John von Neumann (1903-1957) was a Hungarian born mathematician who immigrated to the United States when Hitler rose to power. He was a child prodigy who contributed a broad range of fields, from quantum physics to set theory to computer science. He is credited with doing early work on the modern digital computer and the application of operator theory to quantum mechanics. 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. | John von Neumann (1903-1957) was a Hungarian born mathematician who immigrated to the United States when Hitler rose to power. He was a child prodigy who contributed a broad range of fields, from quantum physics to set theory to computer science. He is credited with doing early work on the modern digital computer and the application of operator theory to quantum mechanics. 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. |