surprising facts

It was around the age of 30 that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. It was also during this time that his skills and abilities in mathematics were more awakened than ever. As Nash later explained himself, he limited himself to giving the same veracity to the supernatural beings he saw as to his works. Ultimately, he shaped his mind as he did his mathematical ideas. The two worlds overlapped in a diffuse way, but they also gave him an astonishing creative and theoretical harmony.

His contributions at the time were immense. For example, its nonlinear partial differential equations have had a decisive impact in mathematics. But also in fields such as finance, systems biology, political science, psychology and, of course, economics.

So his game theory, for example, provides us with a very valuable tool to try to predict how different phenomena will evolve. Furthermore, we cannot ignore the fact that this theoretical approach has a noble purpose, since Nash’s idea was to come up with a formula for creating fairer economies and policies.

John Forbes Nash’s early childhood: between intuition and mathematical talent

John Forbes Nash was born in June 1928 in Virginia. As we can already guess, this math genius was a child with great abilities. He learned to read very early on, and like many gifted students, he highlighted the classic problems of adjusting to a regular school. He was not paying attention, was very restless, had problems with his social skills and had bad grades.

However, his intuition for mathematics and everything related to the sciences was prodigious. In fact, he was not yet a teenager when he was already delving into Fermat’s classical theorem on his own. This appetite for learning allowed him to enter the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh – earlier than expected for his age. He later wanted to major in chemistry and engineering and failed. His chosen field was to remain mathematics for the rest of his life.

It was in 1948 that the doors were opened to him of what was to become his true destiny: Princeton University, the Mecca of mathematics. It was the home of other prodigious minds like Albert Einstein or Von Neumann. The latter was the true benchmark of John Forbes Nash, who introduced game theory into the mathematical sciences, the same theory that he would start to improve upon upon entering college.

The shadow of creative genius: academic success and illness

His academic career has been meteoric. Nash had a gift. There was something extraordinary about him, his way of innovating in mathematical formulas and theorems, his exquisite technique for arriving at a quick and simply amazing solution… His teachers, classmates and students admired this brilliant mind. However, they were also aware of his eccentric behavior.

He obtained his doctorate at the age of 21 with a 27-page thesis on non-cooperative games, recognized by the entire university community. He later started working for the US Air Force in the area of ​​strategic research. In 1957, John Forbes Nash married a former student, Alicia Lardé López-Harrison. This young woman would be his best support throughout his life.

It was precisely one year after this happy event that everything started to go wrong. Nash began to display paranoid behaviors. He was convinced that he was being pursued by cryptocommunists and that anyone who wore a red tie was spying on him and conspiring against him. He sent letters to embassies in Washington, alerting and informing of complex political plots….

A mind that has learned to control its disorder

After his admission to McLean Hospital, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. His life then gave rise to a whole journey of admissions, nearly a year of psychiatric hospitalization, antipsychotic treatment and insulin shock therapy. Thus, while he struggled in this clinical universe, between relapses and delusions, his academic work received more admiration and respect from the university community.

Then, in the 1970s, John Forbes Nash made a decision: not to let his irrational thoughts and paranoid ideas take control of his life. He decided to erect a wall, to contain this supernatural universe and to improve his lifestyle. In particular thanks to the support of his wife. Indeed, Alicia was able to take care of her diet, calm down day after day and thus reduce these internal voices.

However, his behavior remained erratic and baffling for a few years. His colleagues at the university quickly got used to it. Nash was therefore able to continue his work with better control of his disease. And this without resorting to medication.

The Nobel Prize, recognition and an unexpected end

In 1994, John Forbes Nash received the Nobel Prize in economics. Its main merit has been to add the concept of equilibrium to game theory. So he gave science and discipline a more reliable way to predict people’s behavior. Applications of his work can be included in almost any field. However, the world of economics, and more particularly microeconomics, has been heavily inspired by this theory.

After his Nobel Prize, the lives of Nash and his wife Alicia were turned upside down with the arrival of New York Times reporter Sylvia Nasar. She wanted to tell his story, she wanted to explain to the world how he treated his schizophrenia and how he had developed his theory of balance. So after the novel was published, later came the Oscar-winning film A Beautiful Mind .

Suddenly everyone knew John Forbes Nash. This professor who continued to walk the halls of Princeton in a low-key, eccentric, and always focused manner. Now his mind didn’t have the same brio as before. With the return to rationality and control of his illness, his mathematical intuition was no longer the same.

Sadly, Nash and Alicia died together on May 23, 2015 in a traffic accident after receiving an award from King Harald V in Oslo for their work. He was 86 years old.

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