,JOHN VON ,NEUMANN "<#BH ,DECEMBER #AIJC #H ,FEBRUARY #AIEG"> BORN ,NEUMANN ;,JNOS ,LAJOS IN ,BUDAPEST WAS A ,HUNGARIAN-,AMERICAN MATHEMATICIAN WHOSE FINGERPRINTS ARE ON MORE FIELDS THAN PERHAPS ANY OTHER SCIENTIST OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY3 SET THEORY1 QUANTUM MECHANICS1 GAME THEORY1 ECONOMICS1 NUCLEAR WEAPONS1 AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE MODERN COMPUTER4 ,THE VON ,NEUMANN ARCHITECTURE MEMORY1 PROCESSOR1 STORED PROGRAM IS NAMED FOR HIM1 AND THE ,,EDVAC REPORT HE WROTE IN #AIDE DEFINED WHAT A COMPUTER IS4 ,THE PRODIGY ,VON ,NEUMANN WAS A LEGEND FROM CHILDHOOD BY SIX HE COULD DIVIDE EIGHT-DIGIT NUMBERS IN HIS HEAD2 BY EIGHT HE KNEW CALCULUS4 ,HE TOOK DEGREES SIMULTANEOUSLY IN MATHEMATICS "<,BUDAPEST1 #AIBF"> AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING "<,,ETH ,ZURICH">1 MOVED TO ,GERMANY1 AND IN HIS EARLY TWENTIES PUBLISHED THE PAPERS THAT BECAME THE MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATION OF QUANTUM MECHANICS STILL TAUGHT TODAY TURNING THE NEW PHYSICS FROM A PILE OF RULES INTO A RIGOROUS THEORY4 ,HE EMIGRATED TO ,PRINCETON IN #AICJ1 BECAME ONE OF THE ,INSTITUTE FOR ,ADVANCED ,STUDY'S FOUNDING PROFESSORS IN #AICC1 AND BECAME AN ,AMERICAN CITIZEN IN #AICG4 ,THE WAR ,DURING THE ,SECOND ,WORLD ,WAR VON ,NEUMANN BECAME INDISPENSABLE TO THE ,MANHATTAN ,PROJECT HIS WORK ON IMPLOSION DYNAMICS SHAPED THE ,TRINITY AND ,NAGASAKI WEAPONS AND WAS PRESENT AT THE TARGET SELECTION MEETINGS THAT CHOSE THE ,JAPANESE CITIES4 ,HE LATER SAID1 WITHOUT OBVIOUS REGRET1 THAT HE HAD SIMPLY DONE THE MATHEMATICS PUT IN FRONT OF HIM4 ,THE WARTIME WORK LED DIRECTLY TO HIS COMPUTING INVOLVEMENT3 THE ;,H-BOMB'S PHYSICS DEMANDED CALCULATIONS NO EXISTING MACHINE COULD DO1 SO VON ,NEUMANN WENT LOOKING FOR COMPUTERS AND FOUND THE ,MOORE ,SCHOOL'S ,,ENIAC PROJECT AND THE SIX WOMEN PROGRAMMING IT1 WHOM HE REPORTEDLY VISITED AND WORKED ALONGSIDE4 ,THE COMPUTER ,VON ,NEUMANN JOINED THE ,MOORE ,SCHOOL GROUP AS A CONSULTANT IN #AIDD1 ABSORBING THE DESIGNS ,ECKERT AND ,MAUCHLY WERE DEVELOPING FOR THE MACHINE THAT WOULD FOLLOW ,,ENIAC ,,EDVAC4 ,IN ,JUNE #AIDE HE WROTE IT ALL UP3 THE ,FIRST ,DRAFT OF A ,REPORT ON THE ,,EDVAC THE FIRST PUBLISHED DESCRIPTION OF A STORED-PROGRAM COMPUTER1 AND THE DOCUMENT THAT FIXED THE ARCHITECTURE " IN EVERYONE'S MINDS4 ,WHETHER HE INVENTED THE STORED PROGRAM OR WAS THE ONE WHO WROTE IT DOWN IS COMPUTING'S OLDEST ARGUMENT ,ECKERT AND ,MAUCHLY ALWAYS MAINTAINED IT WAS THEIRS2 HISTORY GAVE THE NAME TO VON ,NEUMANN ANYWAY4 ,HE WENT ON TO DESIGN THE ,,IAS MACHINE AT ,PRINCETON "<#AIEB"> THE MACHINE EVERY EARLY COMPUTER COPIED AND THE ARCHITECTURE IS CALLED VON ,NEUMANN ARCHITECTURE TO THIS DAY1 EVEN THOUGH ITS SINGLE-BUS BOTTLENECK IS NOW CALLED THE VON ,NEUMANN BOTTLENECK THAT MODERN PROCESSORS WORK AROUND4 ,HIS NAME ALSO LIVES IN THE VON ,NEUMANN PROBE "1 VON ,NEUMANN ALGEBRA "1 AND HALF A DOZEN OTHER CONCEPTS IN DIFFERENT SCIENCES4 ,LEGACY - ,THE ARCHITECTURE3 MEMORY "6 PROCESSOR "6 STORED PROGRAM1 NAMED FOR HIM WHETHER OR NOT HE INVENTED IT - ,THE ,,EDVAC REPORT THAT DEFINED IT AND THE PRIORITY DISPUTE THAT MADE ENEMIES OF THE MEN WHO WORKED ON IT - ,THE ,TURING ,AWARD'S MOST-CITED INTELLECTUAL ANCESTOR1 AND THE MODEL OF THE SCIENTIST-AS-TECHNOLOGIST3 HE TREATED COMPUTING AS A BRANCH OF MATHEMATICS1 AND WAS RIGHT - ,DIED OF CANCER AT #EC STILL CONSULTING FOR THE GOVERNMENT1 STILL WORKING AT ,WALTER ,REED HOSPITAL IN ,WASHINGTON1 AND WAS BURIED IN ,PRINCETON ,CEMETERY2 THE STORY TOLD AT HIS FUNERAL IS THAT FRIENDS FILLED THE COFFIN WITH A FOOTBALL1 A CHESS PIECE1 AND A BOTTLE OF WHISKY ,SEE ALSO - ,,EDVAC REPORT - ,THE FIRST PROGRAMMERS - ,MANCHESTER ,BABY - ,,EDSAC - ,ALAN ,TURING - ,HISTORY OF ,PROGRAMMING ,REFERENCES #A4 VON ,NEUMANN1 ,JOHN4 8,FIRST ,DRAFT OF A ,REPORT ON THE ,,EDVAC0 "<,MOORE ,SCHOOL1 #AIDE">4 #B4 ,ASPRAY1 ,WILLIAM4 ,JOHN VON ,NEUMANN AND THE ,ORIGINS OF ,MODERN ,COMPUTING "<,,MIT ,PRESS1 #AIIJ">4 #C4 ,GOLDSTINE1 ,HERMAN ;,H4 ,THE ,COMPUTER FROM ,PASCAL TO VON ,NEUMANN "<,PRINCETON ,,UP1 #AIGB">4