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The story of Von Neumann's death is actually quite interesting. The government kept a guard by his death bed to be sure he didn't divulge any state secrets whil

The story of Von Neumann's death is actually quite interesting. The government kept a guard by his death bed to be sure he didn't divulge any state secrets while on mind numbing pain medications. It is well documented that, after Von Neumann learned of his terminal pancreatic cancer, he became horrified of death and would cry out at night, even resorting to last-minute conversations with a priest on his deathbed (though he was an atheist throughout his life). His mother died during his illness and his family tried to hide it from him. But he eventually figured it out and took a turn for the worst. It's all very sad in the same way it would be for anyone, but in Von Neumann's case it makes one wonder what else he would've accomplished in the next two or three decades of life.

defertoreptar 8y ago
I've always wondered. What kind of government secrets were they worried he'd let slip? It's been so long that they must be declassified by now. His breadth of expertise was so great, it'd be interesting to know what kind of contributions he was making to the government.
- nwah1 8y ago
  Could file a FOIA and find out.
  - btrettel 8y ago
    A list of his work with the Atomic Energy Commission could be obtained from OSTI: https://www.osti.gov/freedom-information-act-foia https://www.osti.gov/freedom-information-act-foia For the Department of Defense, you could get a list from DTIC: https://discover.dtic.mil/email-form-dtic-foia https://discover.dtic.mil/email-form-dtic-foia I doubt much if anything interesting by von Neumann is still classified or limited. If something is still classified it's probably because no one wanted to declassify it, not that it's sensitive. If anyone does file FOIA requests for these lists, contact me, as I'm interested but not interested enough to file the requests. See my HN profile for a link to my personal website with a contact form.
    - areoform 8y ago
      I think that you might be underestimating his work. He was not just a physicist, but a system's integrator when it came to the military. He almost single-handedly structured our deterrence stance. There were von Neumann committees where he shaped the heart of American nuclear and ICBM policy. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a416289.pdf https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a416289.pdf He also designed The Critical Component that's kept classified by most governments. These lenses are what compress plutonium to trigger the reaction in a fission device and they're also used in other manners for fusion weapons. von Neumann did so much and knew so much that we might never know the extent of his true contributions to applied science. http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/02/01/weekly-document-12-implosion-to-declassify-or-not-to-declassify-1945/ http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/02/01/weekly-document-12...
      - btrettel 8y ago
        Thanks for the comment and the links. You may be right. My comment was based on what I am familiar with that was previously classified. (All of which has been since declassified, so there's probably sampling bias.) I don't know much about nuclear weapons, or von Neumann's involvement in them for that matter.
        areoform 8y ago
        No problem! There's no way for us to know about things that are so classified that only a few people have seen it all. NSA hacks aside, the US Government keeps a tight lid on these sorts of things. All we get to see are the papers and rumors from the periphery. I highly recommend the Nuclear Secrecy blog if you'd like to learn more! It's totally like being in a teenage clique that's playing a game of chinese whispers, with the added side bonus of nuclear weapons and global annihilation. Come for the clique, stay for the nuclear winter. http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/ http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/
        wrycoder 8y ago
        Also, you could look at George Dyson’s (son of Freeman) book about von Neumann, “Turing’s Cathedral”. Included is detail about the early computer he developed that did the hydrogen bomb hydrodynamic calculations for the Los Alamos lab.
- auntienomen 8y ago
  von Neumann played a major role in the development of the nuclear weapons. Not just the Manhattan project, but also in the development of the hydrogen bomb and ICBMs. It's pretty likely that those are the secrets the government was guarding in 1953.
wycs 8y ago
One supposes a man such as him would be able to accept death with equanimity. This is backwards. As he was losing much more in death than most of us will; he was far more alive than most anyone has ever been.
- TaupeRanger 8y ago
  On the other hand, both Feynman and Bertrand Russell are said to have faced death with impressive stoicism, even boredom in the case of the former.
  - pvg 8y ago
    Russell was 97. Feynman was 69 and was in treatment the last decade of his life. von Neumann went from diagnosis to dead in a little over a year. He was 53.
  - andyjohnson0 8y ago
    > even boredom in the case of the former. Just to add that Feynman's last words are reported to be "I'd hate to die twice — it's so boring".
- RobertoG 8y ago
  I don't think we can't say anything about his state of mind. Kurt Gödel starved to death because of fear of dying poisoned. In bad times, intelligence by itself is probably not enough to save us of our emotions.
  - divs1210 8y ago
    TIL he stopped eating because his wife was sick and couldn't cook for him, and he didn't trust anyone else with his food... not even himself?!
oarabbus_ 8y ago
>It is well documented that, after Von Neumann learned of his terminal pancreatic cancer, he became horrified of death and would cry out at night, even resorting to last-minute conversations with a priest on his deathbed (though he was an atheist throughout his life). Oh man this is utterly terrifying for me as I always hoped that the fear of death would diminish with age. It's horribly terrifying to me that he was horribly terrified of death at an advanced age.
- theaeolist 8y ago
  He died at 54.
  - HNLurker2 8y ago
    So what? His death was the saddest thing that could happen to a brilliant man. I only dream what would have been if he lived same age as Bertrand Russell (97). Both are incredible minds.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - noblethrasher 8y ago
      I'm pretty sure 'theaeolist meant that, since von Neumann died young (53 actually), that he never had the chance to even reach an "advanced age" where you might expect the fear of death to have lessened.
      - wolfhumble 8y ago
        If you have no hope after death, I wonder why one might argue that a 97 year old person would have less fear than a 53 year old. If you fear death to begin with, I would assume the increased probability of dying by the year would increase the fear. I have hope after death and don't fear it, but the consequence of death is still more present in my mind than it was 10 years ago . . .
noblethrasher 8y ago
> It is well documented that, after Von Neumann learned of his terminal pancreatic cancer... Bone cancer, actually.
nikofeyn 8y ago
> The government kept a guard by his death bed to be sure he didn't divulge any state secrets while on mind numbing pain medications. i am curious of the logistics of this. if they were there, outside of his room, to simply safeguard against the visit of unauthorized visitors during his weak moments, this seems like it could work in a way that doesn't interrupt his last moments with friends and family. if they were literally at his bed safeguarding information, that seems quite intrusive for someone who did monumental tasks for the government. and it isn't even clear what their gameplan would be in this case. do they instruct a potentially non-coherent person to shut-up or the nurses to put him out? hopefully it was the first of these.
- psykotic 8y ago
  > if they were literally at his bed safeguarding information, that seems quite intrusive for someone who did monumental tasks for the government. and it isn't even clear what their gameplan would be in this case. The British state forcibly sterilized Turing who was instrumental in the allied war effort in a greater or equal capacity to von Neumann. "Quite intrusive" is a monumental understatement of what governments will do to protect their perceived interests.
  - CamperBob2 8y ago
    Another example would be Oppenheimer, who got perhaps the rawest deal from the government since the Indian treaties.
  - EGreg 8y ago
    Per, good to see you commenting on HN. I know I’m gonna get downvoted since this doesn’t fit the forum but just wanted to say hi.
vivab0rg 8y ago
Talk about Karma.

