A Beautiful Mind

Sylvia Nasar

Jul 2011 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

**Also an Academy Award–winning film starring Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly—directed by Ron Howard**

The powerful, dramatic biography of math genius John Nash, who overcame serious mental illness and schizophrenia to win the Nobel Prize.

“How could you, a mathematician, believe that extraterrestrials were sending you messages?” the visitor from Harvard asked the West Virginian with the movie-star looks and Olympian manner. “Because the ideas I had about supernatural beings came to me the same way my mathematical ideas did,” came the answer. “So I took them seriously.”

Thus begins the true story of John Nash, the mathematical genius who was a legend by age thirty when he slipped into madness, and who—thanks to the selflessness of a beautiful woman and the loyalty of the mathematics community—emerged after decades of ghostlike existence to win a Nobel Prize for triggering the game theory revolution. The inspiration for an Academy Award–winning movie, Sylvia Nasar’s now-classic biography is a drama about the mystery of the human mind, triumph over adversity, and the healing power of love.

Ratings and reviews

The first third of this biography was a drag on the overall story, spending too much time giving excess background on many ideas, people and instituations. When the author finally focused on Nash himself she gave a compelling account of his intelligence, arrogance, hurtfullness, then his mental illness and eventual remission.

Wow. I was absolutely moved by this book. Its simply about a Brilliant man with an Extraordinary mind. I was actually inspired to the world of mathematics because of the phenomenal movie and this book. I recommend this to ANYONE. You will love this book. John Nash, you are one of a kind. God Bless You.

Rating 5 stars

About the author

Sylvia Nasar is the author of the bestselling A Beautiful Mind, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for biography. She is the John S. and James. L Knight Professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.