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Adventures of a Mathematician
The true story that inspired the 2020 film.
The autobiography of mathematician Stanislaw Ulam, one of the great scientific minds of the twentieth century, tells a story rich with amazingly prophetic speculations and peppered with lively anecdotes. As a member of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1944 on, Ulam helped to precipitate some of the most dramatic changes of the postwar world. He was among the first to use and advocate computers for scientific research, originated ideas for the nuclear propulsion of space vehicles, and made fundamental contributions to many of today's most challenging mathematical projects.
With his wide-ranging interests, Ulam never emphasized the importance of his contributions to the research that resulted in the hydrogen bomb. Now Daniel Hirsch and William Mathews reveal the true story of Ulam's pivotal role in the making of the "Super," in their historical introduction to this behind-the-scenes look at the minds and ideas that ushered in the nuclear age. An epilogue by Françoise Ulam and Jan Mycielski sheds new light on Ulam's character and mathematical originality.
The autobiography of mathematician Stanislaw Ulam, one of the great scientific minds of the twentieth century, tells a story rich with amazingly prophetic speculations and peppered with lively anecdotes. As a member of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1944 on, Ulam helped to precipitate some of the most dramatic changes of the postwar world. He was among the first to use and advocate computers for scientific research, originated ideas for the nuclear propulsion of space vehicles, and made fundamental contributions to many of today's most challenging mathematical projects.
With his wide-ranging interests, Ulam never emphasized the importance of his contributions to the research that resulted in the hydrogen bomb. Now Daniel Hirsch and William Mathews reveal the true story of Ulam's pivotal role in the making of the "Super," in their historical introduction to this behind-the-scenes look at the minds and ideas that ushered in the nuclear age. An epilogue by Françoise Ulam and Jan Mycielski sheds new light on Ulam's character and mathematical originality.
388 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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December 21, 2012
"This was more agreeable than the present style of the research papers or books which have so much symbolism and formulae on every page. I am turned off when I see only formulas and symbols, and little text. It is too laborious for me to look at such pages not knowing what to concentrate on. I wonder how many other mathematicians really read them in detail and enjoy them."
This is quite remarkable coming from one of the top mathematicians of his time. His own approach to mathematics was definitely more verbal and less symbol-based.
This is quite remarkable coming from one of the top mathematicians of his time. His own approach to mathematics was definitely more verbal and less symbol-based.
September 12, 2017
Stanislaw Ulam was a prominent twentieth-century mathematician, famous for inventing Monte Carlo methods -- and co-inventing the hydrogen bomb. This is not quite an autobiography. It's one part memoir, one part musings on science and mathematics, and one part character sketches and anecdotes. It originally started, not as an autobiography of Ulam, but as a memoir of his friend and colleague, John von Neumann. However, the scope grew, and it's now a long picaresque tour of Ulam's life, times, and contemporaries.
Several bits caught my attention. First, his description of childhood, college, and graduate mathematics in inter-war poland. My grandfather grew up in a similar milieu so this held personal resonance. It was emotional reading though -- most of the teachers and colleagues he mentions are tagged with "murdered by the Germans" or "died of hard circumstances in Russian exile in 1944" and the like. It was a grim time to be a Pole.
Ulam was a visiting fellow at Harvard in the United States when the war broke out -- basically a postdoc. And he had his kid brother Adam with him, who was just about to start college. When the war started, the two brothers were cut off from their family and the family money -- and Stanislaw reports how frightened and worried he was making ends meet while getting his brother into a college (Brown). Adam turned out fine, as it happens, and went on to become a prominent Sovietologist.
By 1943, Stanislaw Ulam got pulled into the Manhattan Project, and went to work in the theory group at Los Alamos. He spent the rest of his career bouncing between academic jobs and the lab. During a period at the lab, he collaborated with Edward Teller on the development of the "super." Credit for the invention is disputed -- Teller claimed at various points that the key ideas were his -- but several observers, notably Bethe, think that Ulam made the primary contributions. In Ulam's account here, he had an idea, knew it was a big important idea, told Teller, and they jointly improved it and it formed the basis of all future bombs. Ulam is coy about technical details though -- you won't learn anything about engineering a hydrogen bomb in this book.
As I mentioned, this book originally as about von Neumann, not Ulam. Von Neumann was one of the most interesting figures of the century, and Ulam was one of the few people who thought of him as a friend and an equal, not a demigod or a enfant terrible. Ulam's describes Johnny (as he calls him) as exceedingly quick and clever, but not so imaginative or bold as others -- and perhaps with a chip on his shoulder about doing applied math and quasi-math rather than many deep fundamental new mathematical discoveries.
The best of the stories is that one day, von Neumann walked into Ulam's office at Princeton to discuss a math problem and said "the goyim have proved the following theorem" -- with the implication being that "we jews should be able to prove a stronger one." Ulam repeated the joke, and apparently Banach (a "pure goy") thought it was hilarious.
