The Extraordinary Theorems of John Nash - with Cédric Villani

Fields medal winner Cédric Villani takes us through the very special world of mathematical creation of John Nash, who founded several new chapters of game theory and geometric analysis in just a few revolutionary contributions that seemed to come from nowhere.
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On 23 May 2015, John Forbes Nash tragically died in a taxi accident, just after receiving the most prestigious award that a mathematician can dream of, the Abel Prize. This tragic episode was the last event in a life which was so full of amazing events that Nash became an icon of human genius, recipient of the Nobel Prize and hero of a Hollywood movie looking at his life marked by mental illness.
But most of all, Nash was a prophet who founded several new chapters of game theory and geometric analysis in just a few revolutionary contributions that seemed to come from nowhere. Fields medal winner, Cédric Villani takes us through this very special world of mathematical creation.
Cédric Villani is a French mathematician who works primarily on partial differential equations, Riemannian geometry and mathematical physics. He was awarded the prestigious Fields Medal in 2010 - an award often viewed as the highest honour a mathematician can receive.
He is a member of the Science and Technology Advisory Council and DIrector of the Institut Henri Poincaré.
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[@rodovre]

This remarkable mathematician, always with the same eccentric look and heavy French accent, now became a member of the French parliament! Awesome to have a mathematician in politics, a new wave.

[@fboileau1]

in france not that much, les francais ils aiment quand meme les intellos depuis un bout

[@linapalacios4729]

Greek times are coming back

[@FISHDINHO]

Using mathematics to predict economic markets caused the 2008 banking collapse. It's far from ideal.

[@linapalacios4729]

Dougaldinho Fishdinho not complety true: an application of math: deterministic formules following a normal distribution. Read about the warning from academia at the time and how for ex Fractal coulf have avoid it.

[@linapalacios4729]

Jack T i wish never again... revolution is coming from using our brains and not violence. Evolution.

[@noahrathje8976]

Always great to have physics explained by a James Bond villain

[@Goryllo]

you mean a James Bond Villani (see what I did there?)

[@sajateacher]

@@Goryllo I know, it's like, could he be a little more subtle with his name there? Not too sly, "Villani"...

[@wilusa3113]

If Hollywood cast Villani to be a Bond villain i would buy a ticket for opening day.

[@Guizambaldi]

Wouldn't it be great if the franchise casted a Fields medalist as the genius mathematician who cracked the nuclear code of the superpowers?

[@daubabylon]

is mathematics, or mathematical physics at best.

[@innertubez]

This is like a science lecture delivered by a magician.

[@gresach]

A beautiful lecture, communicating with kindness and humility, so much of the spirit of mathematics

[@abcde_fz]

God I wish this guy had more lectures. His voice, to a middle-of-the-road american English speaker such as myself, is so very well adapted to getting both the technical AND aesthetic nuances across, to me at least, that I could listen all day to stuff I don't even begin to understand, and still enjoy it immensely... :-)

[@EricEisaman]

Cédric is a brilliant communicator.

[@baptistewxpolpodcast3339]

Cédric is a national treasure ! Brillant exposé

[@behrad9712]

Everytime I watching the Cedric seminar I wish I become a mathematician...! He's a wizard!👌

[@NoriMori1992]

I love when non-native English speakers speak English more than well enough to be understood, but don't speak in quite the same way as native speakers. They say things in the most poetic and beautifully succinct ways. I also love when someone speaks English well and clearly but still has a really strong accent; there's something really satisfying about it.

[@OfficialTaj]

ME TOOOO!

[@precumming]

Definitely, how he called instructions to make a hyperbolic crochet a "recipe" 👌

[@deepakbellur9676]

I was about to say he spoke most interestingly but very tiringly!

[@mkrump9403]

He lives more than a decades in USA and never loss his french accent... The power of math and science haha.

[@mkrump9403]

His tough as nail french accent*

[@XrollhaX]

This talk was amazing. The first 12 minutes make you realize by yourself the following minutes of the video and Cédric keeps up giving us more and more. Amazing explanation. Glad I could watch it on KZbin.

