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☆ Jim Simons, Math Genius Who Conquered Wall Street, Dies at 86
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Jonathan Kandell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Jim Simons, the prizewinning mathematician who abandoned a stellar academic career, then plunged into finance — a world he knew nothing about — and became one of the most successful Wall Street investors ever, died on Friday in his home in Manhattan. His death was confirmed by his spokesman, Jonathan Gasthalter, who did not specify a cause. After publishing breakthrough studies in pattern recognition, string theory and a framework that combined geometry and topology with quantum field theory, Mr. Simons decided to apply his genius to a more prosaic subject — making as much money as he could in as short a time as possible. Spurning financial analysts and business school graduates, he hired like-minded mathematicians and scientists. Mr. Simons equipped his colleagues with advanced computers to process torrents of data filtered through mathematical models, and turned the four investment funds in his new firm, Renaissance Technologies, into virtual money printing machines.

Persons: Jim Simons, Jonathan Gasthalter, Simons Organizations: Street, Renaissance Technologies Locations: Manhattan

☆ Daniel C. Dennett, Widely Read and Fiercely Debated Philosopher, Dies at 82
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Jonathan Kandell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Daniel C. Dennett, one of the most widely read and debated American philosophers, whose prolific works explored consciousness, free will, religion and evolutionary biology, died on Friday in Portland, Maine. His death, at Maine Medical Center, was caused by complications of interstitial lung disease, his wife, Susan Bell Dennett, said. Mr. Dennett combined a wide range of knowledge with an easy, often playful writing style to reach a lay public, avoiding the impenetrable concepts and turgid prose of many other contemporary philosophers. Beyond his more than 20 books and scores of essays, his writings even made their way into the theater and onto the concert stage. But Mr. Dennett, who never shirked controversy, often crossed swords with other famed scholars and thinkers.

Persons: Daniel C, Dennett, Susan Bell Dennett Organizations: Maine Medical Locations: Portland , Maine, Cape Elizabeth , Maine

☆ Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, Who Looked at History From the Bottom Up, Dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Jonathan Kandell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, a French historian at the forefront of a scholarly movement that sought to understand the past from the bottom up, by probing the beliefs and psychology of anonymous peasants and priests rather than the exploits of triumphant generals and rulers, died on Wednesday. His family confirmed the death, according to Agence France-Presse and other French news organizations. In a statement from the Élysée Palace, President Emmanuel Macron of France called Mr. Le Roy Ladurie “one of our greatest historians,” adding, “His work truly extended history’s domain — the discipline was enriched because he was able to invent new tools, new approaches, and new subjects.”A prolific and eminently readable scholar, Mr. Le Roy Ladurie was most familiar for his books “Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error” (1975) and “Carnival in Romans” (1979), both of them best sellers and instant classics on both sides of the Atlantic.

Persons: Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, L’Obs, Emmanuel Macron, Le Roy Ladurie “, “, Le Roy Ladurie Organizations: Agence France, Mr Locations: French, Paris, France

☆ Renata Scotto, Opera Diva Who Inhabited Roles, Dies at 89
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Jonathan Kandell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Renata Scotto, the firebrand Italian soprano and Metropolitan Opera favorite who was acclaimed for her acting and insights into opera characters as much as for her voice, died on Wednesday in Savona, Italy. At her best, in roles like Puccini’s Cio-Cio San in “Madama Butterfly” and Mimì in “La Bohème,” Verdi’s Violetta in “La Traviata” and Bellini’s “Norma,” Ms. Scotto achieved a dramatic intensity that electrified audiences and elicited the highest praise from her fellow opera stars. “Renata is the closest I have ever worked with a real singing actress,” the tenor Plácido Domingo said in The New York Times Magazine in 1978. “There is an emphasis, a feeling she puts behind every word she interprets.”Vocally, Ms. Scotto could not match the sensuousness of Renata Tebaldi or the astonishing technique and range of Joan Sutherland. But Ms. Scotto’s charisma and stage presence made critics overlook her shortcomings.

Persons: Renata Scotto, Filippo Anselmi, ” Verdi’s Violetta, Bellini’s “ Norma, ” Ms, Scotto, “ Renata, ”, Plácido Domingo, Renata Tebaldi, Joan Sutherland, Harold C, Schonberg Organizations: firebrand, Metropolitan Opera, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, Carnegie Hall Locations: Savona, Italy, “, “ La, The

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