Ulam has a long description of the Oppenheimer affair (and like the other scientists, felt that Oppenheimer had been treated shabbily.) He does repeat with endorsement Johnny's comment about Oppenheimer's moral feelings: "Some people profess guilt to claim credit for the sin."
The other favorite story of mine is as follows. After the war, Ulam had a very serious case of encephalitis, and was near death and unable to think. Even after his release from the hospital, he was worried he had suffered serious permanent brain damage. Erdos came to visit, and they played chess. Ulam won, but worried that Erdos was going easy on him. They played a second game, Ulam won again, and then Erdos said "okay, that's enough chess, I'm done for the night" -- and Ulam felt reassured that his partner had really been trying.
Some choice excerpts from the book are available online: http://permalink.lanl.gov/object/tr?w...
Several bits caught my attention. First, his description of childhood, college, and graduate mathematics in inter-war poland. My grandfather grew up in a similar milieu so this held personal resonance. It was emotional reading though -- most of the teachers and colleagues he mentions are tagged with "murdered by the Germans" or "died of hard circumstances in Russian exile in 1944" and the like. It was a grim time to be a Pole.
Ulam was a visiting fellow at Harvard in the United States when the war broke out -- basically a postdoc. And he had his kid brother Adam with him, who was just about to start college. When the war started, the two brothers were cut off from their family and the family money -- and Stanislaw reports how frightened and worried he was making ends meet while getting his brother into a college (Brown). Adam turned out fine, as it happens, and went on to become a prominent Sovietologist.
By 1943, Stanislaw Ulam got pulled into the Manhattan Project, and went to work in the theory group at Los Alamos. He spent the rest of his career bouncing between academic jobs and the lab. During a period at the lab, he collaborated with Edward Teller on the development of the "super." Credit for the invention is disputed -- Teller claimed at various points that the key ideas were his -- but several observers, notably Bethe, think that Ulam made the primary contributions. In Ulam's account here, he had an idea, knew it was a big important idea, told Teller, and they jointly improved it and it formed the basis of all future bombs. Ulam is coy about technical details though -- you won't learn anything about engineering a hydrogen bomb in this book.
As I mentioned, this book originally as about von Neumann, not Ulam. Von Neumann was one of the most interesting figures of the century, and Ulam was one of the few people who thought of him as a friend and an equal, not a demigod or a enfant terrible. Ulam's describes Johnny (as he calls him) as exceedingly quick and clever, but not so imaginative or bold as others -- and perhaps with a chip on his shoulder about doing applied math and quasi-math rather than many deep fundamental new mathematical discoveries.
The best of the stories is that one day, von Neumann walked into Ulam's office at Princeton to discuss a math problem and said "the goyim have proved the following theorem" -- with the implication being that "we jews should be able to prove a stronger one." Ulam repeated the joke, and apparently Banach (a "pure goy") thought it was hilarious.
Ulam has a long description of the Oppenheimer affair (and like the other scientists, felt that Oppenheimer had been treated shabbily.) He does repeat with endorsement Johnny's comment about Oppenheimer's moral feelings: "Some people profess guilt to claim credit for the sin."
The other favorite story of mine is as follows. After the war, Ulam had a very serious case of encephalitis, and was near death and unable to think. Even after his release from the hospital, he was worried he had suffered serious permanent brain damage. Erdos came to visit, and they played chess. Ulam won, but worried that Erdos was going easy on him. They played a second game, Ulam won again, and then Erdos said "okay, that's enough chess, I'm done for the night" -- and Ulam felt reassured that his partner had really been trying.
Some choice excerpts from the book are available online: http://permalink.lanl.gov/object/tr?w...
April 30, 2022
Прекрасна книга, і добре написана, і сам Улям працював над дуже цікавими задачами, але дуже кріпово зараз читати про процес створення ядерної і водневої бомб 😨
July 24, 2025
A nonlinear mathematician
Have you ever heard of Stan Ulam? If you're a normal person (by which I mean, mostly, not a scientist or a mathematician), the answer is probably no. If you have heard of him, what you have heard, most likely, is that he played an important role in the development of thermonuclear bombs. ("Thermonuclear" means roughly the same thing as "H bomb", as opposed to fission bombs such as the ones detonated on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.)
If you're a mathematician, you have probably heard his name in connection with an impressive list of mathematical thingies like theorems, conjectures, numbers, etc. Wikipedia lists a dozen such things. In fact, the breadth of this list is more impressive than its length. His contributions range from analysis to number theory via topology, etc. He was one of the most important mathematicians of the twentieth century. If you're a mathematician, Ulam's work has probably been relevant to your own. It certainly has been to mine.
Adventures of a Mathematician is not like G.H. Hardy's A Mathematician's Apology. G.H. Hardy's job is to explain to Jill-on-the street what mathematics is. Ulam assumes you already know. What's more, he assumes he can discuss things like function spaces without explaining what that means.