[@brboLikus]

"Here, let me show you an example." Camera: full frontal view. "See here how it changes..." Camera: better change to the left!

[@ashnur]

probably they didn't want to share the exact graphics with the internet

[@brboLikus]

It was visible later in a full room view. But it was probably a technical issue since it wasn't shown through the presentation software. Great lecture, nonetheless!

[@hoangnamld]

They said the slides were given later after the talk, so they couldn't capture the graphics outside of his slides.

[@santiagobalado5505]

That's no excuse when they had footage of the screen themselves, as evidenced later.

[@infosec4u]

Stantiago - "oh...there is no excuse... blah...blah...." that is life good Sir. Buy yourself a bunch of straws and 'SUCK IT UP!" You might want to purchase stainless steel ones because you are going to need them FOR YOUR ONE SHOT AT THIS LIFE!

[@Hecatonicosachoron]

I just adore his enthusiasm! And also geometric flows and applications of diffusion equations to geometry, such a wonderful branch of maths!

[@1vootman]

Aside from being a genius, He's an excellent teacher...something really needed these days.

[@ClementMasson]

Brilliant talk from Cedric, as always ! That was a moving tribute. I felt quite sad at the end of the presentation, hearing the circumstances of his death. Dying just after eventually gaining one of the highest acknowledgments, which he had been waiting for most of his life ... that's so dramatic ! A tribute movie could be very good, if only it really sticked to the real fact without over-dramatizing the thing.

[@TheR971]

I mean Galois wrote down all his ideas on finite groups the night before his death, without ever gaining acknowledgments. But he changed the world.

[@TwelfthRoot2]

I like how @ 41:49 he mentions conductor because a few years ago I was watching a completely unrelated video to math about a classical music awards ceremony in France and a pianist that I admire (Cyprien Katsaris) was getting an award. Well I spotted Dr. Villani in the the crowd. Of course I emailed the video to him for confirmation. He confirmed and laughed because I recognized him. Dr. Villani used to be a serious piano student when he was younger.

[@zenon999]

Un scientifique, un très grand savant ! On ne se lasse pas de l’écouter et de voyager dans le monde merveilleux de la mathématique. Je n’ai jamais vu autant de qualités pédagogiques , toujours prêt à écouter et à expliquer. J’aurais tant voulu l’avoir comme prof ! Merci beaucoup pour le partage

[@friedrichbaumgarten8886]

His introduction has so much of literary beauty; I know he has quite high brow a literaric background but fairly unexpected; it is something mathematicians rarely have

[@antonteodor6305]

You know you're talking with a Frenchman when analysis is being compared to fine cuisine...

[@Extys]

Actually it's because the word in Japanese is the same "fine cuisine" and "analysis". 22:10

[@antonteodor6305]

Yeah sure xD

[@AnandKrishAK]

May I know the Japanese word?

[@Extys]

22:10 but I don't know the word

[@totaltotalmonkey]

分析 高級料理

[@ishi92]

so well explained. That was a joy to experience! Thanks Cedric!

[@NomadUniverse]

Incredibly interesting and intriguing speaker.

[@carlose2335]

MPAH1981 Find some great videos of him on Numberphile, he's a very great guy.

[@NomadUniverse]

Cool thanks I will check that out! He just has a tendency to lock you in and you hang on every word!

[@yonkho5659]

He's a French politician XD

[@rickebuschcatherine2729]

I think my mother, who liked so much geometry, who saw the geometric representions of spaces at n dimentions she would be so pleased to studied John Nash's work... as much as stutied Galois' work! Thanks for this explnanations!

[@hereiam2005]

He made everyone work for him, yet he is the sole author of the paper. Great guy.

