Advice unheeded

Re “More Science, Less Fiction” [March 13]: I was interested to read that Hollywood is making efforts to depict science more accurately, but I laughed out loud when I read that “A Beautiful Mind” was viewed as setting a good example.

The central mathematical-economic idea of “A Beautiful Mind” is that of Nash equilibrium -- for which John Nash was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1994. In truth, the depiction of Nash equilibrium in the movie is not only wrong, it is backward.

I am a professor of economics and mathematics at UCLA, and was a consultant for “A Beautiful Mind.” Unfortunately, the filmmakers didn’t pay much attention to what I had to say.

William Zame

Los Angeles