HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN MATHEMATICIAN AND POLYMATH (1903–1957)
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<person> /jon von noy'mahn/ Born 1903-12-28, died 1957-02-08.
A Hungarian-born mathematician who did pioneering work in
quantum physics, game theory, and computer science. He
contributed to the USA's Manhattan Project that built the
first atomic bomb.
vonNeumann was invited to Princeton University in 1930, and
was a mathematics professor at the {Institute for Advanced
Studies} from its formation in 1933 until his death.
From 1936 to 1938 Alan Turing was a visitor at the Institute
and completed a Ph.D. dissertation under von Neumann's
supervision. This visit occurred shortly after Turing's
publication of his 1934 paper "On Computable Numbers with an
Application to the Entscheidungs-problem" which involved the
concepts of logical design and the universal machine. vonNeumann must have known of Turing's ideas but it is not clear
whether he applied them to the design of the IAS Machine ten
years later.
While serving on the BRL Scientific Advisory Committee, vonNeumann joined the developers of ENIAC and made some
critical contributions. In 1947, while working on the design
for the successor machine, EDVAC, vonNeumann realized that
ENIAC's lack of a centralized control unit could be overcome
to obtain a rudimentary stored program computer. He also
proposed the fetch-execute cycle. His ideas led to what is
now often called the von Neumann architecture.
von Neumannmbsclass/is2000/hall_of_fame/vonneuma.htm">http://sis.pitt.edu/John von Neumannmbsclass/is2000/hall_of_fame/vonneuma.htm.
von Neumannhistory/VonNeumann.html">http://ei.cs.vt.edu/John von Neumannhistory/VonNeumann.html.
von Neumannmike/comphist/54nord/">http://ftp.arl.mil/John von Neumannmike/comphist/54nord/.
(2004-01-14)
vonNeumann architecture
COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
Von Neumann bottleneck; Von Neumann computer; Von Neumann model; Princeton architecture; Von neumann architecture; Von Neumann Model; Stored program concept; Stored-program architecture; Von Neumann style; Non-Von Neumann architecture; Von Neumann computer architecture; Von Neumann Architecture; Non-von Neumann architecture; Neumann architecture; Van Neumann architecture; Von Neuman architecture; Van Neuman architecture
<architecture, computability> A computer architecture
conceived by mathematician John von Neumann, which forms the
core of nearly every computer system in use today (regardless
of size). In contrast to a Turing machine, a vonNeumann
machine has a random-access memory (RAM) which means that
each successive operation can read or write any memory
location, independent of the location accessed by the previous
operation.
A vonNeumann machine also has a central processing unit
(CPU) with one or more registers that hold data that are
being operated on. The CPU has a set of built-in operations
(its instruction set) that is far richer than with the
Turing machine, e.g. adding two binaryintegers, or
branching to another part of a program if the binary integer
in some register is equal to zero (conditional branch).
The CPU can interpret the contents of memory either as
instructions or as data according to the {fetch-execute
cycle}.
VonNeumann considered parallel computers but recognized the
problems of construction and hence settled for a sequential
system. For this reason, parallel computers are sometimes
referred to as non-vonNeumann architectures.
A vonNeumann machine can compute the same class of functions
as a universal Turing machine.
[Reference? Was von Neumann's design, unlike Turing's,
originally intended for physical implementation?]
von Neumann architecturetevans/VonNeuma.htm">http://salem.mass.edu/von Neumann architecturetevans/VonNeuma.htm.
(2003-05-16)
VonNeumann architecture
COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
Von Neumann bottleneck; Von Neumann computer; Von Neumann model; Princeton architecture; Von neumann architecture; Von Neumann Model; Stored program concept; Stored-program architecture; Von Neumann style; Non-Von Neumann architecture; Von Neumann computer architecture; Von Neumann Architecture; Non-von Neumann architecture; Neumann architecture; Van Neumann architecture; Von Neuman architecture; Van Neuman architecture
The vonNeumann architecture — also known as the vonNeumann model or Princeton architecture — is a computer architecture based on a 1945 description by John vonNeumann, and by others, in the First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC. The document describes a design architecture for an electronic digital computer with these components:
1. Game theory and the atomic bomb arrived at the same time with the help of the same mathematician, John von Neumann, and the early game theorists tried to use the theory to understand nuclear war.
2. Von Neumann told Life magazine: "If you say why not bomb them tomorrow, I say why not today?" Mr Schelling‘s 1'60 book, TheStrategy of Conflict, revolutionised both strategic thinking and game theory.