Ulam is a refreshingly nonlinear story-teller. Although he does begin his first chapter with his childhood in Lwów, Poland, he immediately diverges from the story of his youth to the nature of his memories of childhood and to speculations about the way memory works. This sort of thing continues throughout Adventures. These digressions are often occasioned by the appearance in his narrative of some well-known scientist or mathematician. He has a great deal to say, for instance, about "Banach, Fermi, and von Neumann, ... the three great men whose intellects had impressed me the most."
Lwów had an important effect on Ulam's way of doing math. There was a vibrant mathematics culture there. Lwów mathematicians met in coffeeshops and talked for hours about math. His whole life Ulam remained a mathematician who made progress by talking with other mathematicians.
Now, about the H bomb. The most complete account that I have read is Richard Rhodes's Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. Edward Teller initiated the Super project, as the H-bomb was at first known. Ulam's first, and terribly important, contribution was negative. He (with John von Neumann) showed that Teller's idea would not work. The obvious implication was that thermonuclear weapons were not possible -- they were not out there in Platonic reality waiting to cast a shadow on this universe. (Russian physicists working independently also failed until the Mike Shot proved it could be done.) Then, one day, as recounted by Ulam's wife Françoise in a Postscript
Teller did not take all this well. He was not happy when Ulam showed his original idea would not work, and he was not happy to share credit with Ulam when Ulam figured out how to make it work.
Adventures of a Mathematician is, I'm sorry to say, not suitable for general audiences. If you're a mathematician you may enjoy it. I learned a lot.
Blog review.
Have you ever heard of Stan Ulam? If you're a normal person (by which I mean, mostly, not a scientist or a mathematician), the answer is probably no. If you have heard of him, what you have heard, most likely, is that he played an important role in the development of thermonuclear bombs. ("Thermonuclear" means roughly the same thing as "H bomb", as opposed to fission bombs such as the ones detonated on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.)
If you're a mathematician, you have probably heard his name in connection with an impressive list of mathematical thingies like theorems, conjectures, numbers, etc. Wikipedia lists a dozen such things. In fact, the breadth of this list is more impressive than its length. His contributions range from analysis to number theory via topology, etc. He was one of the most important mathematicians of the twentieth century. If you're a mathematician, Ulam's work has probably been relevant to your own. It certainly has been to mine.
Adventures of a Mathematician is not like G.H. Hardy's A Mathematician's Apology. G.H. Hardy's job is to explain to Jill-on-the street what mathematics is. Ulam assumes you already know. What's more, he assumes he can discuss things like function spaces without explaining what that means.
Ulam is a refreshingly nonlinear story-teller. Although he does begin his first chapter with his childhood in Lwów, Poland, he immediately diverges from the story of his youth to the nature of his memories of childhood and to speculations about the way memory works. This sort of thing continues throughout Adventures. These digressions are often occasioned by the appearance in his narrative of some well-known scientist or mathematician. He has a great deal to say, for instance, about "Banach, Fermi, and von Neumann, ... the three great men whose intellects had impressed me the most."
Lwów had an important effect on Ulam's way of doing math. There was a vibrant mathematics culture there. Lwów mathematicians met in coffeeshops and talked for hours about math. His whole life Ulam remained a mathematician who made progress by talking with other mathematicians.
Now, about the H bomb. The most complete account that I have read is Richard Rhodes's Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. Edward Teller initiated the Super project, as the H-bomb was at first known. Ulam's first, and terribly important, contribution was negative. He (with John von Neumann) showed that Teller's idea would not work. The obvious implication was that thermonuclear weapons were not possible -- they were not out there in Platonic reality waiting to cast a shadow on this universe. (Russian physicists working independently also failed until the Mike Shot proved it could be done.) Then, one day, as recounted by Ulam's wife Françoise in a Postscript
The technical and political debates were raging when Stan, mulling over the problems, suddenly came upon a totally new and intriguing approach. Engraved on my memory is the day when I found him at noon staring intensely out of a window in our living room with a very strange expression on his face. Peering unseeing into the garden, he said: "I found a way to make it work." "What work?" I asked. "The Super" he replied. "It is a totally different scheme, and it will change the course of history."It did. The Mike Shot was the successful test.
Teller did not take all this well. He was not happy when Ulam showed his original idea would not work, and he was not happy to share credit with Ulam when Ulam figured out how to make it work.
Adventures of a Mathematician is, I'm sorry to say, not suitable for general audiences. If you're a mathematician you may enjoy it. I learned a lot.
Blog review.
October 24, 2017
Прочитала я книгу видатного математика, одного з авторів водневої бомби, польського єврея зі Львова, Станіслава Уляма, «Пригоди математика». Народився у Львові в заможній єврейській сім'ї львівського адвоката Юзефа Уляма, нащадка переселенців з Венеції. Його мати, Ганна Ауербах, народилася в Стрию, невеликому містечку близько 60 миль на південь від Львова, біля Карпатських гір. Її батько був промисловцем, який займався сталлю і був представником заводів в Галичині та Угорщині.
