(1903 – 1957)

Legendary mathematician. ‘He created the fundamentals of modern computer technology’.

Neumann was a pioneer of the application of operator theory to quantum mechanics (using Neumann algebra). Manhattan Project member.

Invented: key steps in the nuclear physics (with Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam), Neumann’s principle.

Credited with: major contributions to vast range of fields (quantum physics, functional analysis, set theory, topology, economics, computer science, numerical analysis, the hydrodynamics of explosions, statistics and many other mathematical fields), game theory, and concepts of cellular automata and the universal constructor.