John von Neumann - Revision history

Jnc: Link cellular automata

2025-03-19T19:59:44Z

Link cellular automata

Jnc: /* External links */ +The General and Logical Theory of Automata

2024-08-07T21:38:15Z

‎External links: +The General and Logical Theory of Automata

Jnc: /* External links */ +sort

2024-03-22T22:15:37Z

‎External links: +sort

Jnc: /* External links */ +brief biography at the IEEE Computer Society

2024-03-22T19:08:11Z

‎External links: +brief biography at the IEEE Computer Society

Jnc: Exact connection between the ACE and the EDVAC design is uncertain

2024-03-16T16:23:47Z

Exact connection between the ACE and the EDVAC design is uncertain

Jnc: /* Further reading */ Comment on the Macrae book

2024-03-07T13:35:58Z

‎Further reading: Comment on the Macrae book

Jnc: A decent start

2024-03-06T19:42:20Z

A decent start

New page

'''John von Neumann''' was a polymath who made several major developments to the early evolution of [[computer]]s.

On the engineering side, after discussions with [[John Mauchly‏‎]], [[J. Presper Eckert]] and [[Herman Goldstine]] of the [[ENIAC]] project, about what to do next, he produced the famous ''First Draft of a Report on the [[EDVAC]]'', which set the direction for all further work on stored-[[program]] computers. (Which of them contributed exactly what to the document will probably never be known for certain, unfortunately.) It was famously a large influence on [[Alan Turing]]'s work on the [[Automatic Computing Engine]].

He then played a lead role in the creation of the [[IAS computer]], which was the inspiration for many early computers (too many to list here), which were clones of it.

On the theory side, he single-handedly founded the field of [[finite automata]], and did much important early work in it., including on self-replicating ones.

His overall importance in the development of science and technology in the 20th century is almost impossible to overstate. Some people think he was probably the smartest person of the 20th century - and perhaps ever; many feel that if one put him in a room with Goedel, Einstein, Ramanujan, Turing and Tesla, he'd ''still'' be the smartest person in the room.

What is really astonishing about him is the ''range'' of fields in which he made key contributions. He started off in mathematics and physics (particularly quantum mechanics, to which he made significant contributions), then created game theory, made key contributions to computer science (above), and finished off with cellular automata.

There have been other people with such a broad scope: Thomas Young, who did very important work on the wave theory of light, and also helped to decipher hieroglyphs (!); and [[Charles Babbage]], who in addition to his fundamental work on
computing machines, made major contributions in economics, mathematics, and what eventually became operational research.

{{semi-stub}}

==Further reading==

* Ananyo Bhattacharya, ''The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann'', W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2022 - the best overall biography
* Norman Macrae, ''John Von Neumann: The Scientific Genius Who Pioneered the Modern Computer, Game Theory, Nuclear Deterrence, and Much More'', Pantheon, New York, 1999
* Steve J. Heims, ''John Von Neumann and Norbert Wiener: From Mathematics to the Technologies of Life and Death'', MIT Press, Cambridge, 1982
* Herman H. Goldstine, ''The Computer from Pascal to von Neumann'', Princeton University, Princeton, 1972
* William Aspray, ''John von Neumann and the Origins of Modern Computing'', MIT Press, Cambridge, 1990
* William Poundstone, ''Prisoner's Dilemma: John Von Neumann, Game Theory, and the Puzzle of the Bomb'', Doubleday, New York, 1992 - focuses on game theory

==External links==

* John von Neumann, ''[https://people.csail.mit.edu/brooks/idocs/VonNeumann_EDVAC.pdf First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC]''

[[Category: People]]

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 His overall importance in the development of science and technology in the 20th century is almost impossible to overstate. Some people think he was probably the smartest person of the 20th century - and perhaps ever; many feel that if one put him in a room with Goedel, Einstein, Ramanujan, [[Alan Turing|Turing]] and Tesla, he'd ''still'' be the smartest person in the room.
-What is really astonishing about him is the ''range'' of fields in which he made key contributions. He started off in mathematics and physics (particularly quantum mechanics, to which he made significant contributions), then created game theory, made key contributions to computer science (above), and finished off with cellular automata.
+What is really astonishing about him is the ''range'' of fields in which he made key contributions. He started off in mathematics and physics (particularly quantum mechanics, to which he made significant contributions), then created game theory, made key contributions to computer science (above), and finished off with [[cellular automata]].
 There have been other people with such a broad scope: Thomas Young, who did very important work on the wave theory of light, and also helped to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs (!); and [[Charles Babbage]], who in addition to his fundamental work on computing machines, made major contributions in economics, mathematics, and what eventually became operational research.

