1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in history class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Frying and I'm Tracy B. Wilson, and today 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: we are going to delve into the life of a 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,319 Speaker 1: man who really shaped the world we live in in 6 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,919 Speaker 1: very tangible ways. And while he's quite well known in 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: mathematics and physics and even economics circles, he's not as 8 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: famous outside of academia as his contemporaries and colleagues such 9 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: as J. Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein. We are talking 10 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: about the Hungarian American genius John von Neumann, and from 11 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: pure mathematics two applied mathematics to physics to game theory. 12 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: He turned his intellect to many of the projects that 13 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: directly affected the course of the twentieth century, and that 14 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: includes the development of the atomic bomb as well as 15 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: the first computers. John von Neumann was born Neuman Janosh 16 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: on December in Budapest, Austria, Hungary. He was a child prodigy. 17 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 1: He liked to learn. He retained new information across a 18 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: wide range of topics. He was studying calculus by the 19 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: time he was eight, and he could already read classical 20 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: Greek by that time, and he likes to tell jokes 21 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: in classical Greek. If that's not the most charming thing, 22 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: like I know, I don't know many learned adults that 23 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: could do that. And yet here was an eight year 24 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: old star camp and his family was considered affluent. His mother, 25 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 1: margite Khan, had family money which had come from a 26 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: prosperous farm equipment company. They actually sort of lived in 27 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:47,560 Speaker 1: this big, massive place with his mother's family, where her 28 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: siblings and their children also lived, and it was, by 29 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: all accounts, are really lovely and sort of amazing way 30 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: to grow up. And his father, Meeks Annoyment, worked in banking, 31 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: and his parents really encouraged his talent. They were definitely 32 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: um fans of education and cultivating intellect, and to make 33 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: a game out of his photographic memory, they would sometimes select, 34 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: for example, a page from the phone book and he 35 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:14,959 Speaker 1: would have to look at it and then recite it 36 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: back from memory, and he was apparently really really good 37 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: at it. Uh and John, who later in his life 38 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: would go by Johnny once he had anglicized his name, 39 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: was also tutored by the best of Hungary's intellects. He 40 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: attended the Lutheran Gymnasium, which was considered to be the 41 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: top high school in Budapest. There he continued to excel 42 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: in math and language as he had as a child. 43 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: But when the Hungarian Communist Party seized control of the 44 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: government under the leadership of Bellacun In, the Neuman family 45 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: left the country. But because they were quite well off, 46 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: their story of running from Bellacun's regime, which only lasted 47 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 1: for four months, was definitely easier and more comfortable than 48 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,839 Speaker 1: most refugee story that you might hear. Uh. They spent 49 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: time in Vienna, and they also spent time at a 50 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: resort on the Adriatic, and when they returned to Budapest 51 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: after Coon's four months rule, John picked right back up 52 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: and resumed his studies. Initially, he wanted to become a mathematician, 53 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: but his father was concerned that this would not be 54 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: a very lucrative career path. He was still passionate about math, though, 55 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: so instead of abandoning it, he studied chemistry at the 56 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: same time to ease his father's fears. I sort of 57 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:32,079 Speaker 1: love that where he's like, I'm not willing to give 58 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: this up, but I hear you I will also do 59 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: this thing you think is more lucrative. Uh. And in 60 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: the meantime, as he was continuing his studies, a mathematical 61 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: paper he wrote while still in secondary school titled the 62 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: Introduction of Transfinite Ordinals was published in nine So today, uh, 63 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: for people who study mathematics and ordinal number is commonly 64 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: defined as a number that defines or identifies a thing's 65 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: position in a series. That definition is actually the work 66 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: of teenage von Neumann in this paper. In he graduated 67 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: from Zurich's Swiss Federal Institute with a chemical engineering degree 68 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: in that same year, his mathematical paper, The Axiomatization of 69 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: set Theory was published. The following year, he earned his 70 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 1: PhD in mathematics as puzmn Pat University. And he had 71 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: also minored during his PhD in experimental physics and chemistry. 