John Nash, the mathematician credited with foundational work in the field of game theory, has died. The 86-year old and his wife Alicia were passengers in a taxi when the driver lost control of the vehicle on the New Jersey Turnpike, killing both. Apparently neither Nash nor his wife were wearing seat belts, since both were ejected from the car after it slammed into a guard rail, according to NJ state police.
Nash struggled with paranoid schizophrenia throughout his adult life, and was admitted to psychiatric hospitals multiple times. The tragedy of a great mathematician battling such an unpredictable ailment was profiled in Sylvia Nasar's book "A Beautiful Mind", which was made into a rather fanciful Hollywood movie by Ron Howard, starring Russell Crowe as Nash. Nash was amused by the film.
As depicted in the film, Alicia Nash met her husband when she was a student at MIT enrolled in Nash's advanced calculus class (in the film, Prof. Nash is given the assignment to teach the class as he enters the classroom building; Nash's first move was to dump the 'Calculus of Several Variables' textbook he has been handed into the waste basket). They married in 1957. Alicia Nash filed for divorce a few years later, but continued to care for Prof. Nash for decades; they remarried in 2001.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday May 25 2015, @03:34AM
I started writing Living with Schizoaffective Disorder [warplife.com] the day after I saw the movie.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 25 2015, @03:43AM
If seeing the movie had such an impact on you, wait 'til you hear the voices. Oh... wait
(my respects go here, the above is just kidding)
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday May 25 2015, @03:50AM
my hallucinations are mostly visual.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 25 2015, @05:47AM
The comment you are reading right now is real. Or is it?
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday May 25 2015, @03:18PM
How do I know that soylent news even exists?
I do not because I cannot.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Monday May 25 2015, @02:56PM
"Somebody of relative note and importance just died. Let me point out there's an opportunity here TO TALK ABOUT ME."
You're betting on the pantomime horse...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by captain normal on Monday May 25 2015, @05:07AM
Keep on writing Michael.
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts"- --Daniel Patrick Moynihan--
(Score: 2, Insightful) by chrysosphinx on Monday May 25 2015, @06:31AM
please, consider your ability to be a perk, not illness
(Score: 2, Funny) by Empyrean on Monday May 25 2015, @02:41PM
I have schizo-affective disorder as well, and trust me when I say that the ability to have mania/depression is a lousy superpower.