A Beautiful Mind

There are several stories of notably quirky Princetonians, such as scientist Hubert Alyea, the inspiration for The Absent-Minded Professor, or Ralph Nader, who is claimed to have had his own key to the library as an undergraduate. Or the "Phantom of Fine Hall", a person several students had spotted strolling through the math and physics building's halls wearing purple shoes and writing numerology treatises on the blackboards. The Phantom was John Nash, a great mathematician of his day who had developed schizophrenia in the 1950s.

His most important contribution had been in game theory, which by the 1980s had become the foundation of most economics. When the Nobel Award committee began debating a medal for game theory, Nash's name unavoidably came up—only to be disregarded because the prize could not possibly belong to a lunatic. However, Nash, who was in remission from schizophrenia at the time, shared the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994 for work done 45 years before.

Sylvia Nasar, an economist, and writer have published a biography of Nash that examines all aspects of his life. She provides a clever, clear explication of his mathematical theories, as well as an expressive but very unromantic depiction of schizophrenia. Her description of the politics around Nash's Nobel Prize is intriguing, and it is one of the few such narratives available in print (the CIA could learn a thing or two from the Nobel committees).

Detailed information:
Author: Sylvia Nasar
Link to read: goodreads.com/book/show/13912.A_Beautiful_Mind