72 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:32,799 Speaker 1: So once again he was just overachieving academically in ways 73 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,840 Speaker 1: that make most of us mortals feel very lazy. Yeah, 74 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: studying math and chemistry at the same time is uh, 75 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:44,599 Speaker 1: Like that makes more sense to me because there is 76 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:49,040 Speaker 1: so much of chemistry that requires um some complex math, 77 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: but then adding experimental physics. Having experimental physics chemistry and math. 78 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 1: It's like both experimental physics and chemistry rely on math, 79 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: but all three of those together, to me become a 80 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: very large pile of things to study. That is a 81 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: lot of disciplines. And apparently one of his favorite things 82 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: was to actually like look at textbooks and you know 83 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: how they will have diagrams at the back and formulas 84 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: that are like you, you will need to refer to 85 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 1: these to be able to to do some of the 86 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: work in the book. He would just go back and 87 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: memorize all of those things so he could just apply 88 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:24,159 Speaker 1: them really quickly while he was learning in all of 89 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: these different disciplines, which is amazing. Yeah. As a post doc, 90 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: he studied under renowned German mathematician David Hilbert, who was 91 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: one of the most significant influences on twentieth century mathematics. 92 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: Their relationship as colleagues began after one von Neumann's set 93 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: theory paper was published and it got him on Hilbert's 94 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: radar just for the sake saying so radar wouldn't actually 95 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 1: be invented for another decade. Yeah, I was using it 96 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: as a a form of expression, and then I was like, 97 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:01,480 Speaker 1: you know, all we should point out that radar didn't 98 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: exist yet. Just to be safe, considering how many emails 99 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 1: would get about decimate I understand. Yeah uh. And it 100 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,039 Speaker 1: wasn't long before von Neuman was teaching, so from seven 101 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: to nineteen twenty nine he lectured at the University of Berlin, 102 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: and he moved from that position to teaching at the 103 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: University of Hamburg, where he worked until nineteen thirty. And 104 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 1: while he was teaching, he was also working on a 105 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: book based on the work that he had been doing 106 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: with Hilbert. The Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, was published 107 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty two. This book resolved some issues of 108 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: quantum mechanics that had been at odds in the work 109 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: of his predecessors Schrodinger and Heisenberg, and von Neuman's writing 110 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: became very influential as a consequence, but his writings on 111 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: quantum mechanics weren't universally loved or even accepted. While some 112 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: physicists accepted the idea that von Neuman put forth of 113 00:06:56,279 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: indeterminacy of quantum theory with those scientists include Heisenberg, whose 114 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: own work on his uncertainty principle was related to it. 115 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: Albert Einstein, for example, did not accept it, but the 116 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: important thing was that von Neumann was making a name 117 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: for himself. He was basically at this point a superstar 118 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 1: in math circles, and people marveled at all the accomplishments 119 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: he managed at such a young age. He wrote papers 120 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: on multiple subjects and made significant marks in a wide 121 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: range of mathematical fields, and all of this when he 122 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: was still in his twenties. Von Neumann is also sometimes 123 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: called the father of game theory, and the inspiration for 124 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: his work in this area actually came from poker. His 125 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 1: paper Theory of Parlor Games was published in nineteen twenty eight, 126 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: and it explored mathematically the rational outcome of games through 127 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: strategy and how chance and bluffing play into the strategy 128 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: and outcome. In nine von Neumann traveled to the United 129 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: States as a guest of Princeton University, and the school 130 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 1: had asked the twenty five year old mathematician to deliver 131 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: a lecture on quantum theory, and his talk was so 132 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: well received that he was given the opportunity to continue 133 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: teaching as a visiting lecturer, and he had that job 134 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: from nineteen thirty to nineteen thirty three. Von Neumann had 135 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: just turned twenty six when he began teaching at Princeton, 136 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: and unfortunately his youth was something of a detriment, as 137 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 1: he didn't seem to fully understand that students needed a 138 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: little more time to catch up to his mathematical thinking, 139 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,560 Speaker 1: which was lightning quick. There were complaints that he would 140 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: erase things from the blackboards almost as soon as he 141 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: had written them down. Yeah, to someone like him who 142 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: had like this amazing flash memory and could see a 143 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: thing and then be like, yep, if I get that 144 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: formula and can apply it to various things, like students 145 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: were like, we can't hold on, it is great for you. Uh. 146 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 1: And incidentally, he would actually later say of this time 147 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: that he felt like it was when his mathematical ability 148 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: started to drop off. He said later in his life 149 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: that his mind was not as sharp and able to 150 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: do advanced calculations in his head starting when he was 151 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: twenty six, but that his experience in the more developed 152 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: understanding of mathematics that he had achieved by that point 153 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: kind of helped make up the gap. Coming up, we're 154 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: going to talk about big changes in von Neuman's life, 155 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: but before we do, we will pause for a little 156 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: sponsor break. In nineteen thirty, the same year that that 157 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: Princeton visiting lecturer job began, von Neuman got married to 158 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:38,680 Speaker 1: a woman named Marriotte Covesi. He started teaching at the 159 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: Institute for Advanced Study in ninety three. The institute, which 160 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,080 Speaker 1: was founded in nineteen thirty, had, in the writing of 161 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 1: its founding director Abraham Flexner, the following mission quote. The 162 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,719 Speaker 1: institute should be small and plastic, that is, flexible. It 163 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: should be a haven where scholars and scientists could regard 164 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 1: the world and its phenomena as their las obratry, without 165 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:03,439 Speaker 1: being carried off in the mail storm of the immediate. 166 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 1: It should be simple, comfortable, quiet, without being monastic or remote. 167 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: It should be afraid of no issue. Yet it should 168 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: be under no pressure from any side which might tend 169 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 1: to force its scholars to be prejudiced, either for or 170 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: against any particular solution of the problems understudy. And it 171 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:26,079 Speaker 1: should provide the facilities, the tranquility, and the time requisite 172 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: to fundamental inquiry into the unknown. Its scholars should enjoy 173 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: complete intellectual liberty and be absolutely free from administrative responsibilities 174 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: or concerns. I think that probably sounds like nirvana to 175 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:43,680 Speaker 1: most people in higher education. Sounds a wonderful And when 176 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:47,920 Speaker 1: the Institute started it's School of Mathematics in two it 177 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: hired Albert Einstein and mathematical topology innovator Oswald Veblen. And 178 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 1: Beblin incidentally had been the person who had invited von 179 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 1: Neumann to speak on quantum theory at for Inston. So 180 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 1: I von Nomen joining this mathematics faculty in nineteen thirty 181 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: three really shows how highly he was regarded. We should 182 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: be clear that while these people carried the title of 183 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: faculty and technically worked at what was called a school, 184 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: they weren't teaching. The Institute was and is a place 185 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: where great minds are hired to think and explore ideas 186 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: without the trappings of typical academia. Yeah, that's basically what 187 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:27,320 Speaker 1: that flexner a bit that Tracy read was about, just 188 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 1: saying like, there's no you don't have to worry about 189 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:32,679 Speaker 1: publisher parish, you don't have to worry about like students evaluating. 190 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:35,320 Speaker 1: You just come here and think and we will publish 191 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 1: you know your findings, and we will educate the world 192 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: that way. And of course, during this time that von 193 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: Neuman was spending in the United States, there was massive 194 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 1: political shifts and upheaval happening back home. So when Hitler 195 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:51,839 Speaker 1: was named Chancellor of Germany the same year that von 196 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: Neumann took his job at the Institute for Advanced Study, 197 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: the mathematician gave up his teaching positions in Berlin. Officially 198 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: they had sort of been still his but on hold. 199 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 1: While he visited the US, he spoke openly that he 200 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 1: felt that the Nazi regime was setting science in Germany 201 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: back by a significant margin. In nineteen thirty five, John 202 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: and his wife Maryette had a daughter, Marina, but the 203 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: family didn't stay together long. The couple divorced two years later, 204 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 1: and they were on good terms though, and it was 205 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 1: an amicable end. Mariette had fallen in love with a physicist, 206 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: and von Neuman soon started seeing a childhood sweetheart named 207 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: Clara Dan. Clara was married when she and John reconnected, 208 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: but divorced her husband, and she and von Neuman were 209 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: married in ninety eight. Yes, so just for clarity that 210 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: all happened in a very short period of time, like 211 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: between ninety seven and nine. Their life had ended and 212 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,600 Speaker 1: they were both remarried, but they did. They really were 213 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: quite amicable. They worked together on various things going forward. 214 00:12:55,920 --> 00:13:00,679 Speaker 1: Throughout their lives. They shared custody of their daughter, and 215 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: by her accounts, you know, she really had both parents 216 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,439 Speaker 1: very involved in her life. But in the midst of 217 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: all of this household shifting, von Neuman became a naturalized 218 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:12,719 Speaker 1: US citizen in nineteen thirty seven at the age of 219 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,439 Speaker 1: thirty three, and he also continued writing papers and introducing 220 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 1: ideas into the mathematics community. His theory of rings of 221 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:23,960 Speaker 1: operators eventually came to be known as von Neumann algebras, 222 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: and he began to work in lattice theory, which is 223 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,440 Speaker 1: an extension of the study of Bullian algebras, and he 224 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 1: made the move from pure mathematics two applied mathematics. In 225 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:37,559 Speaker 1: nineteen forty, von Neuman was made a member of the 226 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 1: U S Scientific Advisory Committee, and in that capacity he 227 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,959 Speaker 1: worked at the Maryland Aberdeen Improving Ground Ballistic Research Laboratories. 