Як молодий амбітний математик, звичайно ж, задавав тон у «Шотландській каварні» (Kawiarnia Szkocka), де найбільші польські математики сиділи при каві та коньяку, розв'язуючи задачі й записуючи розв’язки спочатку на дошці столика, а потім у відомому зошиті в клітинку, званому «Шотландською Книгою» (Księgą Szkocką). Після війни Улям переклав її англійською й уславив у всьому світі.
Мені дуже хотілось почитати про міжвоєнний Львів, про відоме коло львівських математиків, але на жаль Станіслав Улям дуже мало про це написав. Також він не згадує ні словом про долю своїх батьків, які залишились у Львові під час Голокосту, ні про сам Голокост, ні про своїх друзів євреїв, ні про долю євреїв, ні п��о свою єврейкість. Ніби все це не відбувалось ніколи в його житті. Так жаль….
Як молодий амбітний математик, звичайно ж, задавав тон у «Шотландській каварні» (Kawiarnia Szkocka), де найбільші польські математики сиділи при каві та коньяку, розв'язуючи задачі й записуючи розв’язки спочатку на дошці столика, а потім у відомому зошиті в клітинку, званому «Шотландською Книгою» (Księgą Szkocką). Після війни Улям переклав її англійською й уславив у всьому світі.
Мені дуже хотілось почитати про міжвоєнний Львів, про відоме коло львівських математиків, але на жаль Станіслав Улям дуже мало про це написав. Також він не згадує ні словом про долю своїх батьків, які залишились у Львові під час Голокосту, ні про сам Голокост, ні про своїх друзів євреїв, ні про долю євреїв, ні п��о свою єврейкість. Ніби все це не відбувалось ніколи в його житті. Так жаль….
November 8, 2016
Fascinating look into the mind of a genius!
Stan Ulam documents growing up in Lwow, Poland, how he became enchanted by math, and would ultimately go on to be the father of the H-Bomb, in Los Alamos. Along the way he wrote countless papers, but is probably best known for discovering the "Monte Carlo Method", today much used in statistical analysis.
Stan Ulam documents growing up in Lwow, Poland, how he became enchanted by math, and would ultimately go on to be the father of the H-Bomb, in Los Alamos. Along the way he wrote countless papers, but is probably best known for discovering the "Monte Carlo Method", today much used in statistical analysis.
December 12, 2007
Ulam didn't write this book; he dictated it. It was a good tactic for him, and the result is a book with a lot of personality. Ulam has long been a hero of mine, and he lived through a lot of interesting stories. Worth reading if you enjoy biography, even if you know nothing of mathematics.
December 15, 2021
Imagine having had such an interesting life but not the sensibility to write about it well. Tragic. But oh, to be perfectly content with such half-baked ethics!
November 13, 2023
Ulam lived a very interesting life and was a very creative mathematician who made important physics contributions, too. This book is a nice autobiography, and also gives a flavor of Ulam's thoughts on all of the great mathematicians and physicists he met, as well as his own thoughts on creativity in math and the sciences. It is both an interesting and stimulating read for those interested in math/physics progress in the 20th century, and esp. for those interested in Los Alamos history.
January 12, 2012
Questa è la seconda autobiografia di un matematico polacco che ho letto ultimamente, dopo quella di Mark Kac (vedi http://xmau.com/notiziole/arch/200812... ). Ulam era a Los Alamos nel progetto Manhattan, ed è stato uno degli sviluppatori della bomba H; insomma non esattamente l'ultimo arrivato. Però il libro non mi è affatto piaciuto. Non è tanto il problema dell'incomprensibilità della matematica che ha fatto, anche se garantisco che gli accenni presenti non danno assolutamente alcun appiglio a chi non sappia già le cose; però quegli accenni si possono tranquillamente saltare. Il guaio maggiore è che c'è un'enorme discontinuità nei temi trattati, e aneddoti francamente inutili sono messi esattamente allo stesso livello di altri punti ben più importanti; anche le considerazioni filosofiche e cognitive che di quando in quando appaiono mi sembrano fuori posto nel libro, forse anche perché la traduzione è piuttosto pesante anche se corretta. In definitiva, un libro non all'altezza di quanto sperassi.
November 13, 2017
Świetna autobiografia, praktycznie zapomnianego u nas wybitnego polskiego naukowca.
March 11, 2024
Оскільки у „Оппенгаймера” теж свято, то напишу про цю книжку, яку я закінчила читати два дні тому. Це спогади математика Станіслава Уляма, який народився у Львові, але прожив більшість життя у Штатах і допомагав розробляти атомну бомбу у Лос-Аламосі. Попри поважні заняття і статус, цей пан був дотепним письменником і написав жваву історію, хоча й пересипану математичними міркуваннями.
Я почала читати книжку в поїзді до Варшави, минаючи місце концтабору у Белжці, де вбили стількох євреїв Галичини. Станіслава Уляма, єврея з акультурованої родини правників, банкірів та архітекторів мала чекати така сама доля, як і інших талановитих людей Львова. Втім, він з самої юності розумів, що у Львові в нього не буде великих шансів на кар’єру. В місті зосереджувалося багато здібних науковців, які працювали в університетах за мізерні копійки і підпрацьовували вчителями в гімназіях - тобто все як зараз.
