The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann
- Downloads：4121
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-07-14 16:16:39
- Update Date：2025-09-23
- Status：finish
- Author：Ananyo Bhattacharya
- ISBN：024139886X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
A FINANCIAL TIMES AND TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR
An exhilarating new biography of John von Neumann: the lost genius who invented our world
'A sparkling book， with an intoxicating mix of pen-portraits and grand historical narrative。 Above all it fizzes with a dizzying mix of deliciously vital ideas。 。 。 A staggering achievement' Tim Harford
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。
Taking us on an astonishing journey， Ananyo Bhattacharya explores how a combination of genius and unique historical circumstance allowed a single man to sweep through so many different fields of science， sparking revolutions wherever he went。
Insightful and illuminating， The Man from the Future is a thrilling intellectual biography of the visionary thinker who shaped our century。
An exhilarating new biography of John von Neumann: the lost genius who invented our world
'A sparkling book， with an intoxicating mix of pen-portraits and grand historical narrative。 Above all it fizzes with a dizzying mix of deliciously vital ideas。 。 。 A staggering achievement' Tim Harford
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。
Taking us on an astonishing journey， Ananyo Bhattacharya explores how a combination of genius and unique historical circumstance allowed a single man to sweep through so many different fields of science， sparking revolutions wherever he went。
Insightful and illuminating， The Man from the Future is a thrilling intellectual biography of the visionary thinker who shaped our century。
Reviews
Adna
，
This read more like a biography of ideas。 I was disappointed not to learn more about Von Neuman’s life。 The first two chapters were also quite hard going- one would probably have more fun reading this with a background in maths/ physics。 I read The computer and the brain over a decade ago， and have been curious about Von Neumann ever since。 This only barely scratched that itch…
Abhishek Kona
，
Von Neumann， the Hungarian genius is central to my profession。 But he was also central to quantum physics and the bomb。 He was a prolific genius with a practical bent。 A freak of history。 I am not sure I can take away any lessons from him but to be a genius？
Jerrod
，
This short biography is well worth your time。 Neumann is a fascinating character。 Bhattacharya describes Neumann as the smart one in a room filled with other luminaries like Bohr， Einstein， and others。 A professor of mine once described him as the last person who knew all math。 That sounds about right。 He spent his later adolescence and early adulthood working on number theory （perhaps privately even beating Godel to some of his proofs about the foundations of math） and doing foundational work o This short biography is well worth your time。 Neumann is a fascinating character。 Bhattacharya describes Neumann as the smart one in a room filled with other luminaries like Bohr， Einstein， and others。 A professor of mine once described him as the last person who knew all math。 That sounds about right。 He spent his later adolescence and early adulthood working on number theory （perhaps privately even beating Godel to some of his proofs about the foundations of math） and doing foundational work on quantum theory。 （Fun fact: the uncertainty around particle states shows up in the equations in the form of matrices （multiplication of which is not transitive）。 In order to make progress， the physicists and mathematicians in Germany used the newish matrix algebra developed in England。 This is now a standard subject for undergrads。 After reading a few books on the history of math， I am continually surprised at how late various mathematical ideas have been developed。）The most fascinating part of Neumann's life was his work in the 1940s， in which he solidified the foundations of game theory and utility theory， worked on developing the explosive structure that would implode the nuclear core in the first atom bombs， and helped develop the architecture for modern computing。 Before dying he developed the idea of automata， which is just one other subject area that has had a life of its own。Some of the writing that set the context for Neumann's contributions could have been tightened up， but overall this is a great book about a very interesting man。 。。。more
Kyle
，
An interesting biography of John von Neumann。 I haven't read any others， and so only know the myths that have arisen around his genius。 The book is organized around von Neumann's major ideas in life and a good introduction to the meaning/implications of them。 While the author also does a good job of covering von Neumann as a person， I would say that the book is more slanted towards his intellectual achievements （which is a positive for me as a reader）。 It also touches a bit on von Neumann's poli An interesting biography of John von Neumann。 I haven't read any others， and so only know the myths that have arisen around his genius。 The book is organized around von Neumann's major ideas in life and a good introduction to the meaning/implications of them。 While the author also does a good job of covering von Neumann as a person， I would say that the book is more slanted towards his intellectual achievements （which is a positive for me as a reader）。 It also touches a bit on von Neumann's politics， which I thought was handled fairly well （historically neutral）， though the author's opinions clearly come through， as well。If you're interested in von Neumann's life and ideas， I would recommend the book。 。。。more
