John Von Neumann appears on the television program "America's Youth Wants To Know". He made this appearance when he was the Commissioner of the Atomic Energy Commission.
This guy was the absolute GOAT. One of my favorite quotes from him is "Young man, in mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them."
Eugene Wigner said in an interview that he worked on a mathematical problem for 2 weeks but couldn't solve it. He talked about it with Neumann who stood up, walked to the corner of the room, looked up on the ceiling and began murmuring for a good 10 minutes. After this he came back with the solution. Wigner also said he was "very very shaken but filled with great admiration" by this instance.
Teller also said "von Neumann would carry on a conversation with my 3-year-old son, and the two of them would talk as equals, and I sometimes wondered if he used the same principle when he talked to the rest of us."[
”You know, Herb, Johnny can do calculations in his head ten times as fast as I can. And I can do them ten times as fast as you can, so you can see how impressive Johnny is” - Enrico Fermi (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1938) “One had the impression of a perfect instrument whose gears were machined to mesh accurately to a thousandth of an inch.” - Eugene Wigner (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1963) “I have sometimes wondered whether a brain like von Neumann’s does not indicate a species superior to that of man” - Hans Bethe (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1967)
He was truly magnificent. A visionary scientist, never short of ideas. There are many anecdotes floating around about von Neumann. I heard one from a fellow mathematician, but cannot find a proper source. Maybe somebody here knows about it. According to the story, John was invited to dinner by a colleague. They had a nice time, and Neumann was happy to engage in conversation with his colleague's kids. The kids were young, and had no idea who they were talking to. The conversation was on a very basic level, obviously. Later, the colleague talked about this experience, and said something like this: "It was astonishing how this genius could adjust to the level of my children, talking to them in simple terms that they can understand. It was at that moment I realized: he is doing the same thing with us, scientists."
@andraspongracz5996 that is the same experience scientists themselves have when talking to those from the general public. If you have an academic background, chances are you are used to dumbing things down to regular people too. Von Neumann was just so smart that he was to those scientists what they where to the average Joe on the streets.
When von Neumann taught he used only a small part of the blackboard - about the size of a newspaper. Naturally, his students could not keep up with him - they said he proved things by erasure. He used to stay up late and rise late. He liked 'off colour' jokes - the bishop of Winchester felt his breeches stir, being an example. He loved to sing - while driving fast cars and had many accidents. He loved parties and did maths listening to loud music. He liked red wine and hot Mexican food. And, oh yes, he was a prodigious genius among geniuses. He never stopped thinking - everything was a source of inspiration. Frighteningly smart!
J.v.Neumann's areas of expertise (AFAIK): Algebra, continuous geometry (which he invented), operator theory, stochastics, quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, the architecture of modern computers (invented!), fluid dynamics, explosive lenses, nuclear bombs, ICBMs, pseudorandom number generators, game theory, minimax algorithm, oh, and he invented merge sort and cellular automata before there were real computers. And he consulted for oil companies, GE, IBM and others. The guy was superhuman.
I only can say he was a genius in his time like Pythagoras, Archimedes, ..., Euler or Turing were is his time too all of them are part of the history of humanity.
Behold my friends one of the most intelligent people the world has ever seen. There is no doubt in my mind that this man stands among the greatest scientists to ever live.
I don't know if he really is the smartest ever of human history as a whole. Gauss, Euler, Ramanujan, etc where in the same league as far as I can tell. But definately a once in a generation type of genius. The smartest person ever recorded though has to be William Sidis. Sadly enough he burnt out later in life. But he was orders of magnitude above anyone else, enrolling in harvard at age 9 for mathematics. Even von Neumann wasn't that smart.
This man lived in a time when there was nowhere near as many devices to assist humans in calculating and computing data as there is now. It was mostly chalk, graphite and a lot of time. The intellectuals of this era and earlier fill me with admiration.
Von Neumann was actually hired by the military (I think) at one point to help construct a multimillion dollar super computer made for solving some problem they were working on. While building the computer, Johnny just solved the problem himself. Absolutely unreal
Richard Feynman , Hans Bethe , and Johnny Von Neumann at Los Alamos during the Manhattan project would often retire to an empty room to do some brain storming , and make some intense calculations . Von Neumann would always finish ahead of the other two , with Feynman blasting away with his mechanical calculator .
His points are still valid today - in order to have scientists who can face up to today's challenges and keep up with competition from other parts of the world, a country must provide high-quality secondary school education for all and make scinece teacher training a priority.
Csilla Sch: Ridiculous. 85% of all public American High Schools need to be closed. 90% of the nitwits going there are wasting their time. The superior will get their education in remaining public or private schools!!!
John Von Neumann was a genius, his mathematical mind was insatiable looking for solutions, aplications and patterns in any field of knowledge, greatest mathematician of the 20th century
Came here through Labatut's book the Maniac, which is an autobiographical novel on Von Neumann. This video is described in the book in such great detail that it felt like I had already seen it once I watched it here. If you are interested in the history of computers and AI, and their philosophical elements, I think this book is definitely a recommendation!
Reading the book right now! As a mathematician myself, I must admit it gives a wonderful portrait of the scientific and cultural landscape back then. Extremely well written and intriguing (proof is that we all ended up here willing to "know more").
Even Nobel Prize-winning physicists felt stupid when in the presence of John von Neumann. For example, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Eugene Wigner stated: “I have known a great many intelligent people in my life. I knew Planck, von Laue and Heisenberg. Paul Dirac was my brother in law; Leo Szilard & Edward Teller have been among my closest friends; and Albert Einstein was a good friend, too. But none of them had a mind as quick & acute as Jansci [John] von Neumann. I have often remarked this in the presence of those men & no one ever disputed me.”
@@mozartwolfgang4656 Just take a glance at his wikipedia page. Probably using your computational device which is using the same architecture he invented. Just click "computing" under John Von Neumann.
If only he had lived longer, he died far too early. Imagine what would have happened if he lived to 70 or even 90, what could he have done with all the new tech available in 70s, 80s, or 90s?