228 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: He also served on the Navy Bureau of Ordnance starting 229 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty one, and he remained in that position 230 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: until the mid nineteen fifties. Yes, so all of his 231 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: ability to do those like incredibly complex calculations literally in 232 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:03,680 Speaker 1: his head very very quickly, really became important to these 233 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: different agencies that were developing things like weapons, because he 234 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: could say, like, no, the trajectory will go like this, 235 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:11,839 Speaker 1: the explosion will go like this. Uh, and he was 236 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: incredibly accurate. On September twenty, nineteen forty three, von Neuman 237 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: joined the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico. So uh, 238 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,560 Speaker 1: it's a very brief, glossy version. The Manhattan Project was, 239 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: of course, the research and development effort of the United 240 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 1: States in cooperation with the United Kingdom to produce the 241 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: first atomic weapons. He had been invited onto the team 242 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 1: by Jay Robert Oppenheimer. His mathematical skills were critical to 243 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: the calculations that went into designing and building the first 244 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: atomic bomb. Von Neuman, along with four other Hungarian intellectuals 245 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,960 Speaker 1: on the project, which were Theodore von Carmen, Leo Zilar, 246 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 1: Eugene P. Vigner, and Edward Teller, came to be known 247 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 1: by the nickname the Martians. And there are a number 248 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 1: of apoca full stories about how that that nickname came about, 249 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: but they kind of all boiled down to this same idea, 250 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 1: which is that these five men, all from Hungary, were 251 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: too brilliant to just be mere humans, and they must 252 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,400 Speaker 1: be Martians disguising themselves as Hungarians to walk among us. 253 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: Like I said, there are sort of variations on the 254 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: specifics of that, but that's kind of the joke. But 255 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: all of them, who were transplants from a Europe that 256 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 1: had been severely changed by the rise of Hitler, really 257 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 1: were willing to do this because they wanted to help 258 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: in the war effort. For von Neuman, this was not 259 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: an out of the blue transition from academia to the 260 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:40,840 Speaker 1: war effort. Von Neuman had already been assisting the British, 261 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:45,400 Speaker 1: applying his acquired knowledge of non linear physics to analyze 262 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:49,240 Speaker 1: shock waves and hydron dynamics and ultimately to help develop 263 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: chemical explosives With that knowledge, and once he arrived at 264 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 1: Los Alamos, von Neuman was instrumental in determining that an 265 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:01,440 Speaker 1: implosion type design for the particular weapon was a better 266 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: option rather than a nuclear bomb that would have what 267 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 1: was called a gun type design. He was a primary 268 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 1: player in the design of the explosive lenses that were 269 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: used in implosion type bomb designs. These so called lenses 270 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: were actually a combination of chemicals, some of which burned 271 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: more quickly than others, and that was designed to control 272 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:27,960 Speaker 1: the blast and to achieve a symmetrical explosion. And von 273 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: Neumann really worked through most of the atomic bomb's most 274 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:34,760 Speaker 1: important development stages, and he was one of the people 275 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: present at the Trinity site when the first atomic bomb 276 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: was tested. Von Neumann was also one of the people 277 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: who decided where the first bombs would be dropped. He 278 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: became part of the target selection committee on in April 279 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: of as targets were assessed. It was his work in 280 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: mathematics that calculated data relating to projecting deaths, the blast size, 281 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: and detonation locations to max surmised the impact. While at 282 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: one point the committee considered dropping a bomb on the 283 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:09,359 Speaker 1: Imperial Palace in Tokyo, von Neumann was one of the 284 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,560 Speaker 1: voices who argued against it. And next up we are 285 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:16,160 Speaker 1: going to get a little bit into von Neuman's return 286 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: to game theory and his work in computer science, which 287 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: we are all benefiting from literally every day at this point. 