Salomon Wollenstein
，
Focuses on the work of and around von Neumann rather on the man himself。 If you are looking for a deeper understanding of his personality， you will be disappointed。
Rick Sam
，
John Von Neumann: A Tamil Perspective Being from Tamil Nadu。 I want to share or bring， perspective of a Tamil Person。 So， In Tamil Nadu; In middle-school & high-school， we had basic computer science education。 We were taught basic ALU， Logic Unit， Programming et cetera。 Later on; I come across， Neumann's name in Computer Architecture。 Lot of times， I was not sure， how to connect the dots， to the question， How does a Computer Work？ Meaning， from foundational level to video， text you see in th John Von Neumann: A Tamil Perspective Being from Tamil Nadu。 I want to share or bring， perspective of a Tamil Person。 So， In Tamil Nadu; In middle-school & high-school， we had basic computer science education。 We were taught basic ALU， Logic Unit， Programming et cetera。 Later on; I come across， Neumann's name in Computer Architecture。 Lot of times， I was not sure， how to connect the dots， to the question， How does a Computer Work？ Meaning， from foundational level to video， text you see in the computerReading， Code by Charles Petzold helped me to see， how they work together。 I looked Neural Networks， with same level of abstraction as Computer Architecture。Try looking at Computer Architecture， and Neural Network， they seem to be same superficially。Anyway -- Neumann contributed so much to many fields。 Equal figure， would be -- "Srinivasa Ramanujan" Quotes from the book ‘If people do not believe that mathematics is simple， it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is。’‘Von Neumann would carry on a conversation with my three-year- old son， and the two of them would talk as equals， and I sometimes wondered if he used the same principle when he talked to the rest of us。’Von Neumann was addicted to thinking， and in particular to thinking about mathematics。’Deus Vult， Gottfried 。。。more
Michael Werner
，
I was looking forward to a biography of this man， and this book is not it。 While there is biographical information present， in a broad outline， it is not a traditional biography。 Perhaps fitting， for such a nontraditional character， but the author seems more enamoured of the ideas of his subject than of the man himself。 He goes off on exploration of ideas that are more than tangentially related to von Neumann， but the narrative takes a long time to get back to the subject。 And since he is more f I was looking forward to a biography of this man， and this book is not it。 While there is biographical information present， in a broad outline， it is not a traditional biography。 Perhaps fitting， for such a nontraditional character， but the author seems more enamoured of the ideas of his subject than of the man himself。 He goes off on exploration of ideas that are more than tangentially related to von Neumann， but the narrative takes a long time to get back to the subject。 And since he is more focused on ideas than the man， the timeline can be confusing。 The writing is quite good， and many concepts are explained in fair detail， but even so a few topics were right at or above the level of comprehension of a non-specialist。My only negative is the author's own biases comes through in his stance against nuclear weapons and his membership of the cult of global warming。 Those are real turnoffs for me as a reader。 Revisionism is anathema to me， and the author's need to preach the use of the atomic bombs is not cogent to his topic。 AGW is just junk science， and the author's connection of that topic to his subject is tenuous at best。If you can find another biography on this interesting man， skip this one。 。。。more
Benjamin Woody
，
Might be the most important "modern" person who ever lived。 It says something if your colleagues in the Manhattan Project consider you far and away the smartest person in the building。 He was the super-genius in any collection of just ordinary， run-of-the-mill geniuses。 Would be a truly great book but the author is too interested in mathematic minutiae。 Might be the most important "modern" person who ever lived。 It says something if your colleagues in the Manhattan Project consider you far and away the smartest person in the building。 He was the super-genius in any collection of just ordinary， run-of-the-mill geniuses。 Would be a truly great book but the author is too interested in mathematic minutiae。 。。。more
John Thomas
，
Great biography of a man I knew little about but glad I know much more now。
Mich
，
John von Neumann was probably the most accomplished mathematician of the 20th century。 In addition to his groundbreaking work on Game Theory， with which I was most familiar， he was involved in war time support for both WWII as well as nuclear detonation， biological processes， and even economics。 The only problem I had with the book was that the heaviest emphasis was on his contributions which were rather technical in their exposition by the author and challenging to read and would have preferred John von Neumann was probably the most accomplished mathematician of the 20th century。 In addition to his groundbreaking work on Game Theory， with which I was most familiar， he was involved in war time support for both WWII as well as nuclear detonation， biological processes， and even economics。 The only problem I had with the book was that the heaviest emphasis was on his contributions which were rather technical in their exposition by the author and challenging to read and would have preferred more about him as a person。 。。。more
