![]() ![]() The methods have also helped specialists evaluate the effectiveness of quarantine and stay-at-home measures. Chan School of Public Health, who used Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods to analyze a large set of COVID-19 data from Wuhan and to calculate the infectiousness of the virus. “Arianna’s impact would last for a long time,” says Xihong Lin, a professor of biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. It was Rosenbluth who found a way to get early computers to use the Markov Chain method, creating a blueprint that others followed. Over the years, these methods have been used to simulate both quantum physics and markets, predict genetic predisposition to certain illnesses, forecast the outcomes of political conflicts, and model the spread of infectious diseases. “Wait, the Arianna Rosenbluth?” Arianna smiled shyly and kept eating her lemon meringue pie.Īrianna Wright Rosenbluth, who received a master’s degree in physics from Radcliffe College in 1947, was one of five scientists who created the revolutionary Metropolis algorithm-the first practical implementation of what are now known as the Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods, go-to tools for solving large, complex mathematical and engineering problems. “Oh, my mother was a physicist,” Jean said as she introduced her mother. It came up in conversation that the man sharing the table was a history of science professor, specializing in physics. The occasion was a holiday party, and Jean and her husband were seated with her mother and another couple. Running time: 120 MIN.A few years ago, Jean Rosenbluth was visiting her mother at a nursing home in Pasadena. Reviewed at Telluride Film Festival, Aug. Screenplay, Philip Railsback, based on the New Yorker article by John Seabrook.Ĭamera (Deluxe color, Panavision widescreen), Dante Spinotti editor, Jill Savitt music, Aaron Zigman production designer, Hugo Lucyzc-Wyhowski art director, Patrick Banister costume designer, Luis Sequeira sound (Dolby Digital/DTS/SDDS), Glen Gauthier supervising sound editor, Darren King re-recording mixer, Jon Taylor assistant director, Myron Hoffert casting, Denise Charmian. Produced by Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber, Michael Lieber. ![]() Except for Mulroney and, briefly, Alan Alda as an attorney, supporting performances are colorless.Ī Universal release of a Universal Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment presentation of a Barber/Birnbaum/Strike production. The lessons are simplistic: Stick to your guns, stand up for yourself, fight the big bully, etc., all without depth, attention to the ironic consequences of this stand or the effect on the inner lives of those involved.īeyond the narrative shortcomings, the film is indifferently filmed, with uncustomarily flat visuals by cinematographer Dante Spinotti and listless pacing. No matter the ultimate reward for his stubbornness - the court case, in which Kearns represented himself, is unavoidably engaging at times - this story simply doesn’t take on ramifications or meaning that extend beyond the specifics of this particular case. His wife Phyllis (Lauren Graham) and key business backer Gil (Dermot Mulroney) support his sense of outrage for a while, but he - and, with him, the film - then drift off into many years in the wilderness, as Ford throws every conceivable legal roadblock in his way. ![]() After presenting his invention to Ford and receiving a sufficient commitment to open a factory to move ahead with a prototype, the auto giant cuts him off. Scripter Philip Railsback, working from a story published in the New Yorker, and helmer Marc Abraham, the vet producer making his debut behind the camera, manage to make Kearns’ one contribution to history - his equating the blinking of the human eye to what an automobile windshield wiper should do and finding a way to engineer such a thing - interesting in a quaint, even amusing way, which sustains viewer interest through the first act.īut nothing else, least of all his interactions with the ever-growing family he professes to care about so much, comes alive or carries much conviction. Robert Kearns, a middle-class Detroit teacher, basement tinkerer and Catholic father of many, had a legitimate beef against Big Auto is perfectly clear, and his obstinate determination to prove his point, even to the detriment of his family’s cohesion and his own stability, is moderately inspiring in the way such true-life stories of “the indomitable human spirit” are always constructed to be.īut it’s also unavoidable that Kearns, as nicely played by Greg Kinnear, was a pretty milquetoasty guy - and he’s the colorful one in the family. ![]()
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