Mathematicians
John von Neumann
In Hungarian, surname first: Neumann Janos, pronounced roughly NOY-mon YAH-nosh.
Also Known As Neumann Janos Lajos
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John von Neumann was a Hungarian American mathematician, physicist and computer scientist whose work spanned pure mathematics, quantum mechanics, game theory and the foundations of computing. He proved the minimax theorem for two person zero sum games in 1928, founding mathematical game theory, and in 1944 gave the theory its first general treatment with Oskar Morgenstern in Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. He later became a central figure in the design of the stored program computer and in the Manhattan Project.
Facts
Death PlaceWashington, D.C., United States 1 Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionProved the minimax theorem for two person zero sum games in 1928, founding mathematical game theory. 2 Notable WorkTheory of Games and Economic Behavior (1944, with Oskar Morgenstern) 3 Notable WorkZur Theorie der Gesellschaftsspiele (1928), proving the minimax theorem 2 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Matrix, Concepts Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1944) represents the payoffs of a game as a matrix, a standard term used throughout that book.
In Branch
Proofs Credited
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
University of St Andrews, School of Mathematics and Statisticshttps://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Von_Neumann/Quote, https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Von_Neumann/
John Von Neumann built a solid framework for quantum mechanics. He also worked in game theory, studied what are now called von Neumann Algebras, and was one of the pioneers of computer science.
2. von Neumann, Zur Theorie der Gesellschaftsspiele (1928)
John von Neumann, Mathematische Annalen, vol. 100, 1928
3. von Neumann and Morgenstern, Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1944)
John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern, Princeton University Press, 1944
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Proofs Credited: Minimax Theorem
In a 1953 Econometrica article, Maurice Frechet argued that Emile Borel, in papers published between 1921 and 1927, should be credited as the true initiator of game theory ahead of von Neumann, even though Borel himself never proved the minimax theorem. Von Neumann replied in the same issue, defending his own 1928 paper as the first rigorous proof and the founding result of the mathematical theory. The credit for founding game theory is genuinely contested in this narrow sense: Borel raised the questions first, von Neumann proved the theorem first.
A dissenting reading, from Maurice Frechet (1953)Maurice Frechet, Frechet, Emile Borel, Initiator of the Theory of Psychological Games and Its Application (1953), Econometrica, vol. 21, no. 1, 1953
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