Carole-Anne Stewart
，
What a load of codswallop。 The most painful book I've ever read， and yes I stuck it out to the end。 Those of you giving it a 5 are nuts。 First， this isn't a biography， it's a text book。 It was like going back 40 years to college and sitting through a bunch of lectures on the history of the sciences， with date after date after date thrown in to try to remember for when you sat your exams。 And secondly， it wasn't even about him。 It was about all his buddies as well。 And， no， the concepts weren't a What a load of codswallop。 The most painful book I've ever read， and yes I stuck it out to the end。 Those of you giving it a 5 are nuts。 First， this isn't a biography， it's a text book。 It was like going back 40 years to college and sitting through a bunch of lectures on the history of the sciences， with date after date after date thrown in to try to remember for when you sat your exams。 And secondly， it wasn't even about him。 It was about all his buddies as well。 And， no， the concepts weren't above my head either。 I'm an engineer and my IQ is in the 140s。 The book just sucked。 。。。more
Kate
，
More of a survey of topics than a detailed biography。 Written in 2021， so some topics are brought to the present to show how Von Neumann anticipated them。
Rosa Angelone
，
Great book！ You get pre-war European science， WWII nuclear stuff， cold war game theory。 I will let math people talk about if they think that part is handled well （I liked it and could follow the author） Women show up in the story in an organic way and I have a new found interest in AI。 If you are at all interested in post-war U。S history this is a book for you。
Ross Nelson
，
It’s not really correct to call this a biography of JvN， it’s more like the history of all the areas of science and math that he influenced。 One doesn’t really know much about vN the person after reading this book， though it makes it startlingly clear how wide-ranging his intellect was。
Matt Heavner
，
The von Neumann stuff was great。 Too much on other people to return to "and von Neumann planted the seeds" - I didn't need the cellular automata and Wolfram - read "A new Kind of Science" and definitely didn't need it。 （Although I agree w/ the conclusion that "the jury is still out" and the snide comments about Wolfram's ego。）。 There were several other parts of the book where it was an intellectual history that was far afield from a biography。 It did have some goo dinfo。 The von Neumann stuff was great。 Too much on other people to return to "and von Neumann planted the seeds" - I didn't need the cellular automata and Wolfram - read "A new Kind of Science" and definitely didn't need it。 （Although I agree w/ the conclusion that "the jury is still out" and the snide comments about Wolfram's ego。）。 There were several other parts of the book where it was an intellectual history that was far afield from a biography。 It did have some goo dinfo。 。。。more
Tom F
，
Von Neumann was an absolute alien。 He achieved more intellectually when making his morning oats than most people， very intelligent ones， achieve in an entire lifetime of hard work。 While this book isn't a complete encyclopedic summary of his accomplishments， it give a wide range of coverage including good explanations for the impact each one had。 C Shannon and VN can be thought of as opposites in a lot of ways - Shannon founded information theory， solved the key problems and stated most of its m Von Neumann was an absolute alien。 He achieved more intellectually when making his morning oats than most people， very intelligent ones， achieve in an entire lifetime of hard work。 While this book isn't a complete encyclopedic summary of his accomplishments， it give a wide range of coverage including good explanations for the impact each one had。 C Shannon and VN can be thought of as opposites in a lot of ways - Shannon founded information theory， solved the key problems and stated most of its major results。 VN dipped into a plethora of areas and planted a seed in each， others then continued his work。 Nobody that I know of today can measure up to the achievements of VN and Shannon， their actions reverberate through our every-day life。 。。。more
Chris Liberty
，
The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann by Ananyo Bhattacharya is an incredible biography。 Who knew one could be so accomplished？ If wealth were his goal， he would've been a trillionaire。 The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann by Ananyo Bhattacharya is an incredible biography。 Who knew one could be so accomplished？ If wealth were his goal， he would've been a trillionaire。 。。。more
Piotr Grebski
，
…。。and his legacy - should be added。 Great book。 Great introduction to his life and work。
William
，
This book chronicles how John von Neumann pioneered or assisted many of the worlds most important advancements in the last century。 I was in awe of his impact and left longing for even more information about the man and all his ideas and lectures that we may never know。
Andrew Clough
，
