A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar

This Pulitzer Prize finalist for biography is based on the life of mathematician John Nash. The book follows the life of Nash from his first entrance into academia, through the onset of his schizophrenic break and his arrival on the other side of said break. This volume not only takes us through the life of Nash but through the period in which he lived; characterizing the world of academia during the middle 20th century as an exclusive and often times anti-Semitic atmosphere. The book also describes the emergence of the new Ivy League, institutions such as MIT and NYU, which won their prestige in part by accepting Harvard and Princeton’s bias cast-offs.

Nasar writes a beautiful biography that any non-fiction reader would enjoy, especially so if they have a mathematic background, however, such background is not required.

In addition to being a Pulitzer finalist, this book was also a 1998 New York Times Notable Book and the Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography.

Sylvia Nasar is a professor of business at Columbia University and is a trained economist who has worked for many top news organizations including The New York Times, Fortune and US News.

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P.L.W.