All the Beauty in the World

This chapter primarily focuses on the author’s relationship with Tom. It encompasses Tom’s struggle with cancer and the author’s reflections on art and mortality. Bringley portrays Tom as an exceptionally intelligent and likable person, excelling in mathematics from a young age and later pursuing a doctorate in biomathematics.

Bringley recounts Tom’s explanation for shifting from pure mathematics to biomathematics in his doctoral studies. Tom was fascinated by the complexity and messiness of biological systems, comparing them to Rube Goldberg devices. He found beauty in the redundancies and variations that allow life to survive despite numerous potential failures.

The narrative then shifts to Tom’s cancer diagnosis. Bringley describes the period when Tom lived in New York, first as a healthy graduate student and then as a cancer patient. The author’s perception of New York changed dramatically during this time, from a place of youthful romance and opportunity to a landscape dominated by hospitals and Tom’s apartment in Queens.

Bringley provides descriptions of time spent with Tom in his apartment, portraying his brother’s ability to balance his academic work with family interactions, even as his health deteriorated. The author recalls a particularly distressing incident when Tom’s condition worsened suddenly, requiring an emergency visit to a neurologist.