Йому подобалося львівське середовище і розмірений напівбогемний стиль життя, коли математики цілими днями сиділи у кав’ярнях і писали по ночах - і все життя в Штатах Улям намагатиметься знайти відповідник такого невимушеного форуму. Але після студій він, спершу за гроші батьків, а потім на стипендіях їде до Англії і до Штатів, де досліджує і викладає в найкращих університетах.
Розділ про 1939 рік для мене був найважчим - в повітрі вже відчувається війна, але як і в нашому випадку про неї говорили більше в Америці, ніж у Польщі, де надіялися на краще. Улям приїхав на канікули і забрав до Штатів молодшого брата, розминувшись з війною на декілька днів. Наукове середовище тоді було мобільне, як і тепер і мене дуже зачепила історія варшавського математика Альфреда Тарського, який виїхав на конференцію до Штатів і коли почалася війна, його дружина і діти були в Польщі. Вони всі загинули, а він так і не повернувся зі Штатів до Польщі. Для поляків і польських євреїв, які врятувалися від війни, але втратили колишню батьківщину і лишилися в непевності, без грошей і часто без надії на роботу через шалену конкуренцію це були тяжкі часи і Улям згадує про один випадок самогубства. Звісно ще страшніші часи настали у Європі, де вчених розстрілювали чи морили у концтаборах.
Втім, більшість книги про роботу в американських університетах, Лос-Аламос і бесіди з іншими математиками. Мені ця книжка багато пояснила про те, як польські емігранти успішно інтегровувалися в американське середовище, завдяки талантам і адаптивності. Це прекрасне джерело для дослідження нетворкингу серед науковців. Про Оппенгаймер він згадує рідко, радше як про людину з трохи зірковою хворобою, яка не дуже хотіла, щоб хтось його перевершив. Про атомну і водневу бомбу Улям писав дуже оптимістично, вважаючи, що вони завершать всі війни - але розробляти йому їх подобалося просто заради мистецтва.
Попри те, що складно знайти два більш несхожі на себе міста ніж постгабсбурзький цукерковий Львів і збитий нашвидкоруч з дощок посеред пустелі Лос-Аламос, Уляму було назатишніше саме в цих місцях. Він був товариською людиною, яка любила життя, смачну їжу і розмови та плітки з колегами, а саме у Львові і Лос-Аламосі цього було найбільше.
Я почала читати книжку в поїзді до Варшави, минаючи місце концтабору у Белжці, де вбили стількох євреїв Галичини. Станіслава Уляма, єврея з акультурованої родини правників, банкірів та архітекторів мала чекати така сама доля, як і інших талановитих людей Львова. Втім, він з самої юності розумів, що у Львові в нього не буде великих шансів на кар’єру. В місті зосереджувалося багато здібних науковців, які працювали в університетах за мізерні копійки і підпрацьовували вчителями в гімназіях - тобто все як зараз.
Йому подобалося львівське середовище і розмірений напівбогемний стиль життя, коли математики цілими днями сиділи у кав’ярнях і писали по ночах - і все життя в Штатах Улям намагатиметься знайти відповідник такого невимушеного форуму. Але після студій він, спершу за гроші батьків, а потім на стипендіях їде до Англії і до Штатів, де досліджує і викладає в найкращих університетах.
Розділ про 1939 рік для мене був найважчим - в повітрі вже відчувається війна, але як і в нашому випадку про неї говорили більше в Америці, ніж у Польщі, де надіялися на краще. Улям приїхав на канікули і забрав до Штатів молодшого брата, розминувшись з війною на декілька днів. Наукове середовище тоді було мобільне, як і тепер і мене дуже зачепила історія варшавського математика Альфреда Тарського, який виїхав на конференцію до Штатів і коли почалася війна, його дружина і діти були в Польщі. Вони всі загинули, а він так і не повернувся зі Штатів до Польщі. Для поляків і польських євреїв, які врятувалися від війни, але втратили колишню батьківщину і лишилися в непевності, без грошей і часто без надії на роботу через шалену конкуренцію це були тяжкі часи і Улям згадує про один випадок самогубства. Звісно ще страшніші часи настали у Європі, де вчених розстрілювали чи морили у концтаборах.
Втім, більшість книги про роботу в американських університетах, Лос-Аламос і бесіди з іншими математиками. Мені ця книжка багато пояснила про те, як польські емігранти успішно інтегровувалися в американське середовище, завдяки талантам і адаптивності. Це прекрасне джерело для дослідження нетворкингу серед науковців. Про Оппенгаймер він згадує рідко, радше як про людину з трохи зірковою хворобою, яка не дуже хотіла, щоб хтось його перевершив. Про атомну і водневу бомбу Улям писав дуже оптимістично, вважаючи, що вони завершать всі війни - але розробляти йому їх подобалося просто заради мистецтва.
