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Here is the blurb from Amazon on it: An exhilarating new biography of John von Neumann: the lost genius who invented our world. The smartphones in our pockets
by AndyMcConachie 5y ago
Here is the blurb from Amazon on it:
An exhilarating new biography of John von Neumann: the lost genius who invented our world.
The smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Self-replicating moon bases and nuclear weapons. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable 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. His colleagues believed he had the fastest brain on the planet - bar none. He was instrumental in the Manhattan Project and helped formulate the bedrock of Cold War geopolitics and modern economic theory. He created the first ever programmable digital computer. He prophesied the potential of nanotechnology and, from his deathbed, expounded on the limits of brains and computers - and how they might be overcome.
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It does sound like a Great Man history, and as someone who reads a lot of histories I usually don't waste my time on Great Man histories. I'll read the reviews when it actually comes out, but you're probably right. It does not look promising.
- Mandelmus 5y agoCould you recommend some notable history books related to computer science that don't fall into the Great Man history genre?