Well certainly one of the greatest of 20th century. If you asked Von Neumann himself though he'd probably say that Hilbert was the greatest of 20th century.
Johnny excelled more than Hilbert in Applied Mathematics. Johnny was better than David Hilbert regarding Pure Mathematics, especially in the Foundations of Mathematics. David Hilbert lived 81 years. Johnny lived 54 years. I compare Johnny to Henri Poincaré but Johnny was more precise and detailed and interested in more arguments on which he excelled as a Master. Many branches of Mathematics were born from Johnny. For example Game Theory (Minimax theorem), Information Technology, Operational Research, some areas of Modern Economy, Computer Science, Functional Analysis, Topology, Operator algebras, Lattice theory, Ergodic theory, Stochastic computing, and Statistics. Key parts of Quantum Mechanics and so on. His analysis of the structure of self-replication preceded the discovery of the structure of DNA. The modern computer isn't the Turing machine but the Von Neumann machine.
Von Neumann himself once stated that he believed Hilbert to be the greatest mathematician he knew of. William Poundstone mentions this in his book 'Prisoner's dilemma', p. 35.
Pino Pini: He was far superior to this overrated Einstein who knew nothing in chemistry, and needed to hire a mathematician to help him for example in tensor analysis!!!
Probably 2nd greatest of all time, perhaps after Gauss and Newton. If you consider Newton as a physicist then he is second only to Gauss. I think majority would agree that Gauss is the greatest by a fair margin.
he had an interesting gaze. the way he looks around implies to me that he was taking in a lot of information. even in casual everyday moments like this. boss level intelligent man.
Just learnt about John Von Neumann in a Learning & Talend Development Module I'm currently doing. Though he is extremely brilliant, one other thing that I pick up, just from this interview, is his humility.
Really the last great Polymath! Major contributions in so many fields! Plus he was a consultant to companies constantly travelling here and there, most unlike other scientists. Great communicator ans totally down to earth.
@@davyroger3773 it is extremely difficult and time-consuming for a mathematician of this age to master many fields like von Neumann. Surely, there are many today, but mathematics has grown far too vast to accommodate such aspirations.
@@keepmehomeplease He also knew many of the Greek and Latin classics by heart in the original, if I am not mistaken. He knew Classical Greek and Latin besides German, Hungarian, and English. He also purposefully spoke with a Hungarian accent and on occasion "corrected" his own pronunciation if it came out "too English".
@@Quaker763 He was very charismatic and social, he loved to throw parties and entertain guests with his wife, but he was a bit eccentrc too. He insisted on driving even though he was absolutely terrible at it, and his managers quietly paid his speeding tickets and other fines. Also, he always dressed in a suit, even when he was on a hiking trip. And he loved loud noises and music when he was working, his coworkers at Princeton (Einstein among them) would complain about his grammophone. So, sure, we don't see anything eccentric in his behavior but if you got to know him you would probably notice after a bit.
@@samdanmas He's not even close to Newton or Einstein. Quality > quantity. Neumann was very prolific but none of his discoveries are on the same level of those.
it is amazing, I did not know he ever met Bill Clinton. He makes Clinton look very shy in this clip. Thank you again for posting this video of great historical value
I'm so glad that kid in the back focused on holding his finger up for long periods. of time, instead of listening to Neumann's answer. Developing motor skills is very important for children.
I get the sense his mind is moving far faster than he is able to communicate. Probably felt like he was among children when talking to just about anyone.
You don't have to be all that smart to think faster than we can communicate with each other. Language is one dimensional, ambiguous and unprecise. Even I often think faster than I can comunicate or have thoughts for which language is an unfit vessel. In an dialogue about complex matters I end up wasting most of my time cutting and reducing my thoughts to fit in that vessel or constructing an metaphor that is able to recreate in the listeners mind what I'm trying to get across.
@@jannikheidemann3805 writing down your thoughts, and if necessary, using appropriate pictures, tables and mathematical formulas already helps a lot. Conversation is generally just a bad way to exchange complex information. The only way is with a whiteboard and a serious effort on both sides to get their point across clearly and understand the other.
There's a theory (of which I'm not the author) that there are 3 levels of genius: the lesser type feels that they are better than other people, the intermediate type feels less than other people, and the greatest type feels that they are equal with everyone and that everybody is pretty much the same.
I am very pleasantly surprised to find this video! Thank you for posting it! I had no idea that any video footage of von Neumann existed. His work is still tremendously relevant. I can only imagine the benefits we all would share if he had lived longer. His work on cellular automata likely would have radically changed the type of computers we use today, and his thoughts on artificial intelligence were foundational.
Von Neumann is quite possibly the greatest universal scientist of 20th century - i mean for deep contributions he made to almost all of sciences. Glad that his small speech was posted. There is an interesting bit about him in Von Karman's biography "The wind and beyond" - as a 17 year old prodigy adept at thinking on the concept of infinity - my god.
All of the men being debated here are brilliant minds with different interests, affinities, and inspirations. To compare any of them is a disservice to their collective benefits in the world today and we should be concentrating on trying to emulate them, rather than separate them.
I think there are many more impressive things about Mr. von Neumann than his ability to speak 2 ancient languages (however complicated they may today be perceived as) by age 6.
God Bless Dr. Von Neumann. God Bless Prof. Simmons for making Math Education Great Again. Let's Make Teaching Prestigious Again (As the Importance Of the Responsibility Confers). To Infinite and Beyond.
FYI that lead encased "carrying case" is where the radioactive source is kept and transported for the calibration of those radiation measuring instruments
Margittai Neumann János magyar születésű matematikus. Kvantummechanikai elméleti kutatásai mellett a digitális számítógép elvi alapjainak lefektetésével vált ismertté.
He invented so many things that a whole dedicated YT channel wouldn't suffice. John Von Neumann commanded a truly stratospheric intellect, in the same breed as the greatest mathematicians, the likes of Carl Friedrich Gauss and Leonhard Euler, but his talents spanned an even greater range of disciplines.
