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| | [[Image:Von.jpg|thumb|right]] | | [[Image:Von.jpg|thumb|right]] |
| − | '''John von Neumann''' (1903-1957) was perhaps the most brilliant man of the 20th century, based on his remarkable achievements and impressions by other smart people who knew him. A [[Hungary|Hungarian]]-born [[mathematician]], von Neumann immigrated to the [[United States]] when Hitler rose to power. Von Neumann was a child prodigy who contributed a broad range of fields, include [[quantum mechanics]], [[game theory]] and [[computer science]]. He is credited with doing early work on the modern digital computer called von Neumann architecture<ref>John von Neumann (ed) (1945). | + | '''John von Neumann''' (1903-1957) was perhaps the most brilliant man of the 20th century, based on his remarkable achievements and impressions by other smart people who knew him. He could recite by memory entire books that he had read years earlier, and excelled in every intellectual field. He particularly enjoyed reciting the [[Psalms]] in [[Latin]] from memory. |
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| | + | A [[Hungary|Hungarian]]-born [[mathematician]], von Neumann immigrated to the [[United States]] when [[Hitler]] rose to power. Von Neumann was a child prodigy who contributed a broad range of fields, include [[quantum mechanics]], [[game theory]] and [[computer science]]. He is credited with doing early work on the modern digital computer called von Neumann architecture<ref>John von Neumann (ed) (1945). |
| | [http://qss.stanford.edu/~godfrey/vonNeumann/vnedvac.pdf First Draft of a Report on the Edvac] | | [http://qss.stanford.edu/~godfrey/vonNeumann/vnedvac.pdf First Draft of a Report on the Edvac] |
| | </ref> and the application of operator theory to quantum mechanics called von Neumann algebra. He was a member of the [[Manhattan Project]] who later worked with [[Edward Teller]] and [[Stanislaw Ulam]] to develop the steps for thermonuclear reactions necessary to build the hydrogen bomb. | | </ref> and the application of operator theory to quantum mechanics called von Neumann algebra. He was a member of the [[Manhattan Project]] who later worked with [[Edward Teller]] and [[Stanislaw Ulam]] to develop the steps for thermonuclear reactions necessary to build the hydrogen bomb. |
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| | During a Senate committee hearing he described his political ideology as "violently anti-communist, and much more militaristic than the norm." | | During a Senate committee hearing he described his political ideology as "violently anti-communist, and much more militaristic than the norm." |
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| − | While other physicists such as [[Robert Oppenheimer]] were criticizing the atomic bomb they helped create, von Neumann was unapologetic. Oppenheimer remarked that physicists had "known sin" by developing the first atomic bombs. Von Neumann cleverly replied that "sometimes someone confesses a sin in order to take credit for it." | + | While other physicists such as [[Robert Oppenheimer]] were criticizing the atomic bomb they helped create, von Neumann was unapologetic. The [[liberal]] Oppenheimer remarked that physicists had "known sin" by developing the first atomic bombs. The [[conservative]] -- and far brighter -- Von Neumann cleverly retorted that "sometimes someone confesses a sin in order to take credit for it." |
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| | ==References== | | ==References== |