From Prisoner to Mathematician
The incredible story of Chris Havens.
Christopher Havens, a convicted murderer serving a twenty-five-year sentence, made a world-class discovery in mathematics; from his prison cell.
Havens, who never finished high school, published his research in an international journal for advanced mathematics. Even as a movie script, this would be far-fetched. Who would think that someone can master advanced mathematics without higher education, let alone from a prison cell? Havens’ story carries powerful lessons in time management, practical learning, and achieving the impossible with limited freedom and resources.
How exactly did Havens manage such an impressive breakthrough? And what techniques can you learn from his fascinating personal growth?
He Learned Strategically
Havens contacted Annals of Mathematics, a monthly math journal issued by Princeton University, and asked for some of their issues. He worked through their most challenging math problems without prior knowledge, trying and failing until his intuition ran out. Once he met a dead end, he scrutinised the textbooks on how to make progress.
Slowly but surely, Havens built his tree of knowledge the same way a scientist would go about a research project: solving problems, learning only what needed to be learned, and getting answers through trial and error.
The key lesson from this approach is this: learn X to do Y. This way, you’ll immediately apply what you’ve learned, know its purpose, and assimilate things far better.
He Taught What He Learned
“When you teach someone, two learns.” — Robert Heinlein
Havens ordered piles of books to his prison cell. But at some point, the prison’s administration made a smart move on him; they held his books until he agreed to teach a math class to other inmates. Whatever Havens learned, he had to teach.
With the administration’s help, Havens launched the Prison Mathematics Project, a math club where he would explain mathematics to other prisoners. In exchange, the piles of books got admitted, and he was even allowed time in the library.
What Havens might not have realised immediately is that teaching is the best way to learn. Nobel Prize physicist Richard Feynman was known to teach everything he knew to deepen his understanding of physics. This is how Feynman mastered any concept by teaching it:
- Identify the concept you want to learn.
- Explain it with simple terms and analogies.
- Identify areas that were hard to explain. Where did you use jargon and technical terms?
- Dig deeper into those areas.
- Go back to step 1.
An excellent teacher is an exceptional learner. In the words of Albert Einstein:
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
He Connected with People Smarter Than Him
“If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.” — Confucius.
Havens realised something: if he wants to accelerate his learning dramatically, he can’t keep doing math alone. He started sending letters to math labs in the hope of corresponding with an expert.
To his surprise, Havens received letters from mathematicians in Italy and Canada, who challenged him with tricky math problems. He would then mail back his answers in long notes to get their feedback. Then at some point, things went further. An Italian mathematician invited him to work on a research project in Number Theory — an advanced branch of mathematics. It’s this project that led Havens to his breakthrough discovery.
Here you have yet another lesson from Havens: connect with people smarter than you. If you seek to master a field, know its domain experts and correspond with them. Let them challenge you and get their feedback. Ask to be mentored if possible. Interacting with people more experienced than you is a recipe for massive growth. In the words of Jim Rohn:
“You’re the average of the five people you spend most of your time with.”
In today’s hyperconnected world, you’re rather the average of the books you read, the videos you watch, the people you follow online, and in real life. Make sure to give your attention to the right people. They can either make or break your growth.
He Focused on What He Can Control
In his best-selling book, Ego Is The Enemy, Ryan Holiday recounts how Malcolm X went through an impossible transformation while in jail. Serving a seven-year sentence for robbery, the civil rights activist started reading books on politics, philosophy, classical literature, religion, and many other topics. Malcolm X entered prison with no formal education and stepped out a walking encyclopedia.
In jail and with limited resources, you would think that becoming world-class at something is impossible. But Havens, following in the steps of Malcolm X, refused to let his situation stop him. Instead, he flipped the script. With all the time in the world and none of the free world’s distractions, he saw prison as an opportunity to learn at a dramatic pace.
Both Havens and Malcolm X let go of things outside their control and focused on the single variable they controlled: how to spend their time in jail. Robert Greene once said:
“There are two types of time in our lives: “dead time,” when people are passive and waiting, and “alive time,” when people are learning and acting as well as utilising every second.”
Havens set himself a crystal-clear purpose. “Numbers have become my mission…” He said in correspondence. Marta Cerruti, an associate professor at McGill University who spoke with Havens, said: “Chris feels that doing mathematics is a way for him to pay his debt to society.” She adds that Havens is pursuing an official degree in mathematics from Adams State University and wants to launch a non-profit to help prisoners worldwide learn math.
The key lesson here is that life will throw punches at you. Over this, you have no control. What you can control, however, is how to react after getting punched.
Take Away
Locked in prison and without the support available to regular scientists, Chris Havens cracked a math problem that went unsolved for decades.
According to the study published in the journal Research in Number Theory, Havens’ discovery has promising applications in cryptography, military communications, and finance.
The story of Chris Haven is a masterclass in personal growth. It teaches you that:
- Problem-solving is the best way to learn.
- Connecting with experts accelerates your growth.
- Focusing on what you can control helps you overcome adversity.
- And most importantly: a clear purpose will set you free.
If you follow these steps, nothing can stop you, not even a prison cell.
