The world as a mathematical game. John von Neumann and twentieth century science. Transl. from the Italian by Ian McGilvray (Q956708)

Born in Budapest in 1903, educated there and in Vienna, Zürich and Berlin, and influenced by periods of residence in Göttingen, Hamburg and Princeton, János Neuman--Johann von Neumann--John von Neumann migrated to the USA in 1933. In this excellent scientific history/biography, the life and work of von Neumann are divided into two periods--the time before and after his move to the United States. To quote from the Introduction, ``The European period is characterized by fundamental contributons to the great scientific issues of the early 20th century.'' These are dealt with in the first two of five chapters. The remaining three chapters are devoted to the American period, which ``instead reflects the more usual and consolidated image of this scientist.'' Chapter 1, János Neumann's Early Years, carries us through his early years in Budapest and student years in Germany. Chapter 2, Von Neumann and the Mathematics of Göttingen gives us a picture of the mathematical life at Göttingen in the 1920s, Hilbert's optimistic view of the tendency toward abstraction and the axiomatic approach. Here the reader is also introduced to the theory of games, and von Neumann's fundamental contribution of the minimax theorem. Chapter 3, A Mathematician Between Past and Future, has sections on Continuity and evolution in von Neumann's thought, Axiomatics and the twentieth century renewal of mathematical practice, Von Neumann's conception of mathematics, The language of mathematics and determinism, and The world as a strategic game: a mathematical idea of rationality. Chapter 4, Von Neumann in the United States, discusses the Princeton and wider American mathematical scene in the 1930s, and von Neumann's substantial involvement in scientific contributions to wartime technology after obtaining U.S. citizenship in 1937. These activities, and service on the Atomic Energy Commission, continued during the Cold War years. Chapter 5, Beyond Mathematics: von Neumann's Scientific Activity in the 1940s and 1950s, includes material on von Neumann's involvement in economics, game theory, decision making and operations research, as well as that in the development of the electronic computer.