Von Neumann

In 1943, Von Neumann was invited to work on the Manhattan Project. Von Neumann did crucial calculations on the implosion design of the atomic bomb, allowing for a more efficient, and more deadly, weapon. Von Neumann’s mathematical models were also used to plan out the path the bombers carrying the bombs would take to minimize their chances of being shot down. The mathematician helped select the location in Japan to bomb. Among the potential targets he examined was Kyoto, Yokohama, and Kokura.

“Of all of Von Neumann’s postwar work, his development of the digital computer looms the largest today.” (Poundstone 76) After examining the Army’s ENIAC during the war, Von Neumann came up with ideas for a better computer, using his mathematical abilities to improve the computer’s logic design. Once the war had ended, the U.S. Navy and other sources provided funds for Von Neumann’s machine, which he claimed would be able to accurately predict weather patterns.

Capable of 2,000 operations a second, the computer did not predict weather very well, but became quite useful doing a set of calculations necessary for the design of the hydrogen bomb. Von Neumann is also credited with coming up with the idea of basing computer calculations on binary numbers, having programs stored in computer’s memory in coded form as opposed to punchcards, and several other crucial developments. Von Neumann’s wife, Klara, became one of the first computer programmers.

Von Neumann later helped design the SAGE computer system designed to detect a Soviet nuclear attack.

In 1948, Von Neumann became a consultant for the RAND Corporation. RAND (Research ANd Development) was founded by defense contractors and the Air Force as a “think tank” to “think about the unthinkable.” Their main focus was exploring the possibilities of nuclear war and the possible strategies for such a possibility.

Von Neumann was, at the time, a strong supporter of “preventive war.” Confident even during World War II that the Russian spy network had obtained many of the details of the atom bomb design, Von Neumann knew that it was only a matter of time before the Soviet Union became a nuclear power. He predicted that were Russia allowed to build a nuclear arsenal, a war against the U.S. would be inevitable. He therefore recommended that the U.S. launch a nuclear strike at Moscow, destroying its enemy and becoming a dominant world power, so as to avoid a more destructive nuclear war later on. “With the Russians it is not a question of whether but of when,” he would say. An oft-quoted remark of his is, “If you say why not bomb them tomorrow, I say why not today? If you say today at 5 o’clock, I say why not one o’clock?”

In 1954, Von Neumann was appointed to the Atomic Energy Commission. A year later, he was diagnosed with bone cancer. William Poundstone’s Prisoner’s Dilemma suggests that the disease resulted from the radiation Von Neumann received as a witness to the atomic tests on Bikini atoll. “A number of physicists associated with the bomb succumbed to cancer at relatively early ages.” (p. 189)

Von Neumann maintained a busy schedule throughout his sickness, even when he became confined to a wheelchair. It has been claimed by some that the wheelchair-bound mathematician was the inspiration for the character of Dr. Strangelove in the 1963 film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

Von Neumann’s last public appearance was in February 1956, when President Eisenhower presented him with the Medal of Freedom at the White House. In April, Von Neumann checked into Walter Reed Hospital. He set up office in his room, and constantly received visitors from the Air Force and the Secretary of Defense office, still performing his duties as a consultant to many top political figures.

John von Neumann died February 8, 1957.

https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/soco/projects/1998-99/game-theory/neumann.html

http://archivesgamma.fr/1945/07/16/von-neumann