Попри те, що складно знайти два більш несхожі на себе міста ніж постгабсбурзький цукерковий Львів і збитий нашвидкоруч з дощок посеред пустелі Лос-Аламос, Уляму було назатишніше саме в цих місцях. Він був товариською людиною, яка любила життя, смачну їжу і розмови та плітки з колегами, а саме у Львові і Лос-Аламосі цього було найбільше.
March 12, 2022
Un livre intéressant qui donne un bon panorama de la science et des mathématiques au XXème siècle. J'ai particulièrement aimé le début du livre qui narre l'enfance de Stanislas Ulam dans la ville de Lviv (alors en Autriche-Hongrie, puis en Pologne - actuellement une ville ukrainienne -). Dans cette partie, le récit est à la fois sincère, contient des anecdotes historique et retranscrit bien l'atmosphère des lieux. Cela m'a fait penser au début du livre sur Erdös "The man who loved only numbers". Il est resté marqué par le décès aux mains des nazis de nombres de ses collègues mathématiciens qui n'ont pas pu comme lui partir en Amérique avant le déclenchement de la deuxième guerre mondiale.
Stanislas Ulam finit sa carrière aux États-Unis. Je trouve la partie finale du livre moins intéressante car elle se résume souvent à un "Who is who" des mathématiques (j'étais souvent invité par untel, qui a travaillé avec telautre, etc...). Cependant le livre contient de très bonne pages. Je pense notamment à ce qui relate son amitié avec Von Neumann, mais aussi les pages où il dit au revoir à son ami Fermi.
J'attendais quelque chose des pages où il a travaillé à Los Alamos, mais j'ai finalement été un peu déçu. Ulam a quand même un point de vue intéressant sur son travail sur les bombes nucléaires, puisque contrairement à certains, il reconnaît n'éprouver aucun remords. Il dit s'intéresser en premier lieu au développement de la science et pas nécessairement de son usage, et considère qu'il est dans la nature humaine de chercher certaines réponses et de découvrir ces technologies, et dans ce cas, autant que ce soit lui plutôt qu'un autre.
J'ai par contre été heureux de retrouver Erdös, en particulier le passage où Stanislas Ulam a fait une grave maladie du cerveau et Erdös vient passer quelques temps chez lui pour s'assurer qu'il a encore toutes ses facultés mathématiques.
Un des points forts de cette autobiographie c'est l'humour un peu pince sans rire et l'érudition de l'auteur. Par contre, ce livre se concentre surtout sur son travail et ses relations mathématiques et n'évoque presque jamais sa vie privée.
Pour conclure, je dirais que ce livre est une curiosité et regorge de détails et d'anecdotes intéressante pour qui se concentre sur le monde mathématique de cette époque. Mais je ne dirais pas que c'est un incontournable.
Stanislas Ulam finit sa carrière aux États-Unis. Je trouve la partie finale du livre moins intéressante car elle se résume souvent à un "Who is who" des mathématiques (j'étais souvent invité par untel, qui a travaillé avec telautre, etc...). Cependant le livre contient de très bonne pages. Je pense notamment à ce qui relate son amitié avec Von Neumann, mais aussi les pages où il dit au revoir à son ami Fermi.
J'attendais quelque chose des pages où il a travaillé à Los Alamos, mais j'ai finalement été un peu déçu. Ulam a quand même un point de vue intéressant sur son travail sur les bombes nucléaires, puisque contrairement à certains, il reconnaît n'éprouver aucun remords. Il dit s'intéresser en premier lieu au développement de la science et pas nécessairement de son usage, et considère qu'il est dans la nature humaine de chercher certaines réponses et de découvrir ces technologies, et dans ce cas, autant que ce soit lui plutôt qu'un autre.
J'ai par contre été heureux de retrouver Erdös, en particulier le passage où Stanislas Ulam a fait une grave maladie du cerveau et Erdös vient passer quelques temps chez lui pour s'assurer qu'il a encore toutes ses facultés mathématiques.
Un des points forts de cette autobiographie c'est l'humour un peu pince sans rire et l'érudition de l'auteur. Par contre, ce livre se concentre surtout sur son travail et ses relations mathématiques et n'évoque presque jamais sa vie privée.
Pour conclure, je dirais que ce livre est une curiosité et regorge de détails et d'anecdotes intéressante pour qui se concentre sur le monde mathématique de cette époque. Mais je ne dirais pas que c'est un incontournable.
January 17, 2026
Español: Autobiografía de Stanisław Marcin Ulam, matemático y científico polaco que es conocido principalmente entre el público general por desarrollar el Método de Montecarlo junto con John von Neumann y por su contribución a la bomba de fusión. Resulta interesante leerlo pues Ulam perteneció a esa generación de matemáticos puros que se ocuparon de aplicaciones de las Matemáticas a la realidad y contribuyeron a configurar el mundo moderno, como John von Neumann, Norbert Wiener, Richard Bellman, etc. Ulam es algo desordenado al escribir su vida y en ocasiones se percibe en su forma de expresarse un cierto alejamiento de la realidad que lleva a que pueda recordar a caricaturas como Sheldon Cooper. Un aspecto muy interesante y disfrutable del libro es que por sus páginas desfila lo más eximio del ambiente científico de buena parte del siglo XX.
