Nobel Laureate, built computers in ‘40s that remain the blueprint today
Physicist, Mathematician
Budapest, Hungary
Nobel Laureate math whiz built computers in the 1940s
Lived and worked in Princeton for over two decades
John von Neumann commanded such respect among his peers, one was heard to say that “keeping up with him is like being on a tricycle trying to keep up with a race car.” Another observed “there are two kinds of people in the world; Johnny von Neumann and the rest of us.”
It was said that at the age of six, von Neumann could divide eight digit numbers in his head and was fluent in Latin and ancient Greek.
He earned a degree in Chemical Engineering in Zurich and a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Budapest in 1926.
His scholarly accomplishments earned him an invitation to be one of the first five professors at the newly-created Princeton Institute for Advance Study in 1930. Von Neumann remained there until his death in 1957.
Von Neumann was involved in many top secrets projects, including the building of the atomic bomb, where he helped determine the best way to explode the weapon’s uranium core. He became an influential member of the Atomic Energy Commission during the 1950s.
He is also considered a Founding Father of computing, having built one in the 1940’s, the architecture of which remains the blueprint for modern computers. He also provided a mathematical groundwork for quantum mechanics.
So widespread was his involvement in sensitive projects, that as he lay dying of cancer at Walter Reed Hospital, his room was under constant guard in case he should blurt out secrets while heavily medicated.