Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football

Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football

A New York TimesÂ bestseller

John Urschel, mathematician and former offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens, tells the story of a life balanced between two passions

For John Urschel, what began as an insatiable appetite for puzzles as a child developed into mastery of the elegant systems and rules of mathematics. By the time he was thirteen, Urschel was auditing a college-level calculus course. But when he joined his high school football team, a new interest began to eclipse the thrill he felt in the classroom. Football challenged Urschel in an entirely different way, and he became addicted to the physical contact of the sport. After he accepted a scholarship to play at Penn State, his love of math was rekindled. As a Nittany Lion, he refused to sacrifice one passion for the other. Against the odds, Urschel found a way to manage his double life as a scholar and an athlete. While he was an offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens, he simultaneously pursued his PhD in mathematics at MIT.

Weaving together two separate narratives, Urschel relives for us the most pivotal moments of his bifurcated life. He explains why, after Penn State was sanctioned for the acts of former coach Jerry Sandusky, he declined offers from prestigious universities and refused to abandon his team. He describes his parentsâ€™ different influences and their profound effect on him, and he opens up about the correlation between football and CTE and the risks he took for the game he loves. Equally at home discussing Georg Cantorâ€™s work on infinities and Bill Belichickâ€™s playbook, Urschel reveals how each challengeâ€”whether on the field or in the classroomâ€”has brought him closer to understanding the two different halves of his own life, and how reason and emotion, the mind and the body, are always working together. â€œSo often, people want to divide the world into two,â€ he observes. â€œMatter and energy. Wave and particle. Athlete and mathematician. Why canâ€™t something (or someone) be both?â€
Country USA
Brand Penguin Press
Manufacturer Penguin Press
Binding Hardcover
ItemPartNumber 0735224862_used
Color Black
ReleaseDate 2019-05-14
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780735224865

Country	USA
Brand	Penguin Press
Manufacturer	Penguin Press
Binding	Hardcover
ItemPartNumber	0735224862_used
Color	Black
ReleaseDate	2019-05-14
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780735224865

Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football

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