288 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:23,760 Speaker 1: But first we'll have a word from one of our 289 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 1: fantastic sponsors. Throughout his work on the Manhattan Project, von 290 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 1: Neuman was also thinking once again of game theory, which 291 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 1: neither he nor anyone else had really done any significant 292 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,639 Speaker 1: work in since his publication of Theory of Parlor Games 293 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:49,400 Speaker 1: in so sixteen years after that paper, in nineteen four, 294 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:53,120 Speaker 1: von Neumann published a book he co authored with Oscar Morgenstern, 295 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:57,399 Speaker 1: who was a prominent economist. That book, Theory of Games 296 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:00,879 Speaker 1: and Economic Behavior, which incidentally is still in print and 297 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:04,399 Speaker 1: can be found in its entirety online, made game theory 298 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: incredibly popular. It is a dense read at more than 299 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,840 Speaker 1: six hundred pages, but it got the intellectual community talking 300 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: about how game theory could be applied to all kinds 301 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: of different fields. Yeah, it suddenly became like the hot 302 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,879 Speaker 1: topic to talk about game theory as it related to 303 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 1: everything from like business to leisure and everything in between. 304 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 1: Um von Neumann was also, as we've been mentioning leading 305 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,399 Speaker 1: up to this, was also a very key figure in 306 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: the birth of modern computing. So what's commonly known as 307 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:41,400 Speaker 1: any ACT, which is the Electronic numeracle integrator and computer, 308 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 1: was a project that von Neumann also had a hand in. 309 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,479 Speaker 1: After World War Two, the U. S Army asked him 310 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:50,120 Speaker 1: to work on that project as a consultant, and how 311 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:52,479 Speaker 1: he got the job is actually a really interesting story. 312 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:56,680 Speaker 1: So while he was waiting on a train platform, Herman H. Goldstein, 313 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 1: who was a mathematician and reserve officer of the Ordinance 314 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,560 Speaker 1: Department who was kind of working in the liaison capacity 315 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: on this project, actually recognized von Neuman, who was of 316 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: course famous in UH, you know, math and physics and 317 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,119 Speaker 1: economic circles, and he walked up and introduced himself, and 318 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:14,919 Speaker 1: the two men had a brief conversation, and the result 319 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: was that Goldstein asked von Neuman to travel to Philadelphia 320 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,919 Speaker 1: to work on any Act. Von Neuman built on the 321 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:24,040 Speaker 1: work of anti acts designers John W. Mautley and J. 322 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: Pressper Eckert Jr. He shifted its design to make it 323 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: a programmable machine, and as he worked on the thirty 324 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,200 Speaker 1: ton Behemoth, he also began to see what the next 325 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:39,920 Speaker 1: generation of computer could be. And as an aside, UH, 326 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,760 Speaker 1: the computer modeled weather forecasts that give us advanced warning 327 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: of hazards and conditions today also owe their genesis to 328 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,080 Speaker 1: von Neumann because he led a team that harnessed Eniacs 329 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 1: power to create nu miracle weather forecasts. Von Neuman had 330 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 1: a concept of a computer architecture where a program and 331 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,919 Speaker 1: data are Ard in the same memory that idea was 332 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,639 Speaker 1: the first of its kind, and once he concluded his 333 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:08,240 Speaker 1: work on any Act, he returned to the Institute for 334 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:11,280 Speaker 1: Advanced Study and campaigned for a computer to be built 335 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:15,840 Speaker 1: with this structure. The Institute's computer also used binary arithmetic 336 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 1: rather than decimal numbers, and initially this really seemed preposterous 337 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,719 Speaker 1: when he proposed the idea that would eventually manifest as 338 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,199 Speaker 1: the Institute's electronic computer project. Like they had nothing of 339 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: the kind. They were all doing their intellectual projects on 340 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 1: their own, and while some of a. Neuman's colleagues thought 341 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:35,439 Speaker 1: it was a problematic concept and would just be a 342 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: waste of resources, there were others who supported and really 343 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 1: fully championed it, and eventually this electronic computer project was 344 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:46,200 Speaker 1: set up in the basement of one of the institute's buildings, 345 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: fold Hall. At the same time, the Army wanted additional 346 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: computers built after the war, and based on von Neuman's work, 347 00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:57,280 Speaker 1: which had begun when any Act was not yet completed, 348 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:03,880 Speaker 1: the Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer or EDVAC was built 349 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: at the More School of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, 350 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:10,680 Speaker 1: just as any that had been the EDVAC was built 351 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,120 Speaker 1: using von Neumann's so called logical design, which he laid 352 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 1: out in an initial report published on June, and we're 353 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: going to read a little bit from that because it's 354 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,720 Speaker 1: so elegantly lays out what a computer is. He described 355 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 1: in his introduction exactly what is meant by the term 356 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 1: automatic computing system so quote. An automatic computing system is 357 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:37,920 Speaker 1: a usually highly composite device which can carry out instructions 358 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:42,159 Speaker 1: to perform calculations of a considerable order of complexity e g. 359 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: To solve a nonlinear partial differential equation in two or 360 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 1: three independent variables. Numerically, the instructions which govern this operation 361 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: must be given to the device in absolutely exhausted detail. 