The Hyper-Curious Billionaire - Jim Simons (1938-2024) - Numberphile Podcast

This podcast marks the passing of James Harris Simons, better-known as Jim.
The interviewees are John Ewing, David Eisenbud and Andrew Millis.
The Simons Foundation - www.simonsfoun...
Simons Foundation article about Jim’s life - www.simonsfoun...
Brady’s Interview with Jim for Numberphile (full hour-log version) - • Jim Simons (full lengt...
Shorter 18-minute version - • Billionaire Mathematic...
Math For America - www.mathforame...
The Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath, formerly MSRI) - www.slmath.org
The Flatiron Institute - www.simonsfoun...
The Chern-Simons form - en.wikipedia.o...
The Archimedes (Jim’s yacht) - www.feadship.n...
Numberphile has been supported by The Simons Foundation (via SLMath) for many years. We are yet another of Jim’s legacies.
You can support Numberphile on Patreon - / numberphile
Here are our Patrons - www.numberphil...
Numberphile Podcast by Brady Haran

[@KayvanAbbasi]

Rest in peace! I remember the day you posted the billionaire mathematician!

[@a.abdulqadir9104]

RIP Mr. Simons , the king of Quants. A life well lived, a good humanist.

[@FitOneswithVarun]

Simons is a GOAT
0:00 - Introduction to Jim Simons
0:37 - Jim Simons’ Mathematical Achievements and Career Shift
1:22 - Jim's Philanthropy: Simons Foundation and Key Projects
2:11 - Contributions to MSRI (SL Math)
2:23 - Flatiron Institute
2:28 - Math for America
2:46 - Interview with John Ewing: Recruiting for Math for America
3:25 - John’s Experience with Jim’s Hiring Approach
5:01 - Jim's Personality and Humor
6:41 - Jim's Voice and Insights
8:02 - Jim's Continued Interest in Mathematics
10:04 - David Eisenbud on Jim’s Focus and Data-Driven Approach
11:01 - Renaissance Technologies and Data Focus
12:06 - Recruiting Scientists at Renaissance
13:00 - Jim’s Continued Involvement in Mathematics
14:14 - Jim’s Curiosity and Broad Interests
15:05 - Personal Anecdotes: Jim's Afternoon Naps
17:04 - Jim’s Humor and Joke Telling
18:29 - Andrew Millis on Jim's Broad Knowledge and Leadership
19:01 - Jim's Approach to Decision Making
20:00 - Jim’s Sociability and Motivation Behind Flatiron Institute
21:02 - Jim's Pride in Math for America and Teacher Engagement
23:23 - Jim's Personal Tragedies and Their Impact
24:43 - Anecdotes about Jim’s Lifestyle (No Socks)
26:13 - Jim’s Smoking Habit and Defying Rules
27:33 - Jim's Approach to Philanthropy and Decision Making
29:11 - Simons Foundation’s Structure and Jim’s Leadership
30:06 - Fun Fact: Attempting to Gather a Million Dollars in Cash
32:12 - Jim's Vision and Risk-Taking
32:52 - Experience on Jim’s Yacht
34:01 - Jim's Generosity and Art Collection
35:22 - Jim’s Later Years and Passing
36:21 - Jim's Influence and Legacy

[@fragnet7673]

Thank you a billion times ;) love the interviews with and about Jim Simons so much!! Greetings from NL

[@DitDede]

I remember the interview you had with him more than a decade ago. I found him very likable and impressive. I can feel the love and sadness in the voice of Jim 's friends and I'm tearing up. What a loss 😢

[@sciencemathematics]

Rest in peace 🕯️

[@cubicuboctahedron]

A family friend, the late artist Willy Wang, was the sculptor for the bronze statue of professor Shiing-Shen Chern that stands outside MSRI, a statue that the Simmons Foundation helped commission for the Chern Centennial Conference in 2011. I was still an undergraduate student at Berkeley at the time and helped drive Willy for the reveal and reception activities. I had hoped to bring up the statue as a possible Objectivity subject that tied together a few things, but never found the right way to describe this. Willy also made a bust of Chern for Chern's alma mater in China I think some years prior to this commission.

[@Ceelvain]

Please Brady, could you interview Stephen Cook and Leonid Levin? If their name isn't known, their work is. They proved the NP-completeness of SAT and basically kick started the field of theoretical computer science.
Is that what it is to grow up? Seeing the famous people you looked up to dying one after the other?
Edsger Dijkstra (2002), Dennis Ritchie (2011), John Conway (2020), Kevin Mitnick (2023), Jim Simons (2024), and likely a few others I don't think of right now.
Expanding this list is really not something I'm looking forward to. :(

[@darrellrayford3817]

I want to be like Jim when I grow up

[@KilgoreTroutAsf]

Respect

[@Turcian]

Damn, I had no idea he passed. He had such an incredible life.

[@frankharr9466]

What an interesting person.

[@lambdaprog]

A master of front-running-customers-without-getting-caught game.

[@magalengo]

Money Machine!!

[@dosesandmimoses]

4/3 or 3/4?

[@AlexFoobar104]

Billionaires shouldn't exist. No matter how smart they are.

[@changbooger]

How will you stop them? You would have to resort to fascism to stop them

[@stanleyasare2138]

Because u aren't serious in. Life don't means everybody is like you