I am reading the 2023 book "The Maniac" by Benjamin Labatut. It's a brilliant biography of von Neumann. If you're at all interested in 20th century science, it's a very rewarding experience.
A very nice video. A pleasant mathematician Von Neumann and who spoke as equals but at the same time you could sense something of his ingenuity. If I ever have the time and the will, I would like to put together a similar theory that shows that von Neumann was Shakespeare. He had the logical ability, to piece together complicated plots and tragic endings where everyone dies as bright as only a polymath can get.
I think of myself as a smart man. Then I look up people like Euler, Einstein, Tesla, and Von Neumann. Then I sort of just get a little depressed with the brain I was given. Just imagine going through life with that intellect. I wonder if they have a sense of it, and are able to appreciate it.
It may actually be a negative for many of them since they can't carry on a normal conversation with most people or have other quirks and interests incompatible with most of society. I used to get depressed but then I realize most people are like me. Even smart people are like me. I can relate to them. There will always be extremely smart people but even the smart person is 'inferior' to them in terms of intellectual capability. I can generally compete (or try to compete) with the smart people and that is good enough for me. Or at least that is what I tell myself. No point in trying to compete with the extremely smart when there are so few of them. I think there is enough respect and pride to be gained by competing with the smart people. That is all us normal people can do. But even then I have some hope that luck and hard work plays some part in these geniuses accomplishments, which isn't out of my reach. But that is secondary. I believe there is a level of intellect where beyond it you can accomplish most anything. Sure, it won't be in multiple different fields but who cares?
I have only ever seen him in portrait photos before. He strikes me as emanating a surprisingly childlike curiosity, and with a much more humble attitude and "aura" than I would have imagined. It's also a bit amusing how he lets the other speaker support (almost lead) him by the arm as if he were a child or an old man. It makes some sense that the extreme genius must have had some "cost", that he could not possibly have been equally outstanding in *everything*. He was clumsy with cars, so maybe he was a bit clumsy with other things too?
Von Neumann was very clumsy with other things. Legend has it that when he was studying chemical engineering he destroyed so much lab equipment that he ran up a record bill.
You're welcome, Grace. Good luck with your report. I wish I had something longer, but this is the only video of him there is. Still, it is better than nothing.
It’s a really good question. May not be a technical question but pragmatic and mature if you ask me. It was (and is) important to have people trained for scientific work. I’m sure the kid grew up to do well for himself.
Always had a soft spot for von Neumann, despite his rather militaristic views and work on nuclear weapons. I love the story his wife told of him at home with the TV on full blast... to help him think deeply!
I've been studying some of his works. A man of n-brains, one of the most brilliant men of ever! A very rare kind of genius! Not just an ordinary genius, maybe the greatest! Great works on Game Theory (with Morgenstern), Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Logics, Computation (with some great philosophical approaches either, i.e., 'The computer and the brain' essay), Pure Math (Von Neumann algebras, there's either a famous theorem on measure theory), Applied math etc, etc, etc.
I study at the same institution as Neumann who was originally Hungarian. His way of thinking is Hungarian, and his mother tongue is Hungarian. He learnt the fundaments of math in Hungarian which determined his way of thinking on a fundamental level. Our language is considered as one of the oldest, and entirely based on agglutination = building structures brick by brick. We are historically known for being outgoing and party people. It’s so deep in our heart and culture that i strongly suspect Neumann kinda belittled Einstein and others for being steretypical nerd guys/scientsts. The stories of his weird driving habits are also true,as he had a good sense of humour. Let’s not forget there were way less cars on the road and traffic was way slower. Therefore for his quick brain paying attention to the road felt ineffective. I’ve read a story about him where he participated in a conference where he took a challenge to drink vodka as fast as a russian colleague. They were discussing some theorems and at one point of the evening Neumann politely interrupted saying he’d gone to the restroom. There he threw up all the vodka and returned to discuss the problem vithout interruption.(I study automotive engineering). Our education is based on the prussian system (I also have prussian elders), and the vodka story is so typical here, it kinda happense every day. We do heavy drinking, but it’s not allowed to interrupt work, so students come to class in complete hungover and perform one way or another. My uni has 3 nobel laureates and countless other contributions so I’m kinda proud to be there. And i don’t like him being called Von cause the germans shouldn’t get all the credits, and von is a word for noble people. Neumann’s family wasn’t novelty in Hungary. Also his hungarian accent is still can be heard here.
You cant say one was better than other. This is guy is like the most logical person that has ever walked on earth and einstein was one of the most creative thinkers in a way. Two different things, at least how I see it
If you are an American, thank whatever God you pray to for John Von Neumann. He was among the team that brought us the atomic bomb, but also advocated the idea of game theory and invented the multiple warhead missile (MIRV). He gave us a very substantial edge over the Soviets during the cold war.
I have an awesome book in my collection called "Cowboys Full" written by James McManus. On page 224 he writes, "He (VonNeumann) was credited with closing our " missile gap" with the Soviets by designing intercontinental ballistic missiles with multiple warheads and with deterring attack with game theory based strategy of mutual assured destruction." There's nothing in the notes section on where. I'll check further.
BTW guys who may not know him. Please search and read wiki a bit. It will be worth. He's not just really good at his job, but also a human calculator. It's like peak human stuff utilisation at best humanity has ever did.
Awesome to see on film, and speaking, one of the 20th century's greatest brains: John von Neumann. He was arguably the role model for 'Dr. Strangelove' in Kubrick's movie of the same name.
Согласна. Но не всем быть гениями. Если бы все были гениями, они бы не выделялись на фоне гениев. Но поскольку есть и те и другие, в этом и заметна их гениальность. Видимо так нужно в природе, обществе. Не все могут быть гениями. Каждый хорош по своему, в своей сфере.