[@n124lp]

Thanks for a very interesting presentation. It's rather amazing that I or anyone else with a computer and Internet connection can "attend" presentations at the Royal Institution. It is unusual to see a presentation by a distinguished mathematician that intertwines mathematical information with a human story. Had you asked me yesterday, whether I thought that was a good idea, I would have said no, concentrate on the math. Having seen this presentation has fundamentally changed my mind.

[@alexvernes9264]

Probablement ne connaissez-vous pas Grothendieck

[@amg2u]

What a delightful introduction to this most engaging speaker. I may have remembered more maths had I been taught by in such a way.

[@u.v.s.5583]

This is one of the best talks I've ever seen!

[@LetsDark]

The missing slides at ~ 37:50 are very frustrating. :(

[@koenigmagnus]

Yes, we have to rely on his description.

[@ShenghuiYang]

Both mathematics and this lecture are a piece of art.

[@tulliusagrippa5752]

Thank you Cédric for a fascinating and very illuminating lecture.

[@mrjohnnybond]

missing some slides about the heat equations. very frustrate. otherwise very good presentation! thank you to all who were involved!

[@TheRoyalInstitution]

Sorry if this affected your enjoyment of the video. When editing we put in all the slides given to us by the lecturer and don't leave any out!

[@mrjohnnybond]

I think the video was very good, and well made too. the missing slides aren't that important, it is weird though that while he is frantically pushing his computer's buttons to illustrate something the video has his face in full. maybe a brainfart of a cameraman?

[@metapyziks]

I guess the cameras were all in fixed positions, with none of them showing the projected screen. Edit: Nevermind, they show a shot later on that can see the screen. It really would have helped if that camera was used while he was demonstrating that part.

[@Maxander2001]

Agree, I also found it very frustrating to watch him watch his slides. Argghh!

[@metapyziks]

True, but overall it was a really interesting lecture!

[@albertoohashi489]

Amazing presentation about Nash achievements with simple words

[@sedgieroobets]

Beautiful presentation.

[@yafz]

This is some next level of mathematical exposition! 👏💯🧠

[@jesseliverless9811]

"What are you wearing tonight?" "Oh I don't know, probably a tux with a big-ass spider as a measure of good taste"

[@PaulMorgan1]

Right? What a character. He somehow pulled it off too lol.

[@kevinlyfellow]

"Again? You wore last weekend at the pool party."

[@tobalaba]

Thank you Cédric and Royal Institution, from Argentina.

[@TomTom-rh5gk]

Cédric Villani is a great mind and a great speaker. I wish we could heat more of him.

[@jerbiebarb]

What a mind - to be so expertly conversant! What an enlightening video! thank you.

[@chikezieugokwe7509]

This is beautiful.. I have always loved John Nash. Who else noticed the large spider on his jacket?

[@SaMusz73]

Merci Professeur Vilani pour cette superbe introduction dans l'esprit d'un mathématicien, de la beauté de la topologie, de l'analyse. Et pour avoir réussit à nous faire ressentir combien les maths sont aussi une science très humaine.

[@vicplichota]

I love his lectures, he's brilliant.

[@alextaramas7872]

Great presentation , really gave me some food for thought and introduced me to some intresting type of math

[@travelgalaxy8291]

One of the best lecture I have ever heard

[@krishnamangrati9272]

Such a great lecture on great mathematician. Really not known to those fact, insightful and more respect.

[@aldoramirezzamudio5515]

Very Good, easy explanation for something complicated. Congrats.

[@alanmodia]

One of my favorite You Tube videos of all time.

[@carrickrichards2457]

I am very happy to better understand Nash's achievements. Thank you

[@XiaohuZhu]

brilliant talk, impressive and informative!

[@robertschlesinger1342]

Very interesting, informative, and worthwhile video. A must see for all interested in the history of mathematics.

[@LivingLatexKali]

One thing I would point out is that there *are*, after a fashion, "particles" of temperature, namely phonons. The phononic field even serves as a good model of the higher-order fields to the degree that you can create phononic singularities that precisely model the predicted behaviour of gravitic singularities.

