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Stanislav Ulam is an incredible man. Mathematician (Ulam Spiral, Monte Carlo Method), Manhattan Project participant, and part-time astronomer who devised a meth

Stanislav Ulam is an incredible man. Mathematician (Ulam Spiral, Monte Carlo Method), Manhattan Project participant, and part-time astronomer who devised a method for nuclear-explosive-powered space travel [0]. [0]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_pulse_propulsion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_pulse_propulsion

graycat 13y ago
He also has a classic result in measure theory that the French probabilist Le Cam called 'tightness'. For any probability measure and for any h > 0, there exists r > 0 such that the probability mass farther than r from the origin is less than h. This result holds in spaces of considerable generality, but I'd have to look up the details now. Details are in P. Billingsley, 'Convergence of Probability Measures', 1999. I used the result in a paper once. It's nice result and gets used occasionally in advanced work in probability.
stiff 13y ago
It's Stanislaw, since he was Polish, Stanislav would be a Russian name. He is most importantly the co-inventor of the hydrogen bomb: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weapon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weapon There is a great autobiography by him called "Adventures of Mathematician".
- downer99 13y ago
  Agreed, linking through Stanislaw Ulam turned out to be evermore interesting, even though the Ulam Spriral itself is a good starting point, given its relevance to the field of programming. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislaw_Ulam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislaw_Ulam
- lutusp 13y ago
  > There is a great autobiography by him called "Adventures of Mathematician". A terrific book, still available but pricey (ca. $30 for a paperback). I have a dog-eared copy acquired 40 years ago in my library. The closest Ulam comes to revealing atomic secrets in his book is to say the method he and Teller chose to produce a thermonuclear reaction requires the "repetition of certain arrangements." I always thought that was the perfection of obscurity.
RBerenguel 13y ago
Wasn't he also involved in an early atmosphere on Earth simulation experiment? Edit: sure not, it's Urey. Four letters, starts with U. Mental index hash fail :)

graycat 13y ago

He also has a classic result in measure theory that the French probabilist Le Cam called 'tightness'. For any probability measure and for any h > 0, there exists r > 0 such that the probability mass farther than r from the origin is less than h. This result holds in spaces of considerable generality, but I'd have to look up the details now. Details are in P. Billingsley, 'Convergence of Probability Measures', 1999. I used the result in a paper once. It's nice result and gets used occasionally in advanced work in probability.

stiff 13y ago

It's Stanislaw, since he was Polish, Stanislav would be a Russian name. He is most importantly the co-inventor of the hydrogen bomb: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weapon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weapon There is a great autobiography by him called "Adventures of Mathematician".

downer99 13y ago
Agreed, linking through Stanislaw Ulam turned out to be evermore interesting, even though the Ulam Spriral itself is a good starting point, given its relevance to the field of programming. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislaw_Ulam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislaw_Ulam
lutusp 13y ago
> There is a great autobiography by him called "Adventures of Mathematician". A terrific book, still available but pricey (ca. $30 for a paperback). I have a dog-eared copy acquired 40 years ago in my library. The closest Ulam comes to revealing atomic secrets in his book is to say the method he and Teller chose to produce a thermonuclear reaction requires the "repetition of certain arrangements." I always thought that was the perfection of obscurity.

RBerenguel 13y ago

Wasn't he also involved in an early atmosphere on Earth simulation experiment? Edit: sure not, it's Urey. Four letters, starts with U. Mental index hash fail :)