"A Cornelia & Michael Bessie book."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 391-394) and index.

1. The Cheapest Way to Make the World Richer -- 2. A Silver Spoon in Budapest, 1903-14 -- 3. At the Lutheran Gymnasium, 1914-21 -- 4. An Undergraduate with Lion's Claws, 1921-26 -- 5. Rigor Becomes More Relaxed, 500 B.C.-A.D. 1931 -- 6. The Quantum Leap, 1926-32 -- 7. Sturm und Drang, Marriage, Emigration, 1927-31 -- 8. Depression at Princeton, 1931-37 -- 9. The Calculating Exploder, 1937-43 -- 10. Los Alamos to Trinity, 1943-45 -- 11. In the Domain of Economics -- 12. The Computers at Philadelphia, 1944-46 -- 13. The Computers from Princeton, 1946-52 -- 14. And Then the H-Bomb -- 15. With Astonishing Influence, 1950-56.

The first full-scale biography of the man widely regarded as the greatest scientist of the century after Einstein. Born in Budapest in 1903, John von Neumann grew up in one of the most extraordinary of scientific communities. From his arrival in America in the mid-1930s - with bases in Boston, Princeton, Washington, and Los Alamos - von Neumann pioneered and participated in the major scientific and political dramas of the next three decades, leaving his mark on more fields of scientific endeavor than any other scientist. Von Neumann's work in areas such as game theory, mathematics, physics, and meteorology formed the building blocks for the most important discoveries of the century: the modern computer, game theory, the atom bomb, radar, and artificial intelligence, to name just a few. From the laboratory to the highest levels of government, this definitive biography gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the politics and personalities involved in these world-changing discoveries. Written more than thirty years after von Neumann's untimely death at age fifty-six, it was prepared with the cooperation of his family, and includes information gained from interviewing countless sources across Europe and America. Norman Macrae paints a highly readable, humanizing portrait of a man whose legacy still influences and shapes modern science and knowledge.

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