Mathematicians who were too paranoid for their own good

Berkeley CA

Description

Evariste Galois's father committed suicide because he was hounded by his political enemies. Maybe that's why the son Galois got so paranoid. He claimed Abel, another mathematician, was killed, which was not true; he died of natural causes. He ultimately fought a duel and died; it's unclear whether this had anything to do with politics. It is certain that there was a lot of political turmoil in France during that period, although the duel may have been brought on by a rivalry over a woman. He was only 21 at the time of his death, but completed writing up groundbreaking work in mathematics just the previous night. Kurt Goedel is more well known. He contributed a couple of theorems in mathematics that sent the discipline in a new (and somewhat disturbing) direction. Brilliant as he was in his field, he was unfortunately very paranoid about his health. He died by starving himself to death in the belief that doctors were poisoning his food in the hospital where he spent his last days. Goedel has political relevance in that, during his 1940 citizemship examination, he tried to tell the judge that the U.S. Constitution contains a flaw that allows a dictatorship. He was diverted, but I think Einstein and Szilard, who took him to the exam, should have pressed the issue with him afterwards. Unfortunately, they never did, so it's still not clear to this day exactly what he meant.