defertoreptar 8y ago

I've always wondered. What kind of government secrets were they worried he'd let slip? It's been so long that they must be declassified by now. His breadth of expertise was so great, it'd be interesting to know what kind of contributions he was making to the government.

nwah1 8y ago
Could file a FOIA and find out.
- btrettel 8y ago
  A list of his work with the Atomic Energy Commission could be obtained from OSTI: https://www.osti.gov/freedom-information-act-foia https://www.osti.gov/freedom-information-act-foia For the Department of Defense, you could get a list from DTIC: https://discover.dtic.mil/email-form-dtic-foia https://discover.dtic.mil/email-form-dtic-foia I doubt much if anything interesting by von Neumann is still classified or limited. If something is still classified it's probably because no one wanted to declassify it, not that it's sensitive. If anyone does file FOIA requests for these lists, contact me, as I'm interested but not interested enough to file the requests. See my HN profile for a link to my personal website with a contact form.
  - areoform 8y ago
    I think that you might be underestimating his work. He was not just a physicist, but a system's integrator when it came to the military. He almost single-handedly structured our deterrence stance. There were von Neumann committees where he shaped the heart of American nuclear and ICBM policy. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a416289.pdf https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a416289.pdf He also designed The Critical Component that's kept classified by most governments. These lenses are what compress plutonium to trigger the reaction in a fission device and they're also used in other manners for fusion weapons. von Neumann did so much and knew so much that we might never know the extent of his true contributions to applied science. http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/02/01/weekly-document-12-implosion-to-declassify-or-not-to-declassify-1945/ http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/02/01/weekly-document-12...
    - btrettel 8y ago
      Thanks for the comment and the links. You may be right. My comment was based on what I am familiar with that was previously classified. (All of which has been since declassified, so there's probably sampling bias.) I don't know much about nuclear weapons, or von Neumann's involvement in them for that matter.
      - areoform 8y ago
        No problem! There's no way for us to know about things that are so classified that only a few people have seen it all. NSA hacks aside, the US Government keeps a tight lid on these sorts of things. All we get to see are the papers and rumors from the periphery. I highly recommend the Nuclear Secrecy blog if you'd like to learn more! It's totally like being in a teenage clique that's playing a game of chinese whispers, with the added side bonus of nuclear weapons and global annihilation. Come for the clique, stay for the nuclear winter. http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/ http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/
      - wrycoder 8y ago
        Also, you could look at George Dyson’s (son of Freeman) book about von Neumann, “Turing’s Cathedral”. Included is detail about the early computer he developed that did the hydrogen bomb hydrodynamic calculations for the Los Alamos lab.
auntienomen 8y ago
von Neumann played a major role in the development of the nuclear weapons. Not just the Manhattan project, but also in the development of the hydrogen bomb and ICBMs. It's pretty likely that those are the secrets the government was guarding in 1953.

