by Ananyo Bhattacharya (Author)

An electrifying biography of one of the most extraordinary scientists of the twentieth century and the world he made. 

The smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Nuclear weapons and self-replicating spacecrafts. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable, yet largely overlooked, man: John von Neumann.

Born in Budapest at the turn of the century, von Neumann is one of the most influential scientists to have ever lived. A child prodigy, he mastered calculus by the age of eight, and in high school made lasting contributions to mathematics. In Germany, where he helped lay the foundations of quantum mechanics, and later at Princeton, von Neumann’s colleagues believed he had the fastest brain on the planet—bar none. He was instrumental in the Manhattan Project and the design of the atom bomb; he helped formulate the bedrock of Cold War geopolitics and modern economic theory; he created the first ever programmable digital computer; he prophesized the potential of nanotechnology; and, from his deathbed, he expounded on the limits of brains and computers—and how they might be overcome.

Taking us on an astonishing journey, Ananyo Bhattacharya explores how a combination of genius and unique historical circumstance allowed a single man to sweep through a stunningly diverse array of fields, sparking revolutions wherever he went. The Man from the Future is an insightful and thrilling intellectual biography of the visionary thinker who shaped our century.

Review

"Rather like the books of Stephen Hawking or Carlo Rovelli…this one is rewarding on different levels. Everyone can grasp the significance of the puzzles posed, and if readers want to follow the genius through the steps of his solutions then Bhattacharya is a clear and authoritative guide."

― The Economist

"Non-Euclidean geometry, set theory, the prisoner’s dilemma, Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, self-replicating machines, game theory and nonlocality are among the astonishing range of topics that science journalist Ananyo Bhattacharya covers as he takes us on a whistle-stop tour through Von Neumann’s restless mind…[A] splendid new biography."

― Manjit Kumar, Guardian

"Bhattacharya is a first-class science writer with an impeccable pedigree and he does the best job I have seen of explaining the significance of von Neumann's work across many different fields… A fine tribute to von Neumann's genius and his contributions to science."

― John Gribbin, Literary Review

"Bhattacharya tells the story tremendously well, situating von Neumann’s work―in fields from quantum mechanics to game theory to cellular automata―as comfortably as I’ve ever seen it done. He’s also good at deadpan humor."

― David Bodanis, Financial Times

"[An] agile, intelligent, intellectually enraptured account of Von Neumann’s life."

― Simon Ings, Sunday Telegraph

Categories : General Technology & Reference, Biographies of Scientists, History of Technology

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B098TYZN67

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company (February 22, 2022)

Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 22, 2022

Language ‏ : ‎ English

File ‏ : ‎ EPUB, 19.79 MB

Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported

Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Print length ‏ : ‎ 355 pages