@@user-lk4jb4tw6c If you read about him and his childhood, Von Neumann was truly a very gifted child. I recommend reading about his early life if you are interested. Later in life, he was described by contemporaries as the cleverest man they ever knew, a man of mental capabilities that far surpassed even Einstein's
this is the only surviving piece of video footage featuring neumann, one of the best human brains in human history. but there is plenty of what really matters. he was incredibly prolific and wrote on dozens of topics. in terms of interests and capacity, he is a super charged version of stephen wolfram.
"Anyone who considers arithmetic methods of producing random digits is, of course, in a state of sin" (John von Neumann) Now I know how it sounded like.
Well, doing physics at Los Alamos for the Manhattan Project did him in. They were awfully sloppy with radiation at that lab and von Neumann got cancer at an early age, presumably because of that exposure.
Von Neumann, among the smartest men that ever lived. I wonder how he felt, as in this clip, when he mingled with regular folks. Perhaps he saw the rest of men as belonging to a lesser species than himself.
With a few exceptions, kids of today know hardly anything of lasting, permanent value. Their knowledge base is built without any guidance and they are assaulted by the pressure of woke causes. What a waste!
This guy was the absolute GOAT. One of my favorite quotes from him is "Young man, in mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them."
thats why i came here lol
Does that mean the maths in high level is so difficult to understand it just with your intuition?
@@user-ok4uj3hp4g it is what I hold from that. Even logarithms are not really very intuitive or taught in an intuitive way.
@@fredsolo730 yeah felt that too
My favorite one is “using 4 parameters I can fit an elephant anywhere, and using 5, I can make it wingle its trunk”.
Actually, the kid asking the questions in this video is my father. Bill Walters from Osceola, Arkansas. He was a senate page during this time.
Very cool! Did he ever talk about this experience?
+Rob Walters Did he go on to become a Lawyer?
Tell us, what does your father remember talking with one of greatest minds of the XX century?
really ?
really ?
Eugene Wigner said in an interview that he worked on a mathematical problem for 2 weeks but couldn't solve it. He talked about it with Neumann who stood up, walked to the corner of the room, looked up on the ceiling and began murmuring for a good 10 minutes. After this he came back with the solution. Wigner also said he was "very very shaken but filled with great admiration" by this instance.
Hi, did you watch that in a hungarian video? Do you know that language?
@@kengamarra Hi, yep i'm hungarian.
Von Neumann was the smartest guy in the room, in the building, in the town and in the galaxy
Until you asked him a question about physics and then he would have given you total nonsense.
Teller also said "von Neumann would carry on a conversation with my
3-year-old son, and the two of them would talk as equals, and I
sometimes wondered if he used the same principle when he talked to the
rest of us."[
good one!
Great comment. Thank you.
man, imagine how lonely that guy must feel. he's like a housewife who misses having adult conversations after dealing with children all day
eren oz well he was good friends with the likes of Gödel so he had company
Kinda like this video, he doesnt belittle the child asking questions.
”You know, Herb, Johnny can do calculations in his head ten times as fast as I can. And I can do them ten times as fast as you can, so you can see how impressive Johnny is” - Enrico Fermi (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1938)
“One had the impression of a perfect instrument whose gears were machined to mesh accurately to a thousandth of an inch.” - Eugene Wigner (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1963)
“I have sometimes wondered whether a brain like von Neumann’s does not indicate a species superior to that of man” - Hans Bethe (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1967)
Damn
He was truly magnificent. A visionary scientist, never short of ideas.
There are many anecdotes floating around about von Neumann. I heard one from a fellow mathematician, but cannot find a proper source. Maybe somebody here knows about it. According to the story, John was invited to dinner by a colleague. They had a nice time, and Neumann was happy to engage in conversation with his colleague's kids. The kids were young, and had no idea who they were talking to. The conversation was on a very basic level, obviously. Later, the colleague talked about this experience, and said something like this:
"It was astonishing how this genius could adjust to the level of my children, talking to them in simple terms that they can understand. It was at that moment I realized: he is doing the same thing with us, scientists."
@@andraspongracz5996 Hello fellow mathematician, got you. Search ‘Edward teller describes von Neumann’ it’s a 4min video. Greetings from Germany.
@@mathematikexplained6144 Amazing, thanks a lot! Greetings from Hungary.
@andraspongracz5996 that is the same experience scientists themselves have when talking to those from the general public. If you have an academic background, chances are you are used to dumbing things down to regular people too.
Von Neumann was just so smart that he was to those scientists what they where to the average Joe on the streets.
When von Neumann taught he used only a small part of the blackboard - about the size of a newspaper. Naturally, his students could not keep up with him - they said he proved things by erasure. He used to stay up late and rise late. He liked 'off colour' jokes - the bishop of Winchester felt his breeches stir, being an example. He loved to sing - while driving fast cars and had many accidents. He loved parties and did maths listening to loud music. He liked red wine and hot Mexican food. And, oh yes, he was a prodigious genius among geniuses. He never stopped thinking - everything was a source of inspiration. Frighteningly smart!
Which is why he admired the thinking of the Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas. The two men were thinkers on the same level,
@@johnschuh8616brah
J.v.Neumann's areas of expertise (AFAIK): Algebra, continuous geometry (which he invented), operator theory, stochastics, quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, the architecture of modern computers (invented!), fluid dynamics, explosive lenses, nuclear bombs, ICBMs, pseudorandom number generators, game theory, minimax algorithm, oh, and he invented merge sort and cellular automata before there were real computers. And he consulted for oil companies, GE, IBM and others. The guy was superhuman.
ergodic theory, set theory, ordinal theory and so on
Also linear programming. US postal service honored on a commemorative stamp along with three other famous scientists
Let’s not forget diskussion des Pokers (poker game theory) 😃
Tamara Kiss he played poker with the scientists at the Manhattan Project and took all their money
@@ObamaFromKenya
According to Teller's memoirs he wasn't too good at Poker
Possibly the smartest man that ever lived, and extremely underrated...
I had no idea that Clinton and Von Neumann met, amazing
@@paquetehabana7457 He is not Clinton.
He is no better than da vinci.
I only can say he was a genius in his time like Pythagoras, Archimedes, ..., Euler or Turing were is his time too all of them are part of the history of humanity.