English: Autobiography of Stanisław Marcin Ulam, Polish mathematician and scientist who is best known to the general public for developing the Monte Carlo method together with John von Neumann and for his contribution to the fusion bomb. It is interesting to read because Ulam belonged to that generation of pure mathematicians who dealt with applications of mathematics to reality and contributed to shaping the modern world, such as John von Neumann, Norbert Wiener, Richard Bellman, etc. Ulam is somewhat disordered in writing about his life, and at times his way of expressing himself reveals a certain detachment from reality that brings to mind caricatures such as Sheldon Cooper. A very interesting and enjoyable aspect of the book is that its pages feature the most distinguished figures in the scientific world of much of the 20th century.
English: Autobiography of Stanisław Marcin Ulam, Polish mathematician and scientist who is best known to the general public for developing the Monte Carlo method together with John von Neumann and for his contribution to the fusion bomb. It is interesting to read because Ulam belonged to that generation of pure mathematicians who dealt with applications of mathematics to reality and contributed to shaping the modern world, such as John von Neumann, Norbert Wiener, Richard Bellman, etc. Ulam is somewhat disordered in writing about his life, and at times his way of expressing himself reveals a certain detachment from reality that brings to mind caricatures such as Sheldon Cooper. A very interesting and enjoyable aspect of the book is that its pages feature the most distinguished figures in the scientific world of much of the 20th century.
June 11, 2018
Ulam's life was undeniably fascinating. I'm hesitant to give four stars because the book was at times not an easy read – it often felt like it would benefit from a more thorough editing.
That said, the book is still worth reading, especially if you want to know more about the background of the Manhattan project and the birth of computers. Not from the technical point of view though: Ulam uses the technical jargon very sparsely, but what I found interesting is his account of people he has met and worked with throughout the years: Banach, von Neumann, Fermi, Erdos and many others.
Ulam prompts the reader to think about some of the brightest minds of the 20th century not merely as geniuses, but as humans, with all their strengths and weaknesses.
I have found the philosophical passages of the book (i.e. Random reflections) a bit long, but at the same time containing many valuable thoughts on math, science, and language.
That said, the book is still worth reading, especially if you want to know more about the background of the Manhattan project and the birth of computers. Not from the technical point of view though: Ulam uses the technical jargon very sparsely, but what I found interesting is his account of people he has met and worked with throughout the years: Banach, von Neumann, Fermi, Erdos and many others.
Ulam prompts the reader to think about some of the brightest minds of the 20th century not merely as geniuses, but as humans, with all their strengths and weaknesses.
Then I was introduced to Einstein himself and noticed his rather peculiar English. He would say: "He is a very good formula," pointing at something on the blackboard! (p.71)
I have found the philosophical passages of the book (i.e. Random reflections) a bit long, but at the same time containing many valuable thoughts on math, science, and language.
It is a truism to say that there is a clarity to French which is not there in other tongues, and I suppose this makes a difference in the mathematical and scientific literature. Thoughts are steered in different ways. In French generalizations come to my mind and stimulate me toward conciseness and simplification. In English one sees the practical sense; German tends to make one go for a depth which is not always there. (p.275)
I am turned off when I see only formulas and symbols, and little text. It is too laborious for me to look at such pages not knowing what to concentrate on. I wonder how many other mathematicians really read them in detail and enjoy them. (p.275)
February 7, 2024
It's a very nice biography with fun anecdotes, insights about the scientific community, and reflections about technology and mathematics. My favorite parts were the ones about Ulam's close friendship with von Neumann. It was also very interesting to know more about the Polish school of mathematics, even though I don't know much about math and couldn't understand some parts, especially the final chapter that focus exclusively on it. And for me, Ulam is particularly interesting due to his very extroverted, optimistic nature, which affected the way he did mathematics, and I was quite happy to see how he managed to do some of his best work after almost dying of encephalitis.
Overall, reading this book was a very nice, enjoyable experience and Ulam is definitely an underrated scientist (in popular non-mathematical circles, I mean). I've been meaning to read von Neumann's biography too and I hope it has more insight into their friendship.
Overall, reading this book was a very nice, enjoyable experience and Ulam is definitely an underrated scientist (in popular non-mathematical circles, I mean). I've been meaning to read von Neumann's biography too and I hope it has more insight into their friendship.
November 4, 2023
Книга дуже нагадала мені Та ви жартуєте, містере Фейнман! Пригоди допитливого дивака, але книга Уляма гірше структурована і більш хаотична.
Улям однозначно мав сповенене пригод життя, і було цікаво заглянути за лаштунки, але важко було тримати нитку історії коли в одному абзаці він говорить про винахід методу Монте-Карло, а в іншому вихваляється крінжовим жартом про груди співробітниці.