Finished listening to Bhattacharya's book on von Neumann on the way home from work。 I'd known a bunch of the things he did but this book provided a lot of new things as well as context and connections I found valuable。 Finished listening to Bhattacharya's book on von Neumann on the way home from work。 I'd known a bunch of the things he did but this book provided a lot of new things as well as context and connections I found valuable。 。。。more
Nirmal
，
Perhaps， it is a testimony to von Neumann's intellect that to discuss his contributions， the book first needs to introduce the concepts of 1。 Foundations of Quantum Mechanics2。 The Manhattan Project 3。 Computer Architecture 4。 Game Theory5。 Cellular Automaton。Although von Neumann's influence and legacy on all these fields was not surprising to me， what I did not know was his involvement with the "defense work" post WW II and his militaristic attitude。 Overall， a great read。 Perhaps， it is a testimony to von Neumann's intellect that to discuss his contributions， the book first needs to introduce the concepts of 1。 Foundations of Quantum Mechanics2。 The Manhattan Project 3。 Computer Architecture 4。 Game Theory5。 Cellular Automaton。Although von Neumann's influence and legacy on all these fields was not surprising to me， what I did not know was his involvement with the "defense work" post WW II and his militaristic attitude。 Overall， a great read。 。。。more
Donna Herrick
，
This amazing book tells the story of an amazing man and his amazing mathematics。
St。 Brieuc
，
Una entretenida exposición sobre las distintas disciplinas en las que trabajó Von Neumann。 Para ser sincero， esperaba una biografía que me permitiera conocer mejor la personalidad de este hombre tan complejo， pero este libro se enfoca más bien en su obra。 De hecho， una buena parte del libro no es sobre el mismo Von Neumann， sino sobre otros personajes o ideas relacionadas a los campos donde trabajó Von Neumann。Von Neumann es un personaje muy multifacético。 Las contribuciones que hizo en las cien Una entretenida exposición sobre las distintas disciplinas en las que trabajó Von Neumann。 Para ser sincero， esperaba una biografía que me permitiera conocer mejor la personalidad de este hombre tan complejo， pero este libro se enfoca más bien en su obra。 De hecho， una buena parte del libro no es sobre el mismo Von Neumann， sino sobre otros personajes o ideas relacionadas a los campos donde trabajó Von Neumann。Von Neumann es un personaje muy multifacético。 Las contribuciones que hizo en las ciencias puras y aplicadas son inmensas。 Cumplió también un rol clave en la política estratégica de EE。UU。 de la segunda guerra mundial en adelante， participando en proyectos científico-miliatares que inventaron。。。 la bomba atómica y el computador。 Su historia personal también es interesante， naciendo en el seno de una familia aristócratica en Budapest， y luego conviertiéndose en un servidor público de excelencia para los EEUU。 Me hubiera gustado much hacer un viaje hacia la interioridad de un personaje tan notable， pero eso no es este libro。 Se elabora muy poco sobre sus relaciones personales， estilo de vida o ideas personales。 Al contrario de lo que me pasa cuando lee un libro como los de Feynman， luego de terminarlo sigo sin saber cómo era *realmente* esta persona。Pero bueno， es un libro entretenido。 Al igual que con los libros de Feynman， la parte que más me gustó fue la del Proyecto Manhattan。 La conclusión que he obtenido de esta lectura es que ya está completamente cimentada en mi cabeza la idea de que la gente de antes （y especialmente los científicos de antes） eran órdenes de magnitud más inteligentes que los de ahora。 。。。more
Christian
，
I hate writing negative reviews for books that don’t deserve them。 But since this is a community review site I think it’s more helpful to others if I share my perspective rather so others with similar backgrounds as myself can make a call on whether they’ll enjoy it。For those mathematically inclined or who are trained in mathematics or related fields， this is a great book。 As others have mentioned， Bhattacharya expands beyond Neumann’s bio and into the broader history of modern mathematics; and I hate writing negative reviews for books that don’t deserve them。 But since this is a community review site I think it’s more helpful to others if I share my perspective rather so others with similar backgrounds as myself can make a call on whether they’ll enjoy it。For those mathematically inclined or who are trained in mathematics or related fields， this is a great book。 As others have mentioned， Bhattacharya expands beyond Neumann’s bio and into the broader history of modern mathematics; and it’s fascinating。 I’m in the tech industry so I was interested in his influence on computers。 But the deep dive into mathematics was too much for me and beyond my interest。 He’s a great writer and Neumann is fascinating。 But this isn’t a book for the layperson IMO。 。。。more
Matt
，