@@Yoochel. The Archimedean oxen problem was at Von Neumann’s mathematical level of genius…
Behold my friends one of the most intelligent people the world has ever seen. There is no doubt in my mind that this man stands among the greatest scientists to ever live.
I don't know if he really is the smartest ever of human history as a whole. Gauss, Euler, Ramanujan, etc where in the same league as far as I can tell. But definately a once in a generation type of genius.
The smartest person ever recorded though has to be William Sidis. Sadly enough he burnt out later in life. But he was orders of magnitude above anyone else, enrolling in harvard at age 9 for mathematics. Even von Neumann wasn't that smart.
This man lived in a time when there was nowhere near as many devices to assist humans in calculating and computing data as there is now. It was mostly chalk, graphite and a lot of time. The intellectuals of this era and earlier fill me with admiration.
Von Neumann was actually hired by the military (I think) at one point to help construct a multimillion dollar super computer made for solving some problem they were working on.
While building the computer, Johnny just solved the problem himself. Absolutely unreal
@@lebecccomputer287epic story
Richard Feynman , Hans Bethe , and Johnny Von Neumann at Los Alamos during the Manhattan project would often retire to an empty room to do some brain storming , and make some intense calculations . Von Neumann would always finish ahead of the other two , with Feynman blasting away with his mechanical calculator .
A pure genius. Made foundational contributions to physics, mathematics and computer science.
🇭🇺
His points are still valid today - in order to have scientists who can face up to today's challenges and keep up with competition from other parts of the world, a country must provide high-quality secondary school education for all and make scinece teacher training a priority.
Csilla Sch: Ridiculous. 85% of all public American High Schools need to be closed. 90% of the nitwits going there are wasting their time. The superior will get their education in remaining public or private schools!!!
no crap.
Robert Telarket so you voted for trump
@@roberttelarket4934 If you closed 85% of high school our society and economy would collapse in less than 15 years.
@@theuberman7170: I'm a realist. You're deluded! You don't know what you're talking about!
John Von Neumann was a genius, his mathematical mind was insatiable looking for solutions, aplications and patterns in any field of knowledge, greatest mathematician of the 20th century
Possibly the greatest mind ever
Came here through Labatut's book the Maniac, which is an autobiographical novel on Von Neumann. This video is described in the book in such great detail that it felt like I had already seen it once I watched it here. If you are interested in the history of computers and AI, and their philosophical elements, I think this book is definitely a recommendation!
I'm reading the book now and just discovered this video. It's a marvelous book.
Reading the book right now! As a mathematician myself, I must admit it gives a wonderful portrait of the scientific and cultural landscape back then. Extremely well written and intriguing (proof is that we all ended up here willing to "know more").
I agree
Me too. Just finishing this great book about Von Neumann.
Even Nobel Prize-winning physicists felt stupid when in the presence of John von Neumann. For example, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Eugene Wigner stated:
“I have known a great many intelligent people in my life. I knew Planck, von Laue and Heisenberg. Paul Dirac was my brother in law; Leo Szilard & Edward Teller have been among my closest friends; and Albert Einstein was a good friend, too. But none of them had a mind as quick & acute as Jansci [John] von Neumann.
I have often remarked this in the presence of those men & no one ever disputed me.”
Jancsi* both were Hungarians and friends from childhood.
Apparently he was so lovable that he never excited jealousy from the big egos aground him.
Probably the greatest mind of our time. It seems almost inhuman what he was capable of on top of all his contributions to science.
Yup
Only an average math professor...
@@mozartwolfgang4656 Why do you say that?
@@mozartwolfgang4656 Just take a glance at his wikipedia page. Probably using your computational device which is using the same architecture he invented. Just click "computing" under John Von Neumann.
If only he had lived longer, he died far too early. Imagine what would have happened if he lived to 70 or even 90, what could he have done with all the new tech available in 70s, 80s, or 90s?
Johnny was the greatest mathematician of the twentieth century. One of the greatest mathematicians of all time.
Well certainly one of the greatest of 20th century. If you asked Von Neumann himself though he'd probably say that Hilbert was the greatest of 20th century.
Johnny excelled more than Hilbert in Applied Mathematics.
Johnny was better than David Hilbert regarding Pure Mathematics, especially in the Foundations of Mathematics. David Hilbert lived 81 years. Johnny lived 54 years. I compare Johnny to Henri Poincaré but Johnny was more precise and detailed and interested in more arguments on which he excelled as a Master.
Many branches of Mathematics were born from Johnny. For example Game Theory (Minimax theorem), Information Technology, Operational Research, some areas of Modern Economy, Computer Science, Functional Analysis, Topology, Operator algebras, Lattice theory, Ergodic theory, Stochastic computing, and Statistics. Key parts of Quantum Mechanics and so on. His analysis of the structure of self-replication preceded the discovery of the structure of DNA.
The modern computer isn't the Turing machine but the Von Neumann machine.
Von Neumann himself once stated that he believed Hilbert to be the greatest mathematician he knew of. William Poundstone mentions this in his book 'Prisoner's dilemma', p. 35.
Pino Pini: He was far superior to this overrated Einstein who knew nothing in chemistry, and needed to hire a mathematician to help him for example in tensor analysis!!!
Probably 2nd greatest of all time, perhaps after Gauss and Newton. If you consider Newton as a physicist then he is second only to Gauss. I think majority would agree that Gauss is the greatest by a fair margin.
he had an interesting gaze. the way he looks around implies to me that he was taking in a lot of information. even in casual everyday moments like this. boss level intelligent man.
Little did they know that this soft spoken unassuming man was one the of most intelligent people to ever walk the Earth.
Just learnt about John Von Neumann in a Learning & Talend Development Module I'm currently doing. Though he is extremely brilliant, one other thing that I pick up, just from this interview, is his humility.
you can see his eyes dart around or look off as he's clearly "seeing" the layers within his mind that form his thinking to speech.
Indeed true
Also the fact that he blinks so less due to sheer concentration perhaps...
