How Van Gogh's Paintings Gave Away His Approaching Breakdown
In 1888, Vincent van Gogh cut off his earlobe. Biographers and psychiatrists have been trying to explain this act ever since. But mathematicians approached the mystery differently: they measured how the artist's feelings changed in his letters and how the 'nervousness' of his brushstrokes grew, and they saw a clear signal of impending trouble.
A swing that gets pushed usually swings and quickly calms down.