John Nash

As my first post, let's look at the life of the late John Nash. He and his wife Alicia were tragically killed in a traffic accident in May of 2015 - just about a week ago from when I'm writing this. For students, he might be the mathematician they are most aware of, being the focus of the best-selling book and Academy Award winning movie, A Beautiful Mind.

He was born in Bluefield, West Virginia in 1928. He showed early promise, even skipping a year in school. He graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology and then obtained his Doctorate from Princeton at the age of 22. He then worked of the Rand Corporation and taught at M.I.T.

He majored in mathematics, specifically focusing on game theory. Is it in a country's best interest to go to war? Should my team pass or run the ball? What should my investment strategy be? Should we drop our prices and attempt to undercut our competition? Should I buy more land or put motels on the land I have? Game theory, and especially the concept of the Nash Equilibrium, have applications in many different areas. It is for game theory that Nash would later win his Nobel Prize.

Interestingly, his and Albert Einstein's paths crossed at Princeton. Nash presented some of his thoughts on relativity to Einstein. The meeting wasn't totally satisfactory. Einstein let Nash know he needed to go learn some more physics.

His whole life, John Nash had always been what kindly could be called eccentric. His behavior became increasingly bizarre resulting in a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The National Institute of mental Heath's website states that, "People with the disorder may hear voices other people don't hear. They may believe other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. This can terrify people with the illness and make them withdrawn or extremely agitated."

Image courtesy Wikipedia.org

John Nash certainly seemed to fit that description. Thankfully, in the 1980's, he began showing improvement. It turns out this improvement was not as miraculous as some have assumed. The literature shows that ten years after its onset, approximately 25% of schizophrenics are "much improved". After thirty years, this increases to 35%. The chances of recovery seem improved with having a home, job, and hope. Thanks to Alicia and the support of colleagues John had these.

In his later years Nash was granted a number of honors including his Nobel Prize in 1994. He continued to work a Princeton University for the rest of his life.