Neumann János

„ the last of the great mathematicians ”

Neumann János (December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian mathematician. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians in modern history.

The mathematician Jean Dieudonné called Neumann "the last of the great mathematicians.

• The eldest of three brothers, von Neumann was born Neumann János Lajos on December 28, 1903 in Budapest, AustroHungarian Empire, to a wealthy Jewish family.

• His father was Neumann Miksa (Max Neumann), a lawyer.

• His mother was Kann Margit (Margaret Kann).

He went to Lutheran Fasori High School in He went to Lutheran Fasori High School in Budapest like Jenő Wigner (who won a Budapest like Jenő Wigner (who won a Nobel-prize). Then he received his Ph.D. in Nobel-prize). Then he received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Pázmány Péter University, mathematics from Pázmány Péter University, he earned his diploma in chemical he earned his diploma in chemical engineering from the ETH Zurich in engineering from the ETH Zurich in Switzerland. Switzerland.

In 1930, Neumann, his mother, and his In 1930, Neumann, his mother, and his brothers emigrated to the United States. Until brothers emigrated to the United States. Until the outbreak of World War II, he mostly did the outbreak of World War II, he mostly did work in pure math, making important work in pure math, making important contributions to the fields of mathematical contributions to the fields of mathematical logic, set theory and operator theory. logic, set theory and operator theory.

• In 1944 He was a member of the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, in 1943 where he helped develop the atomic bomb.

• He became involved with efforts to develop computers, most notably ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator). which could be programmed to do different tasks, but this required a partial rewiring of the machine.

In 1955, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. While he was in the hospital he wrote a short monograph, The Computer and the Brain. He died a year and a half later, in great pain.