The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann

Physicist Bhattacharya’s effusive biography seeks to elevate the mathematician John von Neumann (1903–57) closer to the status of his Princeton colleague Albert Einstein in the public regard. Perhaps because of his top-secret government work on the atomic bomb (the Manhattan Project and after) and his death at a relatively young age, his name and accomplishments are not widely known outside of computer scientists, theoretical mathematicians, and physicists. The centrality of mathematics to the scientific enterprise, and von Neumann’s talent for taking abstract, theoretical insights and crystallizing them into practical applications allowed him to make ground-breaking contributions in a variety of fields. Besides calculations determining the shape and altitude of the atomic bomb detonation, his work on game theory influenced the political decision-making of the Cold War. Eventually, his work in mathematical logic led to foundational ideas in computer architecture, self-replicating machines, and artificial intelligence. The biographical details of the early chapters thin out as the book turns toward his work’s implications and influence, leaving readers to feel like they still don’t know the morals and motivation of the man behind them.