Really the last great Polymath! Major contributions in so many fields! Plus he was a consultant to companies constantly travelling here and there, most unlike other scientists. Great communicator ans totally down to earth.
How can he be the last? If being a polymath is an aspect of the broad spectrum of human characteristics how can it die out and why?
@@davyroger3773 it is extremely difficult and time-consuming for a mathematician of this age to master many fields like von Neumann. Surely, there are many today, but mathematics has grown far too vast to accommodate such aspirations.
@@keepmehomeplease He also knew many of the Greek and Latin classics by heart in the original, if I am not mistaken. He knew Classical Greek and Latin besides German, Hungarian, and English. He also purposefully spoke with a Hungarian accent and on occasion "corrected" his own pronunciation if it came out "too English".
Neat. I've read about him on Wikipedia, what a fascinating fellow. This is the first I've heard him talk though. Thanks.
i'm shocked by how "normal" he was considering his brilliance.
He could shift intelligence at will.
I was just thinking this. He doesn't seem eccentric in the slightest, even though you'd expect someone of his intellect to be.
Indeed, von Neumann was astonishingly "normal" for someone so brilliant.
@@Quaker763 He was very charismatic and social, he loved to throw parties and entertain guests with his wife, but he was a bit eccentrc too. He insisted on driving even though he was absolutely terrible at it, and his managers quietly paid his speeding tickets and other fines. Also, he always dressed in a suit, even when he was on a hiking trip. And he loved loud noises and music when he was working, his coworkers at Princeton (Einstein among them) would complain about his grammophone.
So, sure, we don't see anything eccentric in his behavior but if you got to know him you would probably notice after a bit.
@@paulallen579 he was only bad at driving because he insisted on reading while doing it
Arguably the greatest mind of the 20th century. An incomprehensibly intelligent man.
he's definitely up there, but i m not sure if I would rank him ahead of David Hilbert.
@@kty3727 He is the greatest mind ever, no one comes close
@@samdanmas He's not even close to Newton or Einstein. Quality > quantity. Neumann was very prolific but none of his discoveries are on the same level of those.
Well von Neumann was certainly very communicative.
Henri de Feraudy probably the largest correlation between genius and communication ability in history
it is amazing, I did not know he ever met Bill Clinton. He makes Clinton look very shy in this clip. Thank you again for posting this video of great historical value
Henri de Feraudy 你好
Henri de Feraudy, btw, I'm a little bit smarter than von Neumann. Just a little bit, not by much.
@@Matt_Lifts q
Von Neumann was way ahead of his time. We still haven't fully done the education recommendation he made...
Besy Devos will take care of it. Just watch.
@@binzsta86 three years down the line, can't tell if comment was /s but it made me laugh regardless.
I'm so glad that kid in the back focused on holding his finger up for long periods. of time, instead of listening to Neumann's answer. Developing motor skills is very important for children.
This is awesome! I love hearing his voice and seeing his demeanor. He seems like a regular guy and very empathetic. Thanks!
I get the sense his mind is moving far faster than he is able to communicate. Probably felt like he was among children when talking to just about anyone.
You don't have to be all that smart to think faster than we can communicate with each other. Language is one dimensional, ambiguous and unprecise.
Even I often think faster than I can comunicate or have thoughts for which language is an unfit vessel.
In an dialogue about complex matters I end up wasting most of my time cutting and reducing my thoughts to fit in that vessel or constructing an metaphor that is able to recreate in the listeners mind what I'm trying to get across.
@@jannikheidemann3805 writing down your thoughts, and if necessary, using appropriate pictures, tables and mathematical formulas already helps a lot. Conversation is generally just a bad way to exchange complex information. The only way is with a whiteboard and a serious effort on both sides to get their point across clearly and understand the other.
There's a theory (of which I'm not the author) that there are 3 levels of genius: the lesser type feels that they are better than other people, the intermediate type feels less than other people, and the greatest type feels that they are equal with everyone and that everybody is pretty much the same.
That's precisely what his friend, Edward Teller, said of him
I am very pleasantly surprised to find this video! Thank you for posting it! I had no idea that any video footage of von Neumann existed. His work is still tremendously relevant. I can only imagine the benefits we all would share if he had lived longer. His work on cellular automata likely would have radically changed the type of computers we use today, and his thoughts on artificial intelligence were foundational.
Imagine the programs and the.. the everything we would have if he were still alive. Truly an otherworldly man.
Von Neumann is quite possibly the greatest universal scientist of 20th century - i mean for deep contributions he made to almost all of sciences. Glad that his small speech was posted.
There is an interesting bit about him in Von Karman's biography "The wind and beyond" - as a 17 year old prodigy adept at thinking on the concept of infinity - my god.
All of the men being debated here are brilliant minds with different interests, affinities, and inspirations. To compare any of them is a disservice to their collective benefits in the world today and we should be concentrating on trying to emulate them, rather than separate them.
まばたき一切してなくて宇宙人疑惑が深まった
He spoke fluent Latin and Greek by the age of six. An absolute genius.
But he didn't English...?
I think there are many more impressive things about Mr. von Neumann than his ability to speak 2 ancient languages (however complicated they may today be perceived as) by age 6.
the guy can divide two 8 digit numbers in his head when he was just 6 years old and got a Phd at the age 22. what am i.....
it's amazing how little known this guy is given his contributions
Possibly the most intelligent human to ever live.
God Bless Dr. Von Neumann.
God Bless Prof. Simmons for making Math Education Great Again.
Let's Make Teaching Prestigious Again (As the Importance Of the Responsibility Confers).
To Infinite and Beyond.
FYI that lead encased "carrying case" is where the radioactive source is kept and transported for the calibration of those radiation measuring instruments
Margittai Neumann János magyar születésű matematikus. Kvantummechanikai elméleti kutatásai mellett a digitális számítógép elvi alapjainak lefektetésével vált ismertté.
One of the greatest geniuses of the 20th century; Von Neumann was brilliant beyond words and a giant throughout the Cold War arms race!
