John von Neumann: The Scientific Genius Who Pioneered the Modern Computer, Game Theory, Nuclear Deterrence, and Much More

by Norman Macrae

Overview

John von Neumann was a Jewish refugee from Hungary considered a "genius" like fellow Hungarians Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner and Edward Teller, who played key roles developing the A-bomb at Los Alamos during World War II. As a mathematician at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study (where Einstein was also a professor), von Neumann was a leader in the development of early computers. Later, he developed the new field of game theory in economics and became a top nuclear arms policy adviser to the Truman and Eisenhower administrations.

"I always thought [von Neumann's] brain indicated that he belonged to a new species, an evolution beyond man. Macrae shows us in a lively way how this brain was nurtured and then left its great imprint on the world." -- Hans A. Bethe, Cornell University

"The book makes for utterly captivating reading. Von Neumann was, of course, one of this century's geniuses, and it is surprising that we have had to wait so long... for a fully fleshed and sympathetic biography of the man... It's no small task to render a genius like von Neumann in ordinary language, yet Macrae manages the trick, providing more than a glimpse of what von Neumann accomplished intellectually without expecting the reader to have a Ph.D. in mathematics. Beyond that, he captures von Neumann's qualities of temperament, mind, and personality, including his effortless wit and humor. And [Macrae] frames and accounts for von Neumann's politics in ways that even critics of them, among whom I include myself, will find provocative and illuminating." -- Daniel J. Kevles, California Institute of Technology

"The first full-scale biography of this polymath, who was born Jewish in Hungary in 1903 and died Roman Catholic in the United States at the age of 53. And Mr. Macrae has some great stories to tell... Mr. Macrae's biography has rescued a lot of good science gossip from probable extinction, and has introduced many of us to the life story of a man we ought to know better." -- Ed Regis, The New York Times

"A nice and fascinating picture of a genius who was active in so many domains." --Zentralblatt MATH

"Biographer Macrae takes a 'viewspaperman' approach which stresses the context and personalities associated with von Neumann's remarkable life, rather than attempting to give a detailed scholarly analysis of von Neumann's papers. The resulting book is a highly entertaining account that is difficult to put down." -- Journal of Mathematical Psychology

"A full and intimate biography of 'the man who consciously and deliberately set mankind moving along the road that led us into the Age of Computers.'" -- Freeman Dyson, Princeton, NJ

"It is good to have a biography of one of the most important mathematicians of the twentieth century, even if it is a biography that focuses much more on the man than on the mathematics." -- Fernando Q. Gouvêa, Mathematical Association of America

"Macrae has written a valuable biography of this remarkable genius of our century, without the opacity of technical (mathematical) dimensions that are part of the hero's intellectual contributions to humanity. Interesting, informative, illuminating, and insightful." -- Choice Review

"Macrae paints a highly readable, humanizing portrait of a man whose legacy still influences and shapes modern science and knowledge." -- Resonance, Journal of Science Education

"In this affectionate, humanizing biography, former Economist editor Macrae limns a prescient pragmatist who actively fought against fascism... Macrae makes [von Neumann's] contributions accessible to the lay reader, and also discusses von Neumann's relationships with two long-suffering wives, his political differences with Einstein and the cancer that killed him." -- Publishers Weekly

"Macrae's life of the great mathematician shows dramatically what proper care and feeding can do for an unusually capacious mind." -- John Wilkes, Los Angeles Times

Product Details

BN ID:	2940158455698
Publisher:	Plunkett Lake Press
Publication date:	06/15/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	406
Sales rank:	147,156
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Norman Macrae (1923-2010) served in the Royal Air Force as a navigator in 1942-45 and went to Cambridge in 1945 to study economics, leaving his postgraduate studies without earning his Ph.D. when The Economist offered him a temporary job in 1949. He remained at The Economist until his retirement in 1988, as Assistant editor after 1954 and as Deputy editor after 1965. Macrae wrote over three thousand articles, mostly anonymous, and became respected for his often accurate forecasts. He took time off from The Economist to write eight books: in 1984 in The 2025 Report: A Future History of 1975-2025, he predicted “Eventually books, files, television programmes, computer information and telecommunications will merge. We’ll have this portable object which is a television screen with first a typewriter, later a voice activator attached.” His 1962 “Visiting Japan” pieces were the first to note the success of Japan’s postwar economy. In 1988, Macrae was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth and was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun with Gold Rays by Japan’s Emperor.