wycs 8y ago

One supposes a man such as him would be able to accept death with equanimity. This is backwards. As he was losing much more in death than most of us will; he was far more alive than most anyone has ever been.

TaupeRanger 8y ago
On the other hand, both Feynman and Bertrand Russell are said to have faced death with impressive stoicism, even boredom in the case of the former.
- pvg 8y ago
  Russell was 97. Feynman was 69 and was in treatment the last decade of his life. von Neumann went from diagnosis to dead in a little over a year. He was 53.
- andyjohnson0 8y ago
  > even boredom in the case of the former. Just to add that Feynman's last words are reported to be "I'd hate to die twice — it's so boring".
RobertoG 8y ago
I don't think we can't say anything about his state of mind. Kurt Gödel starved to death because of fear of dying poisoned. In bad times, intelligence by itself is probably not enough to save us of our emotions.
- divs1210 8y ago
  TIL he stopped eating because his wife was sick and couldn't cook for him, and he didn't trust anyone else with his food... not even himself?!

oarabbus_ 8y ago

>It is well documented that, after Von Neumann learned of his terminal pancreatic cancer, he became horrified of death and would cry out at night, even resorting to last-minute conversations with a priest on his deathbed (though he was an atheist throughout his life). Oh man this is utterly terrifying for me as I always hoped that the fear of death would diminish with age. It's horribly terrifying to me that he was horribly terrified of death at an advanced age.

theaeolist 8y ago
He died at 54.
- HNLurker2 8y ago
  So what? His death was the saddest thing that could happen to a brilliant man. I only dream what would have been if he lived same age as Bertrand Russell (97). Both are incredible minds.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - noblethrasher 8y ago
    I'm pretty sure 'theaeolist meant that, since von Neumann died young (53 actually), that he never had the chance to even reach an "advanced age" where you might expect the fear of death to have lessened.
    - wolfhumble 8y ago
      If you have no hope after death, I wonder why one might argue that a 97 year old person would have less fear than a 53 year old. If you fear death to begin with, I would assume the increased probability of dying by the year would increase the fear. I have hope after death and don't fear it, but the consequence of death is still more present in my mind than it was 10 years ago . . .

noblethrasher 8y ago

> It is well documented that, after Von Neumann learned of his terminal pancreatic cancer... Bone cancer, actually.

nikofeyn 8y ago

> The government kept a guard by his death bed to be sure he didn't divulge any state secrets while on mind numbing pain medications. i am curious of the logistics of this. if they were there, outside of his room, to simply safeguard against the visit of unauthorized visitors during his weak moments, this seems like it could work in a way that doesn't interrupt his last moments with friends and family. if they were literally at his bed safeguarding information, that seems quite intrusive for someone who did monumental tasks for the government. and it isn't even clear what their gameplan would be in this case. do they instruct a potentially non-coherent person to shut-up or the nurses to put him out? hopefully it was the first of these.

psykotic 8y ago
> if they were literally at his bed safeguarding information, that seems quite intrusive for someone who did monumental tasks for the government. and it isn't even clear what their gameplan would be in this case. The British state forcibly sterilized Turing who was instrumental in the allied war effort in a greater or equal capacity to von Neumann. "Quite intrusive" is a monumental understatement of what governments will do to protect their perceived interests.
- CamperBob2 8y ago
  Another example would be Oppenheimer, who got perhaps the rawest deal from the government since the Indian treaties.
- EGreg 8y ago
  Per, good to see you commenting on HN. I know I’m gonna get downvoted since this doesn’t fit the forum but just wanted to say hi.

vivab0rg 8y ago

Talk about Karma.