Oppenheimer Could Not Have Built The Bomb Without This Math Genius

I was a young filmmaker doing editing & assistant camera on this incredible film. Why do I say incredible? Because it is recording a moment in time when the people who appear in it had a sense of what computers would do. I posted the full documentary because many of my subscribers have asked me to do so. Please allow the ads to run if you can tolerate them.
The film was made in 1966 with a grant from the Mathematics Association of America. John von Neumann was the greatest mathematician of the 20th century. He contributed so much to physics, mathematics, chemistry, geometry and the evolution of the computer. His work included including the creation of Game Theory, Quantum Mechanics, the development of nuclear power and the very earliest computer programming and robotics.
The documentary presents lengthy dialogues with the 20th century's leading scientists including Edward Teller, Hans Bethe, Eugene Wigner, Paul Halmos, Herman Goldstine and Oskar Morgenstern. Unfortunately Robert Oppenheimer was not available to be interviewed.
Von Neumann's work on the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics is considered a monumental achievement. And his work on the development of modern computer architecture, known as the von Neumann architecture and the stored-program concept has had a lasting impact on computer science and technology.
Von Neumann was a Hungarian-American. He immigrated to the United States in the 1930s. He is famous for several key achievements including:
Game theory: He co-authored a book titled "Theory of Games and Economic Behavior" (1944) that laid the foundation for modern game theory. The book applied mathematical principles to understand competitive situations and decision-making in economics, politics, and other fields.
Quantum mechanics: Von Neumann made important contributions to the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics, particularly through his work on the rigorous formulation of quantum mechanics using linear operators and Hilbert spaces.
Computer science and architecture: Von Neumann played a crucial role in the development of computer science, especially through his work on the EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) project. While working on the EDVAC project, he introduced the concept of a stored-program computer, where both data and instructions are stored in memory. This idea was a departure from the earlier designs where computers were programmed using hardware settings or physical wiring.
Von Neumann's stored-program concept led to the development of high-level programming languages and software as we know them today. The idea enabled computers to be more easily reprogrammed for various tasks and allowed programmers to write code in a more human-readable format, which would then be translated into machine code that the computer could understand.
Although von Neumann did not directly create any specific programming languages, his ideas on computer architecture and the stored-program concept laid the foundation for the subsequent development of programming languages and software. His influence is still felt in computer science and programming today.
As I was crafting this description, I thought of my colleagues who work today in Cloud-based software architecture That refers to