Many ppl don't know he invented computer-virus before there even was a computer. He was the first to realize its possibility
He invented so many things that a whole dedicated YT channel wouldn't suffice. John Von Neumann commanded a truly stratospheric intellect, in the same breed as the greatest mathematicians, the likes of Carl Friedrich Gauss and Leonhard Euler, but his talents spanned an even greater range of disciplines.
To think that von Neumann, Alan Turing and Claude Shannon would sit and lunch together at IAS Princeton.
I am reading the 2023 book "The Maniac" by Benjamin Labatut. It's a brilliant biography of von Neumann. If you're at all interested in 20th century science, it's a very rewarding experience.
Jimmy Bob meets John Von Neuman.
What a day for John!
he must have had asperger like most of such geniuses, how could he be so communicative. A truly beautiful mind.
Szymon Augustynowicz I don’t think so, he was apparently very charming and outgoing
A very nice video. A pleasant mathematician Von Neumann and who spoke as equals but at the same time you could sense something of his ingenuity. If I ever have the time and the will, I would like to put together a similar theory that shows that von Neumann was Shakespeare. He had the logical ability, to piece together complicated plots and tragic endings where everyone dies as bright as only a polymath can get.
He's so smart that he never blinks out or pure concentration
I think of myself as a smart man. Then I look up people like Euler, Einstein, Tesla, and Von Neumann. Then I sort of just get a little depressed with the brain I was given. Just imagine going through life with that intellect. I wonder if they have a sense of it, and are able to appreciate it.
An ant looks up to you and asks, "I wonder if they appreciate it."
@@whatno5090👏👏👏👏👏a great reply
I think they appreciate thier intellect. But I imagine they don't talk about it in order to not seem arrogant and self centered.
Tesla was learning all day long when he was at first year university. Yes, he was a genius but its always plenty of work.
It may actually be a negative for many of them since they can't carry on a normal conversation with most people or have other quirks and interests incompatible with most of society.
I used to get depressed but then I realize most people are like me. Even smart people are like me. I can relate to them. There will always be extremely smart people but even the smart person is 'inferior' to them in terms of intellectual capability.
I can generally compete (or try to compete) with the smart people and that is good enough for me. Or at least that is what I tell myself. No point in trying to compete with the extremely smart when there are so few of them. I think there is enough respect and pride to be gained by competing with the smart people. That is all us normal people can do. But even then I have some hope that luck and hard work plays some part in these geniuses accomplishments, which isn't out of my reach. But that is secondary.
I believe there is a level of intellect where beyond it you can accomplish most anything. Sure, it won't be in multiple different fields but who cares?
I have only ever seen him in portrait photos before. He strikes me as emanating a surprisingly childlike curiosity, and with a much more humble attitude and "aura" than I would have imagined. It's also a bit amusing how he lets the other speaker support (almost lead) him by the arm as if he were a child or an old man. It makes some sense that the extreme genius must have had some "cost", that he could not possibly have been equally outstanding in *everything*. He was clumsy with cars, so maybe he was a bit clumsy with other things too?
He was a mathematician. While he talks about STEM in general terms, he wasn't good with reality. He was only good with mathematical symbols.
Von Neumann was very clumsy with other things. Legend has it that when he was studying chemical engineering he destroyed so much lab equipment that he ran up a record bill.
von neumann is a legend, smartest man to live
Thanks for posting this! I’m doing a report on John Von Neumann and this did help get a better understanding of him.
You're welcome, Grace. Good luck with your report. I wish I had something longer, but this is the only video of him there is. Still, it is better than nothing.
These giants of science and mathematics were generous with their time.
It’s a really good question. May not be a technical question but pragmatic and mature if you ask me. It was (and is) important to have people trained for scientific work. I’m sure the kid grew up to do well for himself.
The boy or the interviewer has NO f*cking IDEA how intelligent this man is.
+simoninsingapore Well we can't blame them; his genius was certainly otherworldly.
He's overrated.
William King Prove it!
Dont hold your breath
He's underrating, no body fucking knows about this guy, many people think Einstein is the smartest, they haven't seen this guy.
Always had a soft spot for von Neumann, despite his rather militaristic views and work on nuclear weapons. I love the story his wife told of him at home with the TV on full blast... to help him think deeply!
Why compare him with Einstein? Both were geniuses who contributed to human knowledge more than an average human ever could.
More than 1000000000 average humans ever could.
Von newmann > Einstein
@Daniel Kopland yes buy Einstein himself said that Von newmann was an E.T
@Daniel Kopland von newmann is a spécial genius.
Too bad there wasn't record of him calculating math. It is said he was doing it like a calculator. His brain was rolling like nobody else
Until his final days.
Don't worry, you just addressed the feelings of most of humanity. You certainly are a grounded person to think that way. That's smart!
I've been studying some of his works. A man of n-brains, one of the most brilliant men of ever! A very rare kind of genius! Not just an ordinary genius, maybe the greatest! Great works on Game Theory (with Morgenstern), Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Logics, Computation (with some great philosophical approaches either, i.e., 'The computer and the brain' essay), Pure Math (Von Neumann algebras, there's either a famous theorem on measure theory), Applied math etc, etc, etc.
Many ppl dont know he invented computer virus before there was even a computer. He understood the virus possibility
@@billmy2251 And DNA sequencing before DNA was discovered.
