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The Neumann Compendium
After three decades since the first nearly complete edition of John von Neumann's papers, this book is a valuable selection of those papers and excerpts of his books that are most characteristic of his activity, and reveal that of his continuous influence.The results receiving the 1994 Nobel Prizes in economy deeply rooted in Neumann's game theory are only minor traces of his exceptionally broad spectrum of creativity and stimulation.The book is organized by the specific subjects-quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, operator algebra, hydrodynamics, economics, computers, science and society. In addition, one paper which was written in German will be translated and published in English for the first time.The sections are introduced by short explanatory notes with an emphasis on recent developments based on von Neumann's contributions. An overall picture is provided by Ulam's, one of his most intimate partners in thinking, 1958 memorial lecture. Facsimilae and translations of some of his personal letters and a newly completed bibliography based on von Neumann's own careful compilation are added.
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First published June 30, 1995
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About the author
John von Neumann
78 books370 followersJohn von Neumann (Hungarian: margittai Neumann János Lajos) was a Hungarian American[1] mathematician who made major contributions to a vast range of fields,[2] including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, continuous geometry, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis, hydrodynamics (of explosions), and statistics, as well as many other mathematical fields. He is generally regarded as one of the foremost mathematicians of the 20th century. The mathematician Jean Dieudonné called von Neumann "the last of the great mathematicians." Even in Budapest, in the time that produced Szilárd (1898), Wigner (1902), and Teller (1908) his brilliance stood out. Most notably, von Neumann was a pioneer of the application of operator theory to quantum mechanics, a principal member of the Manhattan Project and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (as one of the few originally appointed), and a key figure in the development of game theory and the concepts of cellular automata and the universal constructor. Along with Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam, von Neumann worked out key steps in the nuclear physics involved in thermonuclear reactions and the hydrogen bomb.
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September 30, 2025•”The general revolution clearly under way in the military sphere, and its already realized special aspect, the terrible possibilities of mass destruction, should not be viewed as typical of what the nuclear revolution stands for. Yet they may well be typical of how deeply that revolution will transform whatever it touches. And the revolution will probably touch most things technological.”
•”Fundamentally, improvements in control are really improvements in communicating information within an organization or mechanism.”
•On climate control: “Such actions would be more directly and truly worldwide than recent or, presumably, future wars, or than the economy at any time (…) All this will merge each nation's affairs with those of every other, more thoroughly than the threat of a nuclear or any other war may already have done.”
•”all are intrinsically useful, they can lend themselves to destruction. Even the most formidable tools of nuclear destruction are only extreme members of a genus that includes useful methods of energy release or element transmutation (…) Technology-like science—is neutral all through, providing only means of control applicable to any purpose, indifferent to all.”
•”Of course, any technology interacts with geography, and each imposes its own geographical rules and modalities. The technology that is now developing and that will dominate the next decades seems to be in total conflict with traditional and, in the main, momentarily still valid, geographical and political units and concepts. This is the maturing crisis of technology.”
•”the very techniques that create the dangers and the instabilities are in themselves useful, or closely related to the useful. In fact, the more useful they could be, the more unstabilizing their effects can also be. It is not a particular perverse destructiveness of one particular invention that creates danger. Technological power, technological efficiency as such, is an ambivalent achievement. Its danger is intrinsic.”
•”The crisis will not be resolved by inhibiting this or that apparently particularly obnoxious form of technology (…) useful and harmful techniques lie everywhere so close together that it is never possible to separate the lions from the lambs (…) Also, the proximity of useful techniques to harmful ones, and the possibility of putting the harmful ones to military use, puts a competitive premium on infringement.”
•”What safeguard remains? Apparently only day-to-day
— or perhaps year-to-year — opportunistic measures, a long sequence of small, correct decisions. And this is not surprising. After all, the crisis is due to the rapidity of progress (…) further acceleration can no longer be absorbed as in the past by an extension of the area of operations.”
•”After global climate control becomes possible, perhaps all our present involvements will seem simple. We should not deceive ourselves : once such possibilities become actual, they will be exploited.”
•”The one solid fact is that the difficulties are due to an evolution that, while useful and constructive, is also dangerous. Can we produce the required adjustments with the necessary speed? The most hopeful answer is that the human species has been subjected to similar tests before and seems to have a congenital ability to come through, after varying amounts of trouble. To ask in advance for a complete recipe would be unreasonable. We can specify only the human qualities required: patience, flexibility, intelligence.”
•”Fundamentally, improvements in control are really improvements in communicating information within an organization or mechanism.”
•On climate control: “Such actions would be more directly and truly worldwide than recent or, presumably, future wars, or than the economy at any time (…) All this will merge each nation's affairs with those of every other, more thoroughly than the threat of a nuclear or any other war may already have done.”
•”all are intrinsically useful, they can lend themselves to destruction. Even the most formidable tools of nuclear destruction are only extreme members of a genus that includes useful methods of energy release or element transmutation (…) Technology-like science—is neutral all through, providing only means of control applicable to any purpose, indifferent to all.”
