Synopses & Reviews
This volume is the reprinted edition of the first full-scale biography of
the man widely regarded as the greatest scientist of the century after
Einstein.
Born in Budapest in 1903, John von Neumann grew up in one of the
most extraordinary of scientific communities. From his arrival in America
in the mid-1930s with bases in Boston, Princeton, Washington, and Los
Alamos von Neumann pioneered and participated in the major scientific and
political dramas of the next three decades, leaving his mark on more fields
of scientific endeavor than any other scientist. Von Neumann's work in
areas such as game theory, mathematics, physics, and meteorology formed the
building blocks for the most important discoveries of the century: the
modern computer, game theory, the atom bomb, radar, and artificial
intelligence, to name just a few.
From the laboratory to the highest levels of government, this definitive
biography gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the politics and
personalities involved in these world-changing discoveries. Written more
than 30 years after von Neumann's untimely death at age 54, it was prepared
with the cooperation of his family and includes information gained from
interviewing countless sources across Europe and America. Norman Macrae
paints a highly readable, humanizing portrait of a man whose legacy still
influences and shapes modern science and knowledge.
Review
"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. But now, happily, we have one.
"Macrae nicely delineates the cultural, familial, and educational environment from which von Neumann sprang and sketches the mathematical and scientific environment in which he flourished. 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
Review
"A lively portrait of the hugely consequential nonmathematician-physicist-et al., whose genius has left an enduring impress on our thought, technology, society, and culture. A double salute to Steve White, who started this grand book designed for us avid, nonmathematical readers, and to Norman Macrae, who brought it to a triumphant conclusion." Robert K. Merton, Columbia University
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 391-394) and index.