362 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 1: They include all numerical information which is required to solve 363 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:02,159 Speaker 1: the problem under considerations, initial and boundary values of the 364 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:07,399 Speaker 1: dependent variables, values of fixed parameters, constants, tables of fixed 365 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,560 Speaker 1: functions which occur in the statement of a problem. These 366 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,520 Speaker 1: instructions must be given in some form which the device 367 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,399 Speaker 1: cansents punched into a system of punch cards or on 368 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 1: a teletype tape, magnetically impressed on steel taper, wire photographically 369 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 1: impressed on motion picture film, wired into one or more 370 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: fixed or exchangeable plug boards, this list being by no 371 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 1: means necessarily complete. All these procedures require the use of 372 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:36,360 Speaker 1: some code to express the logical and the algebraic definition 373 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 1: of the problem under consideration, as well as the necessary 374 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: numerical material. Once seas instructions are given to the device, 375 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: it must be able to carry them out completely and 376 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:50,399 Speaker 1: without any need for further intelligent human intervention. At the 377 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,480 Speaker 1: end of the required operations, the device must record the 378 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:56,359 Speaker 1: results again in one of the forms referred to above. 379 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:00,400 Speaker 1: The results are numerical data. They are a specific part 380 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,359 Speaker 1: of the numerical material produced by the device in the 381 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:07,639 Speaker 1: process of carrying out the instructions referred above. As he 382 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: continued to explain his logical structure of a computer that 383 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: would be faster and more powerful than its predecessor, von 384 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:19,359 Speaker 1: Neuman opted to use biological semiles likening various components of 385 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 1: the larger whole too Organs. This writing is the basis 386 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 1: of the modern computer, which is now called von Neuman architecture. 387 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: Von Neumann's efforts in computing during this time, particularly the 388 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: work that he published about their design, did not go 389 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:39,159 Speaker 1: over well with Moushley and Eckert, who were applying for 390 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,919 Speaker 1: a patent on their design. Do you recall they designed 391 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,879 Speaker 1: any act And there's actually a really fantastic patent Moore's 392 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: Battle about early computers that would make an excellent episode 393 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: all on its own one day. But for the scope 394 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:52,880 Speaker 1: of this one, it is enough to know that von 395 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,920 Speaker 1: Neumann publishing all of his information on structure around the world, 396 00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: and that work being picked up by various entities who 397 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,919 Speaker 1: were developing their own computers was enough to be really 398 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 1: problematic for the any designers plans to get a patent. 399 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,720 Speaker 1: After his work with the Army, von Neuman also worked 400 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: with the US Air Force and the Rand Corporation. At 401 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:15,919 Speaker 1: the time, the two entities were collaborating on developing a 402 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,480 Speaker 1: nuclear strategy, and von Neuman, in his game theory, became 403 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:23,240 Speaker 1: important to that process. He was a proponent of striking 404 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:26,359 Speaker 1: the Soviets with a hydrogen bomb to put a swift 405 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: end to their new efforts in nuclear warfare, while more 406 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: pacifist views ultimately prevailed. Von Neuman is credited with establishing 407 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:39,080 Speaker 1: the concept of mutual assured destruction as a conceptual strategy. 408 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: He became a member of the Armed Forces Special Weapons 409 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: Project in nineteen fifty and he remained part of that 410 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: project for five years. In nineteen fifty four, von Neumann 411 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 1: was appointed to the Atomic Energy Commission, which served to 412 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,919 Speaker 1: control the uses of nuclear technology and both weaponry and 413 00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,399 Speaker 1: non military uses. He served on the Commission until nineteen six, 414 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: and von Neuman was also awarded the Enrico Fermi Award 415 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty six, and that same year President Eisenhower 416 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,480 Speaker 1: also presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 417 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty five, while working on the Atomic Energy Commission, 418 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: von Neuman was diagnosed with bone cancer. He died on 419 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: February eighth, ninety seven, at the age of fifty three, 420 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,600 Speaker 1: in Walter Reid Army Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, and he 421 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,439 Speaker 1: had spent his final days in a suite there like 422 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:32,159 Speaker 1: he really had like this large area, And that was 423 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:34,919 Speaker 1: in part due to respect for who he was and 424 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,280 Speaker 1: what he had contributed, But it was also a matter 425 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:41,640 Speaker 1: of national security, So according to his daughter's memoir, numerous 426 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,560 Speaker 1: high ranking military officials came to see him at the 427 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,439 Speaker 1: end to get as much information from him about his 428 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:50,440 Speaker 1: top secret projects as possible before he died, so that 429 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,720 Speaker 1: the information did not go with him, and additionally, a 430 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:57,120 Speaker 1: rotation of eight airmens served as security, making sure von 431 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:00,360 Speaker 1: Neuman didn't tell any military secrets to anyone other than 432 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:03,119 Speaker 1: those with top secret clearance while he was under the 433 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: influence of medication or just from exhaustion from fighting the cancer. 434 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,439 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty the computer he had developed for the 435 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:15,480 Speaker 1: Institute of Advanced Study was donated to the Smithsonian. And 436 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 1: what really emerges when you read about von Neuman's personality 437 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,840 Speaker 1: is to me perhaps the most fascinating thing about him, 438 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 1: because while he was clearly a genius, he was also 439 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:31,119 Speaker 1: pretty modest about those gifts. Despite an impressive list of accomplishments, 440 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:33,359 Speaker 1: he also felt that he had never lived up to 441 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,120 Speaker 1: what people had expected of a man of his talents 442 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:40,480 Speaker 1: and natural intellect. And while the heady and intensely intellectual 443 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 1: nature of his work might lead to the assumption that 444 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,920 Speaker 1: von Neumann was a solitary, nerdy type of person toiling 445 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,760 Speaker 1: away at his formulas, he was anything but that. He 446 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 1: was very outgoing, very likable, and he managed to navigate 447 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: the egos and personalities of academia while being liked and 448 00:26:55,840 --> 00:27:01,000 Speaker 1: admired by his colleagues. Uh. But it makes me chuckle, 449 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:04,679 Speaker 1: because I I recall professors of mine talking about having 450 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,640 Speaker 1: what they termed knocked down, drag out fights as faculty 451 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 1: at faculty meetings. Oh yeah, I have, I have. We 452 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: both have friends in academia, and I hear like some 453 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: very dramatic argument type things. He didn't seem to have those. Yeah, 454 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: if someone with a natural talent like his could have 455 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:23,159 Speaker 1: easily developed a superiority complex, but it really seems like 456 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:27,880 Speaker 1: von von Neuman did not. Yeah. I get the sense 457 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:31,440 Speaker 1: that he was very aware that his his thinking capacity 458 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:33,919 Speaker 1: was at a level above most other people, But he 459 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:39,040 Speaker 1: didn't seem um to to make that like a thing. 460 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: He didn't. That wasn't what defined him. He did, actually, though, 461 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,000 Speaker 1: bump into some problems with colleagues, particularly later when he 462 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:48,639 Speaker 1: was working in applied mathematics, due to the fact that 463 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:50,880 Speaker 1: he would take some up someone's idea like he would 464 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:53,439 Speaker 1: hear an idea, and because he was so smart, he 465 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,360 Speaker 1: would often really quickly leap frog over what they had 466 00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 1: figured out and have ideas about how it could all 467 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:01,919 Speaker 1: be solved and how to implement the thing that they 468 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,640 Speaker 1: had thought of initially. And to him this was just 469 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,879 Speaker 1: a matter of solving problems and exploring ideas, but to 470 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 1: the people that he was mentally lead frogging in the process, 471 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:13,760 Speaker 1: it was really frustrating. I imagine he never understood that 472 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: point of view because it never happened to him. Like 473 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,159 Speaker 1: he was always so far ahead of everybody else, no 474 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:21,600 Speaker 1: one else could do the same thing back to him. 475 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 1: Von Neumann's daughter, Maria von Neuman Whitman, wrote her memoir 476 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 1: entitled The Martians Daughter in and In this memoir she 477 00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:34,560 Speaker 1: relates his proclivity for expressing his emotional side through letters. 478 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:37,960 Speaker 1: Through his writing, he advised her, as a young woman 479 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 1: about to graduate from college in the fifties, to postpone 480 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:44,360 Speaker 1: her planned marriage. He was concerned that she would become 481 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:47,880 Speaker 1: tied to a housewife's life and not fulfill her own 482 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 1: life's potential. She did not put it off. Uh. Yeah, 483 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 1: this really jumped out to me and was very striking 484 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,640 Speaker 1: because many fathers of that era facing their own mortality. 485 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:01,040 Speaker 1: This was basically written from his day up then would 486 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:03,480 Speaker 1: probably urge their daughter like, yes, settle down, you will 487 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,960 Speaker 1: have security. But von Neuman prized intellectual pursuit above such things. 488 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 1: He believed that everyone had a moral obligation to use 489 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:14,200 Speaker 1: their intellect to its fullest possibility, and he wanted that 490 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: for his daughter as well as anyone else. Yeah. Well, 491 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 1: and I think like we're not at all casting disparagement 492 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 1: on people who choose to stay on the family today, 493 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:26,840 Speaker 1: but at the time this was so much out of 494 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:33,520 Speaker 1: the norm for young women. Ah. But it's striking that 495 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: that that was the TACKI tick on it. Biographer Norman 496 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,640 Speaker 1: McRae wrote a von Neuman quote, the cheapest way to 497 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:43,479 Speaker 1: make the world richer would be to get lots of 498 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:49,680 Speaker 1: his Like, Yeah, that seemed like such a uh nice 499 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: way to kind of wrap up von Neuman's life. It's 500 