•”Of course, any technology interacts with geography, and each imposes its own geographical rules and modalities. The technology that is now developing and that will dominate the next decades seems to be in total conflict with traditional and, in the main, momentarily still valid, geographical and political units and concepts. This is the maturing crisis of technology.”
•”the very techniques that create the dangers and the instabilities are in themselves useful, or closely related to the useful. In fact, the more useful they could be, the more unstabilizing their effects can also be. It is not a particular perverse destructiveness of one particular invention that creates danger. Technological power, technological efficiency as such, is an ambivalent achievement. Its danger is intrinsic.”
•”The crisis will not be resolved by inhibiting this or that apparently particularly obnoxious form of technology (…) useful and harmful techniques lie everywhere so close together that it is never possible to separate the lions from the lambs (…) Also, the proximity of useful techniques to harmful ones, and the possibility of putting the harmful ones to military use, puts a competitive premium on infringement.”
•”What safeguard remains? Apparently only day-to-day
— or perhaps year-to-year — opportunistic measures, a long sequence of small, correct decisions. And this is not surprising. After all, the crisis is due to the rapidity of progress (…) further acceleration can no longer be absorbed as in the past by an extension of the area of operations.”
•”After global climate control becomes possible, perhaps all our present involvements will seem simple. We should not deceive ourselves : once such possibilities become actual, they will be exploited.”
•”The one solid fact is that the difficulties are due to an evolution that, while useful and constructive, is also dangerous. Can we produce the required adjustments with the necessary speed? The most hopeful answer is that the human species has been subjected to similar tests before and seems to have a congenital ability to come through, after varying amounts of trouble. To ask in advance for a complete recipe would be unreasonable. We can specify only the human qualities required: patience, flexibility, intelligence.”
December 31, 2024
After three decades since the first nearly complete edition of John von Neumann's papers, this book is a valuable selection of those papers and excerpts of his books that are most characteristic of his activity, and reveal that of his continuous influence.The results receiving the 1994 Nobel Prizes in economy deeply rooted in Neumann's game theory are only minor traces of his exceptionally broad spectrum of creativity and stimulation.The book is organized by the specific subjects-quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, operator algebra, hydrodynamics, economics, computers, science and society. In addition, one paper which was written in German will be translated and published in English for the first time.The sections are introduced by short explanatory notes with an emphasis on recent developments based on von Neumann's contributions. An overall picture is provided by Ulam's, one of his most intimate partners in thinking, 1958 memorial lecture. Facsimilae and translations of some of his personal letters and a newly completed bibliography based on von Neumann's own careful compilation are added.
August 5, 2008
Amazon, 2008-07-05. Terrible excitement!
Well, I'm really glad I bought this, as it makes me happy to have anything written by Johnny around me...but quite frankly, I don't bring the necessary prerequisite knowledge to this one to do it justice, and doubt I ever will. The majority of the text is unedited prints of pre-WWII quantum theory, especially the theories of ring algebras and linear operators -- anything I recognize at all, I've got a better reference to, and the rest is likely beyond that to be encompassed by my short life.
I do like looking over the typewritten script, however, imagining Dr. Von Neumann incisively bringing clarity to all he touched...I close my eyes for a moment, clutch this awe-inspiring volume of science at its highest level to my chest, and am inspired to great things.
We can all think clearly, more or less, some of the time, but von Neumann's clarity of thought was orders of magnitude greater than that of most of us, all the time. For von Neumann it seemed to be impossible to be unclear in thought or in expression. -- Paul Halmos
Keeping up with him was all but impossible. The feeling was you were on a tricycle chasing a racing car. -- Israel Halperin (I figure it's a good week at work when I can pick this latter feeling up in my comrades, hehe =] Someone's gotta be the badass!).
Well, I'm really glad I bought this, as it makes me happy to have anything written by Johnny around me...but quite frankly, I don't bring the necessary prerequisite knowledge to this one to do it justice, and doubt I ever will. The majority of the text is unedited prints of pre-WWII quantum theory, especially the theories of ring algebras and linear operators -- anything I recognize at all, I've got a better reference to, and the rest is likely beyond that to be encompassed by my short life.
I do like looking over the typewritten script, however, imagining Dr. Von Neumann incisively bringing clarity to all he touched...I close my eyes for a moment, clutch this awe-inspiring volume of science at its highest level to my chest, and am inspired to great things.
We can all think clearly, more or less, some of the time, but von Neumann's clarity of thought was orders of magnitude greater than that of most of us, all the time. For von Neumann it seemed to be impossible to be unclear in thought or in expression. -- Paul Halmos
Keeping up with him was all but impossible. The feeling was you were on a tricycle chasing a racing car. -- Israel Halperin (I figure it's a good week at work when I can pick this latter feeling up in my comrades, hehe =] Someone's gotta be the badass!).
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews