It read/listened like a research paper. The author just went on and on about what theories were being developed at the time, and the history of Harvard/Princeton. For the first part of the book there was almost no mention of John Nash at all! It was almost like the author couldn't find very much information on Nash, so she decided to fill in space with a bunch of stuff that was roughly related to Nash.
I did get a kick out of whenever there was a reference to a mathematician or a formula I understood! That was cool. And when she did talk about Nash it was interesting to see how other people treated him. That was probably my favorite part.
But overall I feel like this is the kind of book that you skim when you have to do a research project, not when you feel like reading.
P.S. My reviews on this site are going to be much more informal than my reviews on Squeaky Books. This really is just a place to organize and record my thoughts, not true "reviews."
2 comments:
I had a completely different view of this book. I read it a long time ago--more around the time the movie came out--and quite enjoyed it.
I would say probably audio isn't the best format--when I read nonfiction, I scan over stuff I don't care about (or understand), delve into when I want do. That may have been your problem
And Nash Equilibrium in game theory is totally awesome. I watched a class on game theory and over half the class talked about it in some way.
Oh, I loved the theories! When they talked math they were totally speaking my language.
I think you're right that audio wasn't the best format. I was forced to listen to every single word. And since this is my first full non-fiction book that I've ever read/listened to on my own steam, it was probably too much too soon.
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