[@daviddelaney363]

Great lecture. Thank you. (also bravo to the many many many ads during playing this great lecture)

[@scin3759]

Very impressive description of how some mathematicians prove big theorems. Break the problem into smaller problems and seek the help of experts in different fields. Obviously that necessitates knowing a network of experts. If all mathematicians worked that way, there would be even more impressive results than there are. This is something every young mathematician should be told early on.

[@Edge--runner]

This was great! So fascinating and his accent is killer.

[@ashoknaganur8551]

Nice to know the life style of nash and his greatness

[@ganeshg8946]

The presenter is very good & feel like living the moment.

[@Jennyispoop]

wow, great presentation and fascinating history

[@carolscabinas]

Wow this puts the movie into perspective. Great lecture.

[@velvetthunder8563]

This guy is a great speaker.... i am not a mathematician yet i find this lecture so interesting....

[@wol377]

Every time this guy lost me, he brought me back. Great lecture

[@herp_derpingson]

This guy looks like if John Wick had a PHD in mathematics

[@AE-cc1yl]

it's PhD not PHD

[@standowner6979]

@@AE-cc1yl boooooooooo :-)

[@smangalisomhlongo5707]

@@AE-cc1yl 🤣

[@yrebrac]

Amazingly good presenter / science communicator

[@kimtaiferragamo]

wow.........what a great presentation..........thank you!!!!!!!

[@dustinsc2023]

I loved the in depth explanation of partial differential equations as well as the different explanations of the formulas, and the geometry of visualizing the extra dimensions. I also loved that Nash did not like the movie since it got so many things wrong, but in a way math is like magic, mysterious and wonderful, as if peering through the mind of god or being able to communicate with the creator, yet at the same time being in awe and wonder as to how it is done.

[@hantzu1675]

dustin sc,, mathematics is great science,, nice work for you because you like mathematics

[@jimreynolds2399]

JFN was asked about the film during a Q&A and he didn't criticize it. He just referred to fact that it had won Oscars etc. I suspect he was being diplomatic.

[@edwardjones2202]

Brilliant talk thanks Cedric

[@grandhisriharsha3281]

This is the first I'm learning about John Nash's death. So sad :'(

[@learnsomeYT]

37:04 the cameran now expects us to picture the graph of the temp on his face. Nice cinematography... Very creative.

[@amirkhan355]

What a brilliant man!

[@szolanek]

I like his presentation. The idea of the Earth being a sphere is a remarkable hypothesis. I heard about it before

[@martinkraegel7965]

I needed this math lecture.

[@SalesforceUSA]

I think his story of triumph over his schizophrenia is the most inspiring aspect of his achievements.

[@thatjj7290]

Where he said about that?? 🤔😀

[@enatrage2083]

​@@thatjj7290what do you mean? Cedric villani briefly mentions it close to the closing statements where he said that nash overcame a schizophrenia disorder that he was not even supposed to overcome in the first place.

[@zandermcconnochie6898]

This is the sort of talk which makes me wish I had payed more attention in maths at school

[@morgengabe1]

Just pay attention to the smorgasboard of maths on Wikipedia ;)

[@cryptonetcentralusa5592]

Payed

[@BartAlder]

Wonderful, what a terrific lecture.

[@kimfucku8074]

Listening to this man makes me feel tiny like a sand corn in the universe!

[@roodborstkalf9664]

Brilliant presentation

[@sallylauper8222]

Yes, "A Beautiful Mind" (both book and movie) really did a disservice to the subject.

[@alexei4204]

Great lecture and storytelling!

[@jacksondouglas5694]

brilliant talk !!!

[@jesmarina]

What a great talk.....just great.

[@adip8]

I just love this guy!

[@bulbmaker]

heat conduction slides are not shown in the video. insane video editing!

