A GREAT GOODBYE!

John Nash

John Forbes Nash, Jr. (June 13, 1928 – May 23, 2015) was an American mathematician whose 

works in game theory, differential geometry, and partial differential equations have provided insight into the factors that govern chance and events inside complex systems in daily life.

His theories are used in economics, computing, evolutionary biology, artificial intelligence, accounting, computer science (minimax algorithmwhich is based on Nash Equilibrium), games of skill, politics and military theory. Serving as a Senior Research Mathematician at Princeton University during the latter part of his life, he shared the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with game theorists Reinhard Seltenand John Harsanyi. In 2015, he was awarded the Abel Prize for his work on nonlinear partial differential equations.

In 1959, Nash began showing clear signs of mental illness, and spent several years at psychiatric hospitals being treated for paranoid schizophrenia. After 1970, his condition slowly improved, allowing him to return to academic work by the mid-1980s.^[1] His struggles with his illness and his recovery became the basis for Sylvia Nasar's biography, A Beautiful Mind, as well as a film of the same name starring Russell Crowe.^[2][3][4]

On May 23, 2015, Nash and his wife, Alicia Nash, while riding in a taxi, were killed in a motor vehicle accident in New Jersey.

Death

While riding in a taxicab on May 23, 2015, Nash and his wife, Alicia Nash, were killed as the result of a motor vehicle collision on the New Jersey Turnpike near Monroe Township. They were on their way home after a visit to Norway where Nash had received the Abel Prize. The driver of the cab they were riding in from Newark Airport lost control of the vehicle and eventually struck a guard rail. Both Nash and his wife were ejected from the car upon impact.^{[41][42][43][44][45]} At the time of his death, Nash was 86 years old and a longtime resident of West Windsor Township, New Jersey.^[46][47]

Following his death, obituaries appeared in scientific and conventional media throughout the world. In addition to their obituary for Nash,^[48] The New York Times also published an article containing many notable quotes of Nash, assembled from diverse media and publications, providing his reflections on his life and achievements,^[49] as well as an article on the cornerstone of his game theory on making choices in life.^[50]