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Jewish Contributions to Hu manity #2 in a series

How Jewish
Mathematicians
Changed the
Course of History.

Gift Of Warmth

HealthQuest’s Sol Cogan offers $20 appointments
to ease pain and help the community.

ROBIN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

D

r. Sol Cogan knows a thing
Detroit Lions football players. He uses
or two about pain. He has
many of the same treatments pro
dedicated his life and career to athletes receive to help patients suf-
eliminating it — for every-
fering from neuropathy, back and
ABOVE: Last
one from professional ath-
neck pain, sciatica, spinal stenosis,
winter, Dr. Sol
letes to cancer patients to
herniated and bulging discs, joint
Cogan (here
accident victims to seniors.
pain and other conditions.
with Saunteel
It all started with his own
“In our office, we do everything
Jenkins, CEO of
devastating injury as a high THAW) and his from massage therapy to physical
school wrestler about three patients donated therapy to chiropractic to internal
decades ago.
medicine, sports medicine, pain
$5,000 to help
“I was thrown on my
keep Detroiters management medicine, non-surgi-
back and I felt lightning
warm. He’s work- cal spinal decompression,” he says.
bolts go down both legs,”
“We do basically everything short
ing to double
he recalls. “I was literally
that amount this of surgery.”
paralyzed for about two
winter.
minutes. I couldn’t move.”
HEALTHQUEST FOR THAW
When he could feel his legs again,
As temperatures dipped into the teens
Cogan says the pain was so excru-
this week, Cogan and his staff were
ciating he had to be carried off the
focused on easing another kind of pain
mat. Numerous physicians told him
— the pain families experience when
he’d never play sports again. But, one they can’t afford to heat their homes.
doctor used non-surgical therapies
According to THAW (The Heat and
and techniques to help him recover.
Warmth Fund), 40 percent of Michigan
Two weeks later, Cogan was the
households struggle to afford basic
112-pound freestyle state wrestling
needs, including energy costs.
champion — and he’d found his
More than 28,000 children and
future career.
48,000 seniors lived in homes that
“Just because somebody told you
received energy assistance last year.
that you have to live with a condition That’s why, for a limited time, Cogan is
or an ache or a pain or a problem,
offering $20 appointments to receive a
they may not be right,” Cogan says.
detailed consultation, comprehensive
“Even if they were right 10 years ago
examination and laser treatment (a
or even a week ago, they may not
$380 value). HealthQuest will match
be right today because technology
each $20 payment up to the first 250
changes so quickly.”
patients. All proceeds benefit THAW
After graduating from Michigan
with the goal of raising $10,000,
State University, Cogan, a Temple
enough money to heat the homes of 10
Israel member, enrolled in the National local families all winter long.
College of Chiropractic, earning his
“We cannot sit by and allow our
Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 1992.
neighbors to live in pain in bitter cold
That same year, he started his practice, conditions. That’s why we started this
which has grown into Michigan’s larg-
promotion,” Cogan said. “It’s a win-
est group of integrated clinics provid-
win. People can do something good for
ing rehabilitation, chiropractic and
the community and help themselves at
high-tech, non-invasive technologies
the same time.” •
that relieve pain. Headquartered in
Patients can choose the location and must
Farmington, HealthQuest has 10 clin-
schedule their appointment by Feb. 2. Visit
ics in Michigan, including Southfield,
healthquestforthaw.com or call 1-877-99-
Livonia and Taylor.
QUEST.
For nearly 14 years, Cogan treated

JOHN VON NEUMANN (1903-1957). b. Budapest, Hungary.
By the time John von Neumann died at the young age of 53, the talent he demonstrated early on
as a child prodigy was but a hint of what would become his
long list of contributions to science and humanity. After re-
ceiving his Ph.D. in math and a subsequent degree in chemi-
cal engineering in Switzerland, von Neumann, at 30, accept-
ed a position with Princeton University, where he remained
until his death. Here are a few of his key contributions, along
with a look at the great scientist who mentored him.

QUANTUM MECHANICS Quantum mechanics is
a science that explains the behavior of matter and energy
on the atomic and subatomic scale. In 1932, von Neumann
revolutionized our understanding of the atomic nature of our
universe by establishing a mathematical framework with
which we can understand it, called the Dirac-von Neumann

axioms. These axioms gave scientists a way to interpret, debate and understand incredibly complex
theories that were previously much more difficult to grasp.
COMPUTING Considered a pioneer in the field of using computers to solve complex prob-
lems and predict and forecast future events, von Neumann’s theories led to the stored-program
technique, which basically explains how a computer can store vast amounts of diverse informa-
tion, instructions, programs, and memory. An
example of a computer that’s fundamentally

basic and lacks a stored-program technique
is your desk calculator. The computer on
which this was written, however, uses von
Neumann’s stored-program technique, also
known as Von Neumann architecture.
GAME THEORY John von Neumann
was the mathematical founder of game theo-
ry, which is humanity’s rational, mathematical explanation for strategic decision making. Universities
across the world teach it in fields such as economics, mathematics, and even international relations,
and it helps humans understand optimal strategies when there are situations of potential conflict and
cooperation between rational decision-makers whose aim is to maximize their gain and minimize
their loss. The number of practical applications of game theory is innumerable, and von Neumann’s
mathematical and axiomatic simplifications of “zero sum” situations impacted public policy, particu-

larly during the Cold War.

GABOR SZEGO (1895-1985). b. Kunhegyes, Hungary.
Von Neumann’s mentor, and a master in his own right. Although Szego was one of the

most brilliant mathematicians of his generation, it was his mentorship of
Von Neumann for which history will remember him. When, at 15, Von Neu-
mann was recognized as a mathematical genius, he was sent to Szego
to study advanced calculus. After his first session tutoring the young Von
Neumann, word has it, Szego was brought to tears when he spoke with
his wife about his new student. But not to undersell his own contributions

to mathematics, each of Szego’s four books are classics of mathematical
analytics, he left a lasting legacy on his students and colleagues at Stan-
ford University, and he produced brilliant analyses of Toeplitz matrices,
orthogonal polynomials and other areas of applied mathematics.

Original Research by Walter L. Field Sponsored by Irwin S. Field Written by Jared Sichel

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January 18 • 2018

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