I study at the same institution as Neumann who was originally Hungarian. His way of thinking is Hungarian, and his mother tongue is Hungarian. He learnt the fundaments of math in Hungarian which determined his way of thinking on a fundamental level. Our language is considered as one of the oldest, and entirely based on agglutination = building structures brick by brick. We are historically known for being outgoing and party people. It’s so deep in our heart and culture that i strongly suspect Neumann kinda belittled Einstein and others for being steretypical nerd guys/scientsts. The stories of his weird driving habits are also true,as he had a good sense of humour. Let’s not forget there were way less cars on the road and traffic was way slower. Therefore for his quick brain paying attention to the road felt ineffective. I’ve read a story about him where he participated in a conference where he took a challenge to drink vodka as fast as a russian colleague. They were discussing some theorems and at one point of the evening Neumann politely interrupted saying he’d gone to the restroom. There he threw up all the vodka and returned to discuss the problem vithout interruption.(I study automotive engineering). Our education is based on the prussian system (I also have prussian elders), and the vodka story is so typical here, it kinda happense every day. We do heavy drinking, but it’s not allowed to interrupt work, so students come to class in complete hungover and perform one way or another. My uni has 3 nobel laureates and countless other contributions so I’m kinda proud to be there. And i don’t like him being called Von cause the germans shouldn’t get all the credits, and von is a word for noble people. Neumann’s family wasn’t novelty in Hungary. Also his hungarian accent is still can be heard here.
英語の単語は聞き取れても意味が脳で変換できない…
You cant say one was better than other. This is guy is like the most logical person that has ever walked on earth and einstein was one of the most creative thinkers in a way. Two different things, at least how I see it
Thanos Sofroniou: More of this overrated Einstein bullshit. Von Neumann was 25,000 times more superior!!!
Von Neumann thought the same about Thomas Aquinas.
9K...1 shy of a Salomon, helped set-off this collective of advances. Hopefully, sagaciousness shall reign.
Son of a Preacher Man
If you are an American, thank whatever God you pray to for John Von Neumann. He was among the team that brought us the atomic bomb, but also advocated the idea of game theory and invented the multiple warhead missile (MIRV). He gave us a very substantial edge over the Soviets during the cold war.
+Chris H What is your source for him inventing MIRVs? A search on the internet didn't give me any relevant results.
I have an awesome book in my collection called "Cowboys Full" written by James McManus. On page 224 he writes, "He (VonNeumann) was credited with closing our " missile gap" with the Soviets by designing intercontinental ballistic missiles with multiple warheads and with deterring attack with game theory based strategy of mutual assured destruction." There's nothing in the notes section on where. I'll check further.
The mathematical foundations for Quantum mechanics and his contributions to chemistry
Christopher Haynes: He wouldn't want you to pray since he was an atheist!!!
@@roberttelarket4934 He wasn't in his last moments.
This video was brought to you by computers using the Von Neumann-Architecture!
No he's quite famous in Korea bcz of one youtube video
He and Alan Turing was great computer thinkers.
BTW guys who may not know him. Please search and read wiki a bit. It will be worth.
He's not just really good at his job, but also a human calculator. It's like peak human stuff utilisation at best humanity has ever did.
Awesome to see on film, and speaking, one of the 20th century's greatest brains: John von Neumann. He was arguably the role model for 'Dr. Strangelove' in Kubrick's movie of the same name.
この普通にどこにでも居そうな人が…人類最高の天才か…人類の中身ってすげぇなぁ………そして瞬き全然しないなこの人
Anybody, who can learn Japanese script and language must also be a genius. Perhaps von Neumann could have done it.
He could see the coming of the Technological Singularity and he could already see how grossly unprepared we are.
Von Neumann was a true genius
Согласна. Но не всем быть гениями. Если бы все были гениями, они бы не выделялись на фоне гениев. Но поскольку есть и те и другие, в этом и заметна их гениальность. Видимо так нужно в природе, обществе. Не все могут быть гениями. Каждый хорош по своему, в своей сфере.
@@user-lk4jb4tw6c If you read about him and his childhood, Von Neumann was truly a very gifted child. I recommend reading about his early life if you are interested. Later in life, he was described by contemporaries as the cleverest man they ever knew, a man of mental capabilities that far surpassed even Einstein's
Did Neumann come up with a better microphone cable after this episode? 😂
this is the only surviving piece of video footage featuring neumann, one of the best human brains in human history.
but there is plenty of what really matters. he was incredibly prolific and wrote on dozens of topics. in terms of interests and capacity, he is a super charged version of stephen wolfram.
The smartest man in the world since Leibniz.
von neuman was the greatest. He was a legend and as impacting as Euler, Fourier, Laplace, or Galois.
Robert Lewis == No other mathematician was as influential as Euler. Euler’s work fills many volumes. He was by far the most productive mathematician.
As we approach the end of humanity, thank this guy.
Seeing this interview after reading The Maniac
"Anyone who considers arithmetic methods of producing random digits is, of course, in a state of sin" (John von Neumann)
Now I know how it sounded like.
This man was a living breathing AGI
probably the greatest mathematician of the 20th century
Sometimes it surprises me that the smartest don't always live the longest.
Well, doing physics at Los Alamos for the Manhattan Project did him in. They were awfully sloppy with radiation at that lab and von Neumann got cancer at an early age, presumably because of that exposure.
Absolute legend.
Von Neumann, among the smartest men that ever lived. I wonder how he felt, as in this clip, when he mingled with regular folks. Perhaps he saw the rest of men as belonging to a lesser species than himself.
that would be a mark of great ignorance
Labatut me trajo aquí
Somos 2
Wonderful book!
Jacob Bronowski wrote in The Accent of Man that von Neumann was the most intelligent man he ever met. And he met them all.
melancholiac - The Ascent of Man
Fantastic hungarian accent! 😊
Young Bill Clinton: "No, I'm sorta interested in law a little bit."
his eyes are shining even if the video shows his last days
And that's definitely not Bill Clinton
Wondering if the kid in the background raising his finger got the chance to ask his question, or he was just happy standing next to Von Neumann.
What a magnificent mind
Kids these days don't know who this man was. Guys, this guy was a fucking genius. Probably an alien from another planet.
With a few exceptions, kids of today know hardly anything of lasting, permanent value. Their knowledge base is built without any guidance and they are assaulted by the pressure of woke causes. What a waste!
Imagine changing the world and being normal guy like that .
For at least 24 seconds (from 0:12 to 0:36) he didn't blink a single eye.
THE GOAT HIMSELF GREATEST HUNGARIAN OF ALL TIME
Alguien más vino a ver este video después de leer MANIAC!😅