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:55,800 Speaker 1: interesting because obviously he had a hand in some incredibly 501 00:29:55,840 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 1: destructive things. I think his motivations were, you know, as 502 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:03,680 Speaker 1: we mentioned, largely due to the fact that he had 503 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 1: had been uh in Europe when he saw things going 504 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,360 Speaker 1: terribly poorly and wanted to change it. That's one of 505 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:13,959 Speaker 1: those things that can always be debated. But he strikes 506 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,400 Speaker 1: me as such a fascinating man. There's some really fun 507 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:19,720 Speaker 1: footage that I stumbled across of him where he did 508 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 1: an appearance talking to school children and he has this 509 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 1: really beautiful Hungarian accent, and he seems so sweet. And 510 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:29,880 Speaker 1: this one kid is asking him like, you're inventing always 511 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:32,760 Speaker 1: new things and computers, and but who's going to run them? 512 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: And he's so like, well, we have to start training people. 513 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,400 Speaker 1: We have to start training young people when they are young, 514 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 1: because if we wait until their adults and ask them 515 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:42,560 Speaker 1: to get interested, they'll never know if they have natural 516 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:44,480 Speaker 1: talent for it or not. We will have wasted years 517 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:48,280 Speaker 1: of development. And he just had such a like complete 518 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 1: proponents angle on educating kids, which he had inherited, of 519 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,400 Speaker 1: course from his parents and their parents before them, who 520 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,520 Speaker 1: had all really promoted education. Uh. And it was just 521 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:02,680 Speaker 1: very charming. So yeah, that's John Monnyman who fascinates and 522 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 1: delights me because I do I do, I do I do? Uh. 523 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,720 Speaker 1: This listener mail is another lovely gift from our listener April, 524 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 1: and she writes, Hello Holly and Tracy Howdy from West Texas. 525 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:19,840 Speaker 1: While visiting the Molly Brown House in Denver last month, 526 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: I found these handkerchiefs that look perfect for a podcast. 527 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: Royalty to me, the unsinkable Margaret Brown captures the spirit 528 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: of stuff you missed in history class with her strength, 529 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:31,720 Speaker 1: can do attitude and excellent sense of Style. I was 530 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,480 Speaker 1: inspired after listening to the show about the Wasps to 531 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: visit their museum in Sweetwater. I made sure to stop 532 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 1: at the wishing well where graduates tossed in coins and 533 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 1: now where they meet at the beginning of their reunions. 534 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:46,520 Speaker 1: It was an honor to walk around the fields where 535 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:50,000 Speaker 1: these remarkable women once flew. I made sure to send 536 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:54,960 Speaker 1: their likeness of the roll Doll inspired Disney designed mascot Fifinella. 537 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,120 Speaker 1: It's a cute little sticker that she sent us. Uh. And, 538 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: as you have probably already guessed, I have the epest 539 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 1: respect and admiration for your wonderful podcasts. One topic I 540 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,280 Speaker 1: wish to discuss as the occasional complaint about the volume 541 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:09,680 Speaker 1: of shows about women. To me, the podcast is not 542 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 1: called stuff you already got from History Glass and generally 543 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,440 Speaker 1: the lesson, the lesser told stories are about the unsung 544 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,480 Speaker 1: and marginalized. I love hearing about the lives of inspiring 545 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 1: people that make me say wow. Thanks to you, I 546 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:24,360 Speaker 1: have the chance to be amazed several times a week. 547 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 1: Three cheers to the history ladies. That's so sweet. Thank 548 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:29,640 Speaker 1: you so much, April And she wrote this on Adorable 549 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:32,560 Speaker 1: Stationary with a kittie on it um, so thank you. 550 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:36,000 Speaker 1: These handkerchiefs that she sent are these beautiful, delicate little 551 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:39,800 Speaker 1: lace handkerchiefs. I love them. We also got some bookmarks 552 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:44,320 Speaker 1: from her from the WASP Museum. Super sweet. Thank you, 553 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 1: thank you, thank you. If you would like to write 554 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:47,960 Speaker 1: to us, you can do so at History podcast at 555 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 1: how stuffworks dot com. You can also find us across 556 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,840 Speaker 1: the spectrum of social media as missed in History, and 557 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 1: you can find us at missed in History dot com. Uh. 558 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:58,880 Speaker 1: You can also visit our parents site, which is how 559 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,240 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. I been anything you like in 560 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: the search bar and you will come up with a 561 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:06,000 Speaker 1: wealth of options to explore and learn from. You can 562 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:07,760 Speaker 1: go to our site, as I said, missed in History 563 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 1: dot com to find back episodes of every single episode 564 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:14,480 Speaker 1: of the podcasts has ever existed, as well as show 565 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:16,240 Speaker 1: notes on any of the ones that Tracy and I 566 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:18,960 Speaker 1: have worked on together. So we encourage you come and 567 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,480 Speaker 1: visit us at missed in History dot com and how 568 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 1: stop works dot com. For more on this and thousands 569 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 1: of other topics, visit how stop works dot com.