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 * John von Neumann, ''[https://people.csail.mit.edu/brooks/idocs/VonNeumann_EDVAC.pdf First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC]''
 * [https://history.computer.org/pioneers/pdfs/V/Von%20Neumann.pdf John Louis Von Neumann] - brief biography at the IEEE Computer Society
 {{DEFAULTSORT: von Neumann, John}}
 [[Category: People]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:08, 22 March 2024
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	* John von Neumann, ''[https://people.csail.mit.edu/brooks/idocs/VonNeumann_EDVAC.pdf First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC]''		* John von Neumann, ''[https://people.csail.mit.edu/brooks/idocs/VonNeumann_EDVAC.pdf First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC]''
		+	* [https://history.computer.org/pioneers/pdfs/V/Von%20Neumann.pdf John Louis Von Neumann] - brief biography at the IEEE Computer Society

	[[Category: People]]		[[Category: People]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 '''John von Neumann''' was a polymath who made several major developments to the early evolution of [[computer]]s.
-On the engineering side, after discussions with [[John Mauchly‏‎]], [[J. Presper Eckert]] and [[Herman Goldstine]] of the [[ENIAC]] project, about what to do next, he produced the famous ''First Draft of a Report on the [[EDVAC]]'', which set the direction for all further work on stored-[[program]] computers. (Which of them contributed exactly what to the document will probably never be known for certain, unfortunately.) It was famously a large influence on [[Alan Turing]]'s work on the [[Automatic Computing Engine]].
+On the engineering side, after discussions with [[John Mauchly‏‎]], [[J. Presper Eckert]] and [[Herman Goldstine]] of the [[ENIAC]] project, about what to do next, he produced the famous ''First Draft of a Report on the [[EDVAC]]'', which set the direction for all further work on stored-[[program]] computers. (Which of them contributed exactly what to the document will probably never be known for certain, unfortunately.) It was probably a large influence on [[Alan Turing]]'s work on the [[Automatic Computing Engine]]; and almost certainly was on [[Maurice Wilkes]]' design of the [[EDSAC]].
 He then played a lead role in the creation of the [[IAS computer]], which was the inspiration for many early computers (too many to list here), which were clones of it.
@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 On the theory side, he single-handedly founded the field of [[finite automata]], and did much important early work in it., including on self-replicating ones.
-His overall importance in the development of science and technology in the 20th century is almost impossible to overstate. Some people think he was probably the smartest person of the 20th century - and perhaps ever; many feel that if one put him in a room with Goedel, Einstein, Ramanujan, Turing and Tesla, he'd ''still'' be the smartest person in the room.
+His overall importance in the development of science and technology in the 20th century is almost impossible to overstate. Some people think he was probably the smartest person of the 20th century - and perhaps ever; many feel that if one put him in a room with Goedel, Einstein, Ramanujan, [[Alan Turing|Turing]] and Tesla, he'd ''still'' be the smartest person in the room.
 What is really astonishing about him is the ''range'' of fields in which he made key contributions. He started off in mathematics and physics (particularly quantum mechanics, to which he made significant contributions), then created game theory, made key contributions to computer science (above), and finished off with cellular automata.
-There have been other people with such a broad scope: Thomas Young, who did very important work on the wave theory of light, and also helped to decipher hieroglyphs (!); and [[Charles Babbage]], who in addition to his fundamental work on
+There have been other people with such a broad scope: Thomas Young, who did very important work on the wave theory of light, and also helped to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs (!); and [[Charles Babbage]], who in addition to his fundamental work on computing machines, made major contributions in economics, mathematics, and what eventually became operational research.
 {{semi-stub}}
@@ Line 19: / Line 18: @@
 * Ananyo Bhattacharya, ''The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann'', W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2022 - the best overall biography
-* Norman Macrae, ''John Von Neumann: The Scientific Genius Who Pioneered the Modern Computer, Game Theory, Nuclear Deterrence, and Much More'', Pantheon, New York, 1999 - suffers somewhat from being by a non-technical person (economics is on the fringe); but still readable
+* Norman Macrae, ''John Von Neumann: The Scientific Genius Who Pioneered the Modern Computer, Game Theory, Nuclear Deterrence, and Much More'', Pantheon, New York, 1999 - suffers somewhat from being by a non-technical person (Macrae's own work on economics is on the fringe of technology); but still readable
 * Steve J. Heims, ''John Von Neumann and Norbert Wiener: From Mathematics to the Technologies of Life and Death'', MIT Press, Cambridge, 1982
 * Herman H. Goldstine, ''The Computer from Pascal to von Neumann'', Princeton University, Princeton, 1972