John Von Neumann

John Von Neumann , 1903-57, American mathematician, b. Hungary, Ph.D. Univ. of Budapest, 1926. He came to the United States in 1930 and was naturalized in 1937. He taught (1930-33) at Princeton and after 1933 was associated with the Institute for Advanced Study. In 1954 he was appointed a member of the Atomic Energy Commission. A founder of the mathematical theory of games (see games, theory of ), he also made fundamental contributions to quantum theory and to the development of the atomic bomb. He was a leader in the design and development of high-speed electronic computers; his development of maniac— an acronym for m athematical a nalyzer, n umerical i ntegrator, a nd c omputer—enabled the United States to produce and test (1952) the world's first hydrogen bomb. With Oskar Morgernstern he wrote Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1944, rev. ed. 1953). Von Neumann's other writings include Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (1926, tr. 1955), Computer and the Brain (1958), and Theory of Self-reproducing Automata (ed. by A. W. Burks, pub. posthumously, 1966).

Bibliography: See his collected works (Vol. I-III, 1961-62; Vol. IV-VI, 1963); biography by N. Macrae (1992).

Neumann, John Von (1903–1957), pioneer of computation; founder of game theory.Von Neumann's wide‐ranging genius shaped more scientific and technological fields than probably anyone of the century. Born in Budapest, he made basic discoveries in set theory, algebra, and quantum mechanics. In 1930, he moved to Princeton University and, as war loomed, turned to weaponry, studying the mechanics of shock waves for the optimal height of explosion attacking a structure. For the Manhattan Project, he researched the implosion trigger for an atomic bomb.

Von Neumann's pervading contribution was promoting computers for military and scientific research. As the United States entered World War II, computers were primitive. Typically used to calculate mathematical tables, they required operators manually to plug in connector cables for each task. Von Neumann's group put the commands controlling the computer's action sequence into its electronic memory, making it fast and flexible. In 1951, a computer simulated the triggering of the first thermonuclear explosion. Von Neumann pioneered the abstract study of computation, with his British student Alan Turing, and founded game theory, used to analyze deterrence and escalation.

His postwar military work was driven by an abhorrence of communism, but he avoided the excesses of McCarthyism, testifying in support of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he oversaw the development of the first U.S. intercontinental missiles. Von Neumann preferred behind‐the‐scenes influence to the popular celebrity of an Albert Einstein or an Edward Teller, and his wide grasp of science and technology made him adept in that role.
[See also Consultants to the Military; Disciplinary Views of War: History of Science and Technology; Operations Research; Science, Technology, War, and the Military.]

Bibliography

Steve Heims , John von Neumann and Norbert Weiner: From Mathematics to the Technologies of Life and Death, 1980.
William Aspray , John von Neumann and the Origins of Modern Computing, 1990.

Barry O’Neill