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According to J. Presper Eckert in his oral history interview [1] the Moore School was actually collecting patent applications, when von Neumann went public with

According to J. Presper Eckert in his oral history interview [1] the Moore School was actually collecting patent applications, when von Neumann went public with the report. Which is why principal computer architecture is in the public domain. And, according to Eckert, this was done with a purpose and in von Neumann's self-interest. He also accused von Neumann of having done similarly at the IAS. (According to von Neumann, it was merely an oversight that his name was the only one on the report and it had been just an internal proposal for a draft of the final paper.) Eckert summarizes this condemnatory as follows on p.35: "You know, we finally regarded von Neuman as a huckster of other people's ideas with Goldstine as his principle mission salesman. Now, if you don't believe this, talk to Julian Biglow at the Institute for Advanced Study(…) Von Neumann was stealing ideas and trying to pretend work done at the Moore School was work he had done." [1] Oral history interview with J. Presper Eckert conducted by Nancy Stern, 1977: https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/107275 https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/107275 PDF: https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/107275/oh013jpe.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/107275/oh...

devindotcom 6y ago
Interesting if true but it seems odd to think that Von Neumann of all people in the 20th century perhaps would need to steal someone's ideas. From what I've read of him he was more likely to improve on them before the ideator had finished speaking. But certainly those were days (if indeed we have left them) when 'great men' like him could and would take credit for something like that for reasons of pride and posterity.
- masswerk 6y ago
  Eckert accused von Neumann specifically of doing so that he could consult for IBM on the matter. However, there is a problem with this: As I understand it, IBM wasn't that interested in computers at the time and actually stumbled into (electronic digital) computing by a government contract for replicating Whirlwind for the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE). On the other hand, Eckert also pointed out some interest shown repeatedly by von Neumann in bringing in commercial third parties into the project, so it may have been concerning any third party which may be interested in his consultancy, and this then became historically IBM.
  - adrian_b 6y ago
    IBM was not yet interested in electronic computers. IBM was developing electromechanical computers and for a few years the electromechanical IBM SSEC (operating since January 1948) was the fastest computer with stored program, solving many important problems for the US government and for various companies. After their competitor Remington Rand introduced the first commercial electronic computers (UNIVAC), IBM also entered this market very quickly with a few commercial models (IBM 701 & IBM 702), then also with the faster electronic computers made for the US military, in the NORC and SAGE projects.
- watwut 6y ago
  People dont steal ideas because they have to, they do it because they can and because they are ambitious. They steel them because it help build cult of geniality around themselves.

devindotcom 6y ago

Interesting if true but it seems odd to think that Von Neumann of all people in the 20th century perhaps would need to steal someone's ideas. From what I've read of him he was more likely to improve on them before the ideator had finished speaking. But certainly those were days (if indeed we have left them) when 'great men' like him could and would take credit for something like that for reasons of pride and posterity.

masswerk 6y ago
Eckert accused von Neumann specifically of doing so that he could consult for IBM on the matter. However, there is a problem with this: As I understand it, IBM wasn't that interested in computers at the time and actually stumbled into (electronic digital) computing by a government contract for replicating Whirlwind for the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE). On the other hand, Eckert also pointed out some interest shown repeatedly by von Neumann in bringing in commercial third parties into the project, so it may have been concerning any third party which may be interested in his consultancy, and this then became historically IBM.
- adrian_b 6y ago
  IBM was not yet interested in electronic computers. IBM was developing electromechanical computers and for a few years the electromechanical IBM SSEC (operating since January 1948) was the fastest computer with stored program, solving many important problems for the US government and for various companies. After their competitor Remington Rand introduced the first commercial electronic computers (UNIVAC), IBM also entered this market very quickly with a few commercial models (IBM 701 & IBM 702), then also with the faster electronic computers made for the US military, in the NORC and SAGE projects.
watwut 6y ago
People dont steal ideas because they have to, they do it because they can and because they are ambitious. They steel them because it help build cult of geniality around themselves.