Important to reiterate my weird grading scale here:I’ve tried to shift my ratings down so that 3 is average and 5 is reserved for the all-time greats。 In general， I give more weight to the best parts of a book than its overall average。1 Star = some potentially serious problems， but good enough to finish2 Stars = a fine book。 If non-fiction， it clearly explains what it sets out to explain。 If fiction， enjoyable。 3 Stars = a very good， potentially great， book。 If non-fiction gave me a lot to chew Important to reiterate my weird grading scale here:I’ve tried to shift my ratings down so that 3 is average and 5 is reserved for the all-time greats。 In general， I give more weight to the best parts of a book than its overall average。1 Star = some potentially serious problems， but good enough to finish2 Stars = a fine book。 If non-fiction， it clearly explains what it sets out to explain。 If fiction， enjoyable。 3 Stars = a very good， potentially great， book。 If non-fiction gave me a lot to chew on。 If fiction， could be incredibly compelling and hard to put down。4 Stars = one of the best books of the year。 If non-fiction makes novel and revelatory arguments。 If fiction， moves deeply。 5 Stars = a classic for the agesNow that I’ve spelled this out， I wouldn’t be surprised if some of my ratings don’t exactly fit these criteria， but this is what I’m going for。 。。。more
Hariharan Gopalakrishnan
，
3。5 *s1/4 biography and 3/4s a tour of the state of various sciences from the early-mid 20th century （with John von Neuman serving as our gateway）。 The latter part touches upon pure mathematics， quantum physics， economics， military strategy and computer science。 I came away with a lot of interesting references to follow up on。 But I would be lying if I deny that this whirlwind-tour approach left me unsatisfied。 I would have preferred a much longer book that dives more deeply into the various dom 3。5 *s1/4 biography and 3/4s a tour of the state of various sciences from the early-mid 20th century （with John von Neuman serving as our gateway）。 The latter part touches upon pure mathematics， quantum physics， economics， military strategy and computer science。 I came away with a lot of interesting references to follow up on。 But I would be lying if I deny that this whirlwind-tour approach left me unsatisfied。 I would have preferred a much longer book that dives more deeply into the various domains and also focused more on giving us a better sense of Von Neuman's exact contributions。 But judging the book by its stated goals， it is well executed and the narrative flows pretty smoothly across the different domains and stages of its subject's life。 The author does a good job articulating complex ideas and rendering them understandable for a lay reader。 。。。more
Jonathan Gill
，
Fascinating account of the life of the brilliant polymath （physicist， mathematician， inventor of computer science） spanning the 20th century。 From Von Neumann's aristocratic upbringing in Hungary to work on the atom bomb for US government and to the development of early computers。 Founding multiple new disciplines still relevant today （game theory， computer programming， artificial intelligence） with a new academic paper every few years， this book captures an astonishing mind allowed to fly via t Fascinating account of the life of the brilliant polymath （physicist， mathematician， inventor of computer science） spanning the 20th century。 From Von Neumann's aristocratic upbringing in Hungary to work on the atom bomb for US government and to the development of early computers。 Founding multiple new disciplines still relevant today （game theory， computer programming， artificial intelligence） with a new academic paper every few years， this book captures an astonishing mind allowed to fly via the US universities research departments aided by military necessity during WWII。 Whilst I don't claim to understand all of the complex maths & physics， the book is certainly accessible to a non-scientist with an interest in modern ideas。 I am left with an understanding of his work but not the man， but this seems to be because Von Neumann was utterly consumed with ideas and his work rather than his personal feelings。 Overall a good read for anyone with an interest in the development of these important ideas still amazingly precient today。 。。。more
Ewo2
，
I read this as part of a book group and was not enthused at the prospect of reading it; math isn't a subject I'm particularly interested in。 However， the author does an excellent job bringing personality and flavor to von Neumann's incredible life's work， and dedicates lots of time to the fascinating people von Neumann lived and worked with。 Von Neumann achieved a truly stunning amount in his life， and it was well worth the time to learn about his achievements and how they continue to influence I read this as part of a book group and was not enthused at the prospect of reading it; math isn't a subject I'm particularly interested in。 However， the author does an excellent job bringing personality and flavor to von Neumann's incredible life's work， and dedicates lots of time to the fascinating people von Neumann lived and worked with。 Von Neumann achieved a truly stunning amount in his life， and it was well worth the time to learn about his achievements and how they continue to influence the world。 。。。more
Larry
，
Great read， esp if you like math or physics。 The people he influenced or worked with reads as a who's who of the science community。 Interesting concepts， left me wanting much more （one criticism I read about the book was that von Neumann was so witty， but they are only a few anecdotes/direct quotes here）。Highly recommended！ Great read， esp if you like math or physics。 The people he influenced or worked with reads as a who's who of the science community。 Interesting concepts， left me wanting much more （one criticism I read about the book was that von Neumann was so witty， but they are only a few anecdotes/direct quotes here）。Highly recommended！ 。。。more
Robert Bethune
，