Jim O'Shaughnessy: Sometimes we get caught up in what feel like infinite loops when trying to figure things out. The goal of this podcast is to learn how we can reset our thinking on issues that hopefully leaves us with a better understanding as to why we think the way we think. He was sort of the last mathematician who was equally comfortable in pure mathematics and applied mathematics. That's going to be important to our story later on.
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