I love the fact that your next project is a science fiction for kids that really appeals to me because I think that this increased desire I think I see changing. According to Walt Whitman we all contain multitudes you certainly do well listenThis has been great it reignited my joy in von Neumann which when I was a younger guy I was fascinated by him but I had to actually go to the library and read about him as opposed to all of the resources that I have now part of our infinite loops journey here is at the end of the podcast we always ask our extraordinarily diverse and talented and smart guests if we made you the emperor of the world for one day. We handed you a magic microphone
Ananyo Bhattacharya is the author of The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann, a brilliant biography of one of the most prolific and influential scientists to have ever lived. He joins the show to discuss von Neumann’s contributions to quantum physics, game theory, the Manhattan Project, and much more! Important Links:
Show Notes:
- How did John von Neumann even exist?
- Would von Neumann’s discoveries have happened without him?
- The Martians of Hungary
- The migrant mentality
- Innovation in the face of extinction
- Science, genius & the herd mentality
- Von Neumann’s contribution to quantum physics
- Game theory, Minimax and zero-sum games
- von Neumann: quant in the streets; romantic in the sheets
- The eccentricity of brilliance
- Von Neumann and the Manhattan Project
- The godfather of the open-source movement
- Von Neumann as a project manager
- How writing the book changed Ananyo’s understanding of von Neumann
- Ananyo’s next projects
- MUCH more!
Books Mentioned:
- The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann; **by **Ananyo Bhattacharya
- The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World; by David Deutsch
- The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism; by Howard Bloom
- Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour; by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern