John Nash
The protagonist of the book is a Nobel Prize-winning mathematician whose contribution to economic theory broke new ground in game theory. Today, the “Nash equilibrium” is put to use in a vast array of social sciences, academic disciplines and industries. What makes his story even more fascinating is the nearly thirty-year-long interruption of his career by the onset of an extreme case of schizophrenia which left him for a time a pathetic figure on the campus of Princeton known as the Phantom of Fine Hall.”
Alicia Nash
In addition to be a story of genius interrupted and tragically wasted potential, the book is also a love story. Nash met his future wife Alicia as a promising physics student at MIT. The fairy tale dreams of happily-ever-after withstood the shock of John’s mental deterioration for longer than most friends thought possible, but eventually the couple divorced as a result of the strain. Although not included in the time frame covered within the book, the marriage does wind up becoming something of a fairy tale as John and Alicia remarried in 2001, nearly forty years after divorcing.
Johnny Nash
Johnny Nash is the son born to John and Alicia in 1959. Tragedy strikes twice in the same place during Johnny’s teenage years when he begins to manifest symptoms of schizophrenia as well. Although managing to earn a doctorate from Rutgers and possessed with the intellectual capacity for advanced mathematics shared with his father, he is never well enough to function entirely on his own.
Albert Tucker
Tucker becomes Nash’s mentor while teaching at Princeton. He is exactly the supportive ally of influence a rebellious spirit like Nash requires even in order to push forward with his radical ideas. Tucker is instrumental in Nash pursuing the subject of his thesis by formulating the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” as necessary example real-world applications for how the Nash equilibrium works.
John von Neumann
John von Neumann presented a lecture at a seminar hosted by Albert Tucker which Nash attend on the then-burgeoning economic model that would come to be famously known as game theory. Nash becomes obsessively fascinated with von Neumann’s ideas, but ironically is initially met with a dismissive attitude when presenting his research. Although profoundly influence by the theoretical foundation for game theory outlined in his collaborative effort with Oskar Morgenstern, The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, it would be that very research which allowed to Nash to surpass von Neumann and solve the central flaw in application which eluded the older man.
