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Shooting Star

At the age of 26, most of us are just embarking on life. But by that age, Frank Ramsey, one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century, had come up with major new ideas in mathematics, philosophy and economics. And then (in 1930) he died. This first account of Ramsey’s life and ideas shows an engaging, down-to-earth, flawed genius as he startled and amazed 1920s Cambridge, at a time when there was no shortage of geniuses in the university. His early tragic death shocked and dismayed friends like Ludwig Wittgenstein, John Maynard Keynes and Bertrand Russell, but it is only in the last twenty or thirty years that the true significance of his ideas has become apparent to the wider world. “Karl Sabbagh has written a brilliant account of the life and achievements of Frank Ramsey, one of the most significant contributors to mathematical and philosophical thought in the twentieth century. Apart from the fact that he introduces the reader to the unaccountably neglected life of this impressive individual, he also provides a fascinating insight into the social world of the Cambridge Apostles, including figures such as Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Maynard Keynes. The narrative also includes a wonderfully entertaining picture of the Bloomsbury world with its peculiar susceptibility to privileged infidelities of one sort or another.” Sir Jonathan Miller “Karl Sabbagh describes Ramsey's full life, his wide-ranging achievements, and the Cambridge intellectual milieu that nourished his talent. I hope this finely-written and fascinating memoir will gain Ramsey the attention he deserves.” Professor Martin Rees, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Astronomer Royal. Karl Sabbagh is a writer and documentary producer living in the U.K. He has written ten books, on a range of topics from science to architecture, Middle East history to the psychology of childhood memory.Read more

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