John Von Neumann Facts

John Von Neumann Facts
John von Neumann (December 28, 1903 to February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian pure and applied mathematician, physicist, inventor and polymath. He made major contributions to a number of fields. His contributions to mathematics include the fields of functional analysis, ergodic theory, geometry, topology, and numerical analysis.
Interesting John Von Neumann Facts:
John Von Neumann was born Neumann Janos Lajos in Budapest to Jewish parents and was the eldest of three sons.
In 1913 his father was raised to the nobility by the Emperor for his service to the empire and the family received the hereditary title margittai.
The German form is von which John added to his name.
He was a math prodigy and by the age of 8 he was studying differential and integral calculus.
He entered the Lutheran high school Fasori Evangelikus Gimnazium in 1911 but his father hired private tutors to give him advanced instruction in mathematics.
By 1922 he had published two major papers on mathematics which included the modern definition of ordinal numbers.
In 1925 he received his PhD in mathematics with minor in experimental physics and chemistry from Pazmany Peter University in Budapest.
HIs dissertation was on the axiom of foundation and his method of inner models became an essential element in set theory.
Von Neumann found continuous geometry and discovered von Neumann algebras.
He also earned a diploma in chemical engineering from the ETH Zurich because his father wanted him to have a more practical degree than just mathematics.
From 1926 to 1930 he taught at the University of Berlin and by the end of 1927 he had published twelve major papers in mathematics.
He made important contributions to the field of measure theory.
By 1930 he published 32 major papers on mathematics aided by his skill at massive memorization and recall.
In 1930 he was invited to Princeton University where, in 1933, he accepted a post at the Institute for Advanced Study.
In 1932 he wrote a series of articles on ergodic theory and his famous work on operator theory.
In 1932 he also wrote Mathematische Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik which was the first mathematical framework for quantum mechanics.
In the 1930's he became the leading authority on mathematics and shaped charges which was critical to the building of the atomic bomb.
He was involved in the creation of the hydrogen bomb and, in the 1950's, headed the U.S. top secret intercontinental ballistic missile committee.
In 1937 he became a U.S. citizen.
Many scientists who worked with him were awed by his blazingly fast mind and easy comprehension of complex mathematical problems and many regarded him as the greatest mathematician who ever lived.


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