The Elegant Solution

by Jim Tilley

“A mathematician,” G. H. Hardy wrote, “like a painter or a poet, is a maker of patterns." Throughout his childhood, Jim Tilley was encouraged to discover such patterns through the mathematical puzzles his father posed for him to solve. Never satisfied with ordinary solutions, his father insisted on mathematical elegance. Always more comfortable in the realm of the mind, he could never bring himself to give Tilley a hug; they'd merely shake hands on parting. Both father and son set standards for intellectual achievement so high it was difficult to ever be satisfied. Now, as his father loses his grip on his mind in old age, Tilley, concerned that he is glimpsing his own future, looks back on the decisions he has made in his life and tries to locate the points at which ambition and drive cross the line into unhealthy obsession.ABOUT THE AUTHORJim Tilley earned a doctorate in Physics from Harvard University. He retired in 2001 after a 25-year career in insurance and investment banking. He has won numerous prizes for his papers in actuarial science, finance, and investments, and received the 2008 Beckley Award from the International Insurance Society for his pioneering work in asset-liability management. His poems have been published in several top literary journals and magazines. He has won the Sycamore Review's Wabash Prize for Poetry and the New England Poetry Club's Firman Houghton Award. His first collection of poetry, In Confidence, was published by Red Hen Press in 2011, and his second, Cruising at Sixty to Seventy, will appear in 2014. He resides with his wife in Bedford Corners, New York.

Genres: Audiobook, Short Stories, Biography

48 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 13, 2013

Reviews

[Nada | ندى · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoy it

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an exceptional short view into the life and thoughts of a talented applied mathematician and his reflections on his relationship with his father (also a brilliant mathematician), accomplishment and success, mathematics vs. physics, and insight into solving mathematical problems in an elegant way.

[MeliMiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

El mundo académico en las ciencias y el ego que lo rodea, sin tener un fin marcado, se describen en este libro. Sin embargo, aunque el escritor apela a querer dejar esa actitud de lado él mismo se contradice.

[Caitlin Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful memoir about how a father teaches his son to solve problems with critical thinking, and how the son then grows from this to learn to solve problems in his own way. His stubbornness around the issue of the trigonometry test was one of my favorite parts. But a close second was the Mountain problem which he's given near the end, and how he explains that some of the information isn't necessary in order to find a solution. I couldn't think of a better name for this book than the one it was given.

[Jose Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent memoir! A slim volume, but it manages to pack physics and math, reflections on the will to excel, and one of the best homages to a father-son relationship I have ever read. Touching and vulnerably honest.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually a really fascinating book that I could personally relate to in many ways. The author tells his story in a humble, empathetic, but truthful manner. I enjoyed this book.

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite short story of the year.


B. Grizenko

[Suyog Garg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful, quirky, with a lot of nostalgia and memoirs about the author's early life with his noted mathematician Father.

[Roberta Westwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not a math geek, but I learned quite a bit about the mind of math geeks. Well told personal story, within this context. An enjoyable listen.