The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann
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Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann
#2Nice article. Are there any good biographies of John von Neumann that are highly recommended?
EDIT: found it at the end of the article
" For anyone interested in learning more about the life and work of John von Neumann, I especially recommend his friend Stanislaw Ulam’s 1958 essay John von Neumann 1903–1957 in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society 64 (3) pp 1–49 and the book John von Neumann by Norman Macrae (1992). "
Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann
#3Nice article. Are there any good biographies of John von Neumann that are highly recommended? EDIT: found it at the end of the article " For anyone interested in learning more about the life and work of John von Neumann, I especially recommend his friend Stanislaw Ulam’s 1958 essay John von Neumann 1903–1957 in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society 64 (3) pp 1–49 and the book John von Neumann by Norman Ma…
Apparently there are none. Judging by the Amazon reviews of Macrae, I’d pass. I found some other discussions of the question:
https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/36ipik/good_biography...
https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-good-biography-book-about-Jo...
Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann
#4Nice article. Are there any good biographies of John von Neumann that are highly recommended? EDIT: found it at the end of the article " For anyone interested in learning more about the life and work of John von Neumann, I especially recommend his friend Stanislaw Ulam’s 1958 essay John von Neumann 1903–1957 in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society 64 (3) pp 1–49 and the book John von Neumann by Norman Ma…
The author posted a reading list:
Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann
#5Nice article. Are there any good biographies of John von Neumann that are highly recommended? EDIT: found it at the end of the article " For anyone interested in learning more about the life and work of John von Neumann, I especially recommend his friend Stanislaw Ulam’s 1958 essay John von Neumann 1903–1957 in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society 64 (3) pp 1–49 and the book John von Neumann by Norman Ma…
I highly recommend "Turing's Cathedral" by George Dyson. I easily rate it n+1 stars out of n.
Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann
#6Nice article. Are there any good biographies of John von Neumann that are highly recommended? EDIT: found it at the end of the article " For anyone interested in learning more about the life and work of John von Neumann, I especially recommend his friend Stanislaw Ulam’s 1958 essay John von Neumann 1903–1957 in the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society 64 (3) pp 1–49 and the book John von Neumann by Norman Ma…
Apparently there are none. Judging by the Amazon reviews of Macrae, I’d pass. I found some other discussions of the question: https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/36ipik/good_biography... https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-good-biography-book-about-Jo...
I tend to agree, but Macrae isn't bad.
Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann
#7Wouldn't einstein qualify as the most intelligent human ever lived?
Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann
#8Wouldn't einstein qualify as the most intelligent human ever lived?
In terms of sheer power of computation, I would say clearly not.
Take, for instance, his race against David Hilbert to get the equations of general relativity in correct form. It's not perfectly clear that Einstein was able to keep up with him, in finishing his own theory: https://medium.com/cantors-paradise/einstein-and-hilberts-ra...
In terms of creativity, perhaps so.
Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann
#9Awww, I was hoping they'd mention how Neumann was keen on launching a preemptive nuclear strike against the USSR.
Re: The Unparalleled Genius of John von Neumann
#10I have always wondered how close von Neumann was to the maximum human potential. Does he sit close the outer edge of possible human potential, or can greater geniuses be created? Is there anyone alive who even comes close to Johnny?