[@0.618-0]

A Beautiful Mind ..... awsome information, for me any way. Great Talk. 👏 👏

[@TheJayhawkjoe]

That surname + outfit combo tho.. Great presentation of maths but European directness and wry humor make the lecture for me. This channel is absolutely amazing

[@ProfessorPille]

A gem of a lecturer

[@WarzSchoolchild]

16:55 "Hyperbolic Crochet." In The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy, an entertaining 'Fiction' by the late Douglas Adams, R.I.P., there are some very large creatures. The width of their "Crochet Thread is standardised at one light year broad The Crochet hooks are five light years diameter by 200 light years length. These very large creatures only exist to make "Hyperbolic Crochet" and they do not understand the concept of "Large". to them everything is a normal size.

[@simonstrandgaard5503]

Great presentation.

[@LefesuRox]

There was no Q&A answer section of this talk?

[@robertj.simpson354]

Good point about facing Mecca or any locale; one cannot simply use a straight line connecting one's current locarion with Mecca by using a flat map (usually a Mercator map), rather one must use the map's coordinate system of longitude and latitude to determine the true direction. Yet the length of the line pointing from one's current location to Mecca, even when Earth's coordinate system is duely implemented, may not represent the shortest distance to Mecca since the very opposite direction, a 180 degree turn, may accurately connect one's locale to Mecca along the shortest distance in the right direction, the direction similarly corrected for longitude and latitude coordinates. Calgary and Toronto (Canada) are almost equidistant to London England, but you'd be tempted to think that Calgary would be a couple thousand kilometers more distant while looking at the two Canadian cities in relation to London using a Mercator map, if not considering Earth's coordinates that suitably adjusts for the planet's sphericity. Similarly, the true shortest straight line distance between certain locations on Antarctic with Mecca will require the navigator plotting this to draw a line that actually runs off the side of a Mercator map to reappear on the other side of the map.

[@xrisku]

love his lectures. please show the animations though.

[@michaelbauers8800]

Casual fans of math have benefitted so much from all the youtube content on math. I don't have the patience to read a book, or a paper on math, but I can get exposure to math via youtube.

[@johnpang5898]

I like how his desktop look, always thought these famous souls organized their desktop beautifully.

[@TimmacTR]

I feel like a microscopic being on a flat smooth toruus fractal, incapable of seeing the big picture..

[@cinderella9065]

Ah but your insight into your lack of insight is a profound thing, no?

[@TimmacTR]

Cinderella Yes, but still all I can see remains the flat surface.. :)

[@torresfan1143]

+TimmacTR and hence a straight line could even be a sphere .... oops General Relativity

[@nmarbletoe8210]

that's funny because a fractal looks the same at small and large scale ;)

[@TimmacTR]

N Marbletoe Good point. In this case, there is no big picture.. ;)

[@jmafoko]

amazing speech. period.

[@EgbertWilliams]

Edgar Allan Pi

[@jonp3890]

Fibonacci Paganini

[@yapadqoi]

Good one!

[@Research0digo]

@6:24 THANK YOU Cedric!

[@AlanDarkworld]

Very interesting, entertaining and inspiring. The outfit worn by the speaker is really peculiar as well.

[@Research0digo]

A5:59 The best atlas to globe model was envisioned and proved by Buckminster Fuller. Instead of showing Antarctica spreading across the bottom of a map, he has it and all the other continents accurately shown, by merely making the breaks in the flat map where the various oceans and seas are. Keeping his theme of 'dymaxion-everything', he dubs his atlas to globe invention his Dymaxion projection. :)

[@schizophreniamom5514]

Used to sit next to him frequently at Princeton. Now I have his disease, it's contagious lol.

[@jkuhede]

Awesome

[@Margot4454]

fascinating and fun !

[@AbdulrahmanMajash]

Glad I read his book

[@observer7418]

What an interesting and knowledgeable character

[@richtourist]

Thank God they changed camera view at 37m49s. For moment I thought they were going to show him demonstrating that important unshown thing from one direction all the way through.

[@himanshuanand9048]

5:10 "The Earth is not flat" How dare you sir!

[@stewartsavage1123]

Love the Togs Ced