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Posted

Mathematician John Nash, wife killed in car crash

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/24/us/feat-john-nash-wife-killed/index.html

 

Such a sad tragedy..

That really sucks. Imagine going through your whole life dealing with everything he had to, and beating the struggle, just to die because of a stupid taxi driver doing something dumb. Whatever, stuff happens. Good luck where ever you guys are :) Your legacy will live on.

Posted

Several years ago I spent the summer working on something at Princeton. One day, after taking lunch in the eatery, a friend from the maths department pointed out that John Nash was in view. I took interest, having learned about him a few months before, and approached an old man wearing an Aloha shirt. I began, "What's your name?". In a timid voice he returned, "Nash." I went on to note how I'd seen the film—which, I imagine, was undoubtedly something he'd gotten tired of hearing—and he muffled something about it in response. I proceeded to introduce myself and he inquired about the work I was doing, the professor I was working with, etc, and went on to discuss his then present research interests (Cosmology). Finally as I thanked him and took a photo for record, he asked something along the lines of "how many inches do you have left?". I stood confused, and then he gestured some clarification, that he was inquiring about my height. I said "maybe an inch", to which he countered, "I think two or three". I was 5'8" or 5'9" then, and today I'm 5'11"; it seems an apt testament to his mathematical prowess.

 

From another view, the professor I was working with was an undergraduate at Princeton while Nash was in his affected phase. He noted how he'd walk around the physics department building at night and scribble equations on the walls. He also expressed a more uncanny disposition that Nash no longer did much work and just wandered the campus, retaining his Senior Research Mathematician title. But I think it was well earned, and it seems that he would only go on for some years longer, grimly. I don't think I'll ever forget that small interaction, and in fact thought to myself just a few weeks ago, in a bout of introspection, that I better produce something interesting before Nash dies. Still grim, but without further ado, some light:

 

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