Hungarian and American mathematician and physicist (1903–1957)
The native form of this personal name is Neumann János Lajos. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
John von Neumann
von Neumann in the 1940s
Member of the United States Atomic Energy Commission
In office March 15, 1955 – February 8, 1957
President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by
Eugene M. Zuckert
Succeeded by
John S. Graham
Personal details
Born
Neumann János Lajos
(1903-12-28)December 28, 1903 Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary
Died
February 8, 1957(1957-02-08) (aged 53) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place
Princeton Cemetery
Citizenship
Hungary
United States
Alma mater
Pázmány Péter University
University of Berlin
ETH Zürich
Known for
Mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics, Game theory, Spectral theory, Ergodic theory, von Neumann algebras, List of things named after John von Neumann
Az általános halmazelmélet axiomatikus felépítése (The axiomatic construction of general set theory) (1925)
Doctoral advisor
Lipót Fejér
Other academic advisors
László Rátz
Gábor Szegő
Michael Fekete
József Kürschák[1]
David Hilbert
Erhard Schmidt[2]
Hermann Weyl
George Pólya[3]
Doctoral students
Donald B. Gillies
Israel Halperin[5]
Friederich Mautner[6]
Other notable students
Eugene Wigner[7]
Paul Halmos
Peter Lax
Benoit Mandelbrot[8]
Signature
John von Neumann (/vɒnˈnɔɪmən/von NOY-mən; Hungarian: Neumann János Lajos[ˈnɒjmɒnˈjaːnoʃˈlɒjoʃ]; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian and American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, engineer and polymath. He had perhaps the widest coverage of any mathematician of his time,[9] integrating pure and applied sciences and making major contributions to many fields, including mathematics, physics, economics, computing, and statistics. He was a pioneer in building the mathematical framework of quantum physics, in the development of functional analysis, and in game theory, introducing or codifying concepts including cellular automata, the universal constructor and the digital computer. His analysis of the structure of self-replication preceded the discovery of the structure of DNA.
During World War II, von Neumann worked on the Manhattan Project. He developed the mathematical models behind the explosive lenses used in the implosion-type nuclear weapon.[10] Before and after the war, he consulted for many organizations including the Office of Scientific Research and Development, the Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory, the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.[11] At the peak of his influence in the 1950s, he chaired a number of Defense Department committees including the Strategic Missile Evaluation Committee and the ICBM Scientific Advisory Committee. He was also a member of the influential Atomic Energy Commission in charge of all atomic energy development in the country. He played a key role alongside Bernard Schriever and Trevor Gardner in the design and development of the United States' first ICBM programs.[12] At that time he was considered the nation's foremost expert on nuclear weaponry and the leading defense scientist at the U.S. Department of Defense.
Von Neumann's contributions and intellectual ability drew praise from colleagues in physics, mathematics, and beyond. Accolades he received range from the Medal of Freedom to a crater on the Moon named in his honor.
^Dyson 2012, p. 48.
^Israel, Giorgio [in Italian]; Gasca, Ana Millan (2009). The World as a Mathematical Game: John von Neumann and Twentieth Century Science. Science Networks. Historical Studies. Vol. 38. Basel: Birkhäuser. p. 14. doi:10.1007/978-3-7643-9896-5. ISBN 978-3-7643-9896-5. OCLC 318641638.
^Goldstine 1980, p. 169.
^Halperin, Israel. "The Extraordinary Inspiration of John von Neumann". In Glimm, Impagliazzo & Singer (1990), p. 16.
^While Israel Halperin's thesis advisor is often listed as Salomon Bochner, this may be because "Professors at the university direct doctoral theses but those at the Institute do not. Unaware of this, in 1934 I asked von Neumann if he would direct my doctoral thesis. He replied Yes."[4]
^John von Neumann at the Mathematics Genealogy Project. Retrieved 2015-03-17.
^Szanton 1992, p. 130.
^Dempster, M. A. H. (February 2011). "Benoit B. Mandelbrot (1924–2010): a father of Quantitative Finance" (PDF). Quantitative Finance. 11 (2): 155–156. doi:10.1080/14697688.2011.552332. S2CID 154802171.
JohnvonNeumann (/vɒn ˈnɔɪmən/ von NOY-mən; Hungarian: Neumann János Lajos [ˈnɒjmɒn ˈjaːnoʃ ˈlɒjoʃ]; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian...
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JohnvonNeumann's universal constructor is a self-replicating machine in a cellular automaton (CA) environment. It was designed in the 1940s, without...
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computer used by JohnvonNeumann in 1946 for the "Electronic Computing Instrument" that now bears vonNeumann's name: the vonNeumann architecture. Davis...
Goldstine had a chance encounter with the prominent mathematician JohnvonNeumann on a railway platform in Aberdeen, Maryland, and Goldstine described...
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biography of polymath JohnvonNeumann, whom Labatut calls "the smartest human being of the 20th century". The book focuses on vonNeumann, but is also about...
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