“A Beautiful Mind” makes it the Top 10 list of many. The movie is indeed great. Director Ron Howard did a marvellous job and then the stellar acting by Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly based on the life on the noted mathematician John Nash, Jr. who received his PhD from Princeton University in 1950. When speaking about his research, the impact of his 27 page dissertation on the fields of mathematics and economics was tremendous. In 1951 he joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. His battle with schizophrenia began around 1958, and the struggle with this illness would continue for much of his life. Nash eventually returned to the community of Princeton. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994. The 2001 film A Beautiful Mind, staring Russell Crowe, was loosely based on the life of Nash.
在许多“十大”榜单上,《美丽心灵》必定位列其中。这部影片确实很精彩。导演朗·霍华德执导十分出色。该片是基于著名数学家约翰·纳什的真实故事改编,其于1950年获普林斯顿大学博士学位,由著名演员罗素·克劳和詹妮弗·康纳利出演。提到纳什的研究,他那27页关于数学与经济学领域的博士论文的影响可谓十分深远。1951年,纳什入职麻省理工学院(剑桥)。1958年纳什开始出现精神分裂症,此后他的大半生都在与精神分裂作斗争。随后纳什回到了普林斯顿大学任教。1994年,纳什荣获诺贝尔经济学奖。2001年由罗素·克劳主演的《美丽心灵》就是基于纳什的故事改编的。

Here are 5 questions and answers that you need to know about the real John Nash vs the one portrayed on the film.
以下是关于真实的约翰·纳什与影片所塑造的人物之间你需要知道的5个问题与回答。

1. In the movie A Beautiful Mind there is a scene in which faculty members present their pens to Nash. What is the origin of the pen ceremony? When did it start?
电影《美丽心灵》中有一幕,即普林斯顿大学的师生纷纷给纳什呈递自己的钢笔。这个递笔仪式有何来源?什么时候开始的?

The scene in the movie A Beautiful Mind in which mathematics professors ritualistically present pens to Nash was completely fabricated in Hollywood. No such custom exists. What it symbolizes is that Nash was accepted and recognized in the mathematics community for his accomplishments. While some movies are based on books, the film A Beautiful Mind states that it was inspired by the life of John Nash. There are many discrepancies between the book and the film.
影片《美丽心灵》中普林斯顿大学数学系教授纷纷给纳什呈递钢笔的这一幕完完全全是好莱坞自己编造的。实际上并没有这一仪式。片中这一仪式象征的是纳什在数学上的成就获得该领域的认可。有些电影是根据小说改编的,而《美丽心灵》则是从约翰·纳什的故事中获得灵感。小说和电影还是有很多不同之处的。

2. May I have a copy of Nash’s 1994 Nobel Prize acceptance speech?
我可以拷贝纳什1994年诺贝尔奖获奖发言吗?

At the Nobel Prize Award ceremony, His Majesty the King of Sweden hands each Laureate a diploma, a medal, and a document confirming the Prize amount. The Laureates do not give acceptance speeches. The scene in the movie A Beautiful Mind in which Nash thanks his wife Alicia for her continued support during his illness is fictional.
那年的诺贝尔奖颁奖典礼,瑞典国王给每一位获奖者颁发了获奖证书,奖牌,以及相关奖金文件。获奖者并不发表获奖感言。《美丽心灵》中纳什感谢其妻艾莉西亚在其患病期间的悉心照料和不断支持这一幕是虚构的。

Laureates are each invited to give an hour-long lecture; however, the Nobel committee did not ask Nash to do so, due to concerns over his mental health. In fact, the only speech he gave was at a party at Princeton. Sylvia Nasar mentions:
获奖者获邀发表时长1小时的演说。然而诺贝尔委员会考虑到纳什的精神状况,并没有要求他这样做。事实上,纳什唯一的发言是在普林斯顿大学的一个聚会上。西尔维娅·纳萨尔提到:

“He was not inclined to give speeches, he said, but he had three things to say. First, he hoped that getting the Nobel would improve his credit rating because he really wanted a credit card. Second, he said that one is supposed to say that one is glad he is sharing the prize, but he wished he had won the whole thing because he really needed the money badly. Third, Nash said that he had won for game theory and that he felt that game theory was like string theory, a subject of great intrinsic intellectual interest that the world wishes to imagine can be of some utility. He said it with enough scepticism in his voice to make it funny”.
“纳什说他其实并不想发言,但是他有三件事要说。第一,他希望获奖以后能够提高自己的信用评级,因为他很想办张信用卡。第二,他说,本来他应该说他很高兴与别人分享奖项,但是他希望获奖的只是自己,因为他真的很缺钱。第三,纳什说,自己因为博弈理论获奖,而他觉得博弈理论就像内涵丰富知识的弦理论,世界希望其能发挥作用。纳什说这些话的时候十足的怀疑论调,十分幽默。”

3. What other things I need to know about John Nash’s life?
关于约翰·纳什的人生我还该知道些什么?

–John Nash fathered an out-of-wedlock son with a Boston nurse.
约翰·纳什与波士顿的一名护士有一个私生子。

–He shared the Nobel Prize with Reinhard Selten and János Harsányi.
纳什与莱因哈德·泽尔腾和约翰·C·海萨尼共同获得了诺贝尔经济学奖。

–Nash blamed Alicia for twice committing him to a mental institution and the couple had divorced in 1962.
纳什曾责怪艾莉西亚两次送其进精神疗养院,两人于1962年离异。