Якщо вам *ну дуже* сподобалася книга Фейнмана - то можна спробувати почитати пригоди математика, але в іншому випадку - не раджу.
Улям однозначно мав сповенене пригод життя, і було цікаво заглянути за лаштунки, але важко було тримати нитку історії коли в одному абзаці він говорить про винахід методу Монте-Карло, а в іншому вихваляється крінжовим жартом про груди співробітниці.
Якщо вам *ну дуже* сподобалася книга Фейнмана - то можна спробувати почитати пригоди математика, але в іншому випадку - не раджу.
December 20, 2025
I wouldn't call it a book, merely a text posing as a memoir, since reading it is an actual stylistic nightmare... however it is still worth reading for few interesting facts:
1) Ulam, being inherently Dionysian in his academic approach, correctly and repeatedly forecasts the inevitable rise of Apollonian strategists in academia. "There are so few of us, and so many of them" as he points out.
2) This could be a poorly written biography of von Neumann and even poorly written it's always a pleasure to read about this guy.
3) Getting an insight into Los Alamos dynamics and people who created it. Not being a physicist or a mathematician myself, I greatly appreciated being introduced to Gamow, Fermi or Everett.
1) Ulam, being inherently Dionysian in his academic approach, correctly and repeatedly forecasts the inevitable rise of Apollonian strategists in academia. "There are so few of us, and so many of them" as he points out.
2) This could be a poorly written biography of von Neumann and even poorly written it's always a pleasure to read about this guy.
3) Getting an insight into Los Alamos dynamics and people who created it. Not being a physicist or a mathematician myself, I greatly appreciated being introduced to Gamow, Fermi or Everett.
August 26, 2023
One of the most brilliant mathematicians of the early 20th century Polish school. Landed in America he was soon involved in the Manhattan project by his close friend and colleague von Neumann; his contributions were numerous together with that science geek concentrated at Los Alamos. A versatile, intuitive and profound mind, capable of posing the most disparate problems.
Stan and the (mis)Adventures of a mathematician are not only a biography of a man but also an important historical cross-section of the Second World War.
Misadventures should have been the title of the book according to Stan, but the publisher prevailed!
Stan and the (mis)Adventures of a mathematician are not only a biography of a man but also an important historical cross-section of the Second World War.
Misadventures should have been the title of the book according to Stan, but the publisher prevailed!
January 18, 2020
A phenomenal account of the life of Ulam and many other great intellects of his time. His style is captivating, the clarity of delivery is inspiring. Content-wise, a lot can be said about the richness of his experience, the great achievements of his life, the people around him, the tragedies and more... I'll only comment that I was awestruck by the life of a genius, and certainly this has been the closest I have ever come to understanding how great scientists live their lives.
February 13, 2025
A very casual style recount that potentially could have done with some harsher editing. It's really interesting to learn about how all the history fits together, and to bring to life some of the characters that I only know from theorem names. There is little on his ethical beliefs, and that which is there feels flimsy. Overall, it gives a great insight into many of the mathematicians of the age, perhaps with less insight into Ulam himself.
November 21, 2025
Prescient and timeless. Ulam recounts his trajectory from Poland to the US and Los Alamos and beyond, meeting characters like von Neumann and Gamow and Fermi along the way. Interspersed are his musings on mathematics and science and thought, which I find to echo resoundingly with today. It's personal and candid and opinionated and illuminating. Especially worth a read by any scientist.
January 15, 2021
Enjoyable recollections of a life, chronological but the bulk and emphasis is on the character of friends and colleagues that suited or complemented their mathematical and social lives, mixed with reflections on his own mind, memory, and motivation.
July 15, 2021
Not a bad book by any means - but its far away from great one. Memoirs are kinda ok, some interesting anecdotes and historical cases are present together with some nerdy stuff. But its not something you will return to.
October 16, 2024
More of a collection of his reviews of the men he worked with rather than a meaningful discussion of the actual adventures he's been through. Also he's way too full of himself.
I give it 3 stars because I enjoyed reading reviews of familiar names.
I give it 3 stars because I enjoyed reading reviews of familiar names.
September 30, 2017
A book about the great scholar, great person and very interesting life owner. The book definitely deserves my week to dedicate reading it.
June 18, 2018
It is just me, of course, but I happen to love exactly this type of autobiographical prose, where accurate accounts and amusing stories for nearly all members of the Manhattan Project are given.
July 6, 2018
From the co-holder on the patent on the hydrogen bomb, Ulam was a mathematicians mathematician. Especially good on his early life in Poland
July 2, 2021
Хороша автобіогрфія, цікавий опис Львівської математичної школи і Лос-Аламоса.
Мінус - це не Фейнман( ІМО накрутіша автобіогрфія науковця)
Мінус - це не Фейнман( ІМО накрутіша автобіогрфія науковця)
July 22, 2021
A fantastic book
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