John von Neumann (December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, engineer and polymath. He integrated pure and applied sciences and made major contributions to many fields, including mathematics, physics, economics, computing and statistics. He worked on the Manhattan Project with theoretical physicist Edward Teller, mathematician Stanislaw Ulam and others.
About John von Neumann in brief
John von Neumann (December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, engineer and polymath. Von Neumann was generally regarded as the foremost mathematician of his time. He integrated pure and applied sciences and made major contributions to many fields, including mathematics, physics, economics, computing and statistics. He was a pioneer of the application of operator theory to quantum mechanics in the development of functional analysis. He worked on the Manhattan Project with theoretical physicist Edward Teller, mathematician Stanislaw Ulam and others, problem-solving key steps in the nuclear physics involved in thermonuclear reactions and the hydrogen bomb. As a Hungarian émigré, concerned that the Soviets would achieve nuclear superiority, he designed and promoted the policy of mutually assured destruction to limit the arms race. His last work, an unfinished manuscript written while he was in the hospital, was later published in book form as The Computer and the Brain. His analysis of the structure of self-replication preceded the discovery of the Structure of DNA. He coined the term “kiloton” as a measure of the explosive force generated by a nuclear weapon. He died of cancer in New York City in 1957. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, and their three children, all of whom are now in their 80s and 90s, and his son, Michael, who is in his late 60s and 70s.
He had a son with his second wife, Barbara, and a daughter with his third wife, Susan, who are both in their 70s and 80s, respectively. He also had a step-son with his fourth wife, David, who was in his early 60s. His son Michael was a professor of computer science at the University of California, Los Angeles. His grandson Michael is a prominent computer scientist and professor of electrical and computer engineering at the California Institute of Technology. His great-grandson Michael is the chairman of the board of directors of the Computer Society of America, which he co-founded with his father. In his retirement, he wrote a book about the history of the computer industry, “The Computer Age: The Rise and Fall of the Digital Computer”. He died in his sleep on February 8, 1957, at the age of 80. He leaves behind a wife and three children. His grandchildren are Michael, Michael Jr., Michael III, Michael IV, Michael V, and Michael V. Jr., all of them in their 20s and 30s, as well as two step-great-grandchildren, Michael III and Michael IV Jr. The family name was Margittai, meaning Margitta, meaning “of Margitta” or “Margittai” The family had no connection with the town; the appellation was chosen in reference to a coat of arms depicting three marguerites. When he was six years old, he could divide two numbers in his head and could converse in Ancient Greek and Ancient Greek.
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