计算机之父,John von Neumann 冯诺依曼传记.pdf

John von Neumann Born: 28 Dec 1903 in Budapest, Hungary Died: 8 Feb 1957 in Washington D.C., USA Article by: J J OConnor and E F Robertson October 2003 Edited by XiaJingbo, mailto: xjb@mail.hzau.edu.cn John von Neumann was born János von Neumann. He was called Jancsi as a child, a diminutive form of János, then later he was called Johnny in the United States. His father, Max Neumann, was a top banker and he was brought up in a extended family, living in Budapest where as a child he learnt languages from the German and French governesses that were employed. Although the family were Jewish, Max Neumann did not observe the strict practices of that religion and the household seemed to mix Jewish and Christian traditions. It is also worth explaining how Max Neumanns son acquired the von to become János von Neumann. In 1913 Max Neumann purchased a title but did not change his name. His son, however, used the German form von Neumann where the von indicated the title. As a child von Neumann showed he had an incredible memory. Poundstone, in [8], writes:- At the age of six, he was able to exchange jokes with his father in classical Greek. The Neumann family sometimes entertained guests with demonstrations of Johnnys ability to memorise phone books. A guest would select a page and column of the phone book at random. Young Johnny read the column over a few times, then handed the book back to the guest. He could answer any question put to him (who has number such and such?) or recite names, addresses, and numbers in order. In 1911 von Neumann entered the Lutheran Gymnasium. The school had a strong academic tradition which seemed to count for more than the religious affiliation both in the Neumanns eyes and in those of the school. His mathematics teacher quickly recognised von Neumanns genius and special tuition was put on for him. The school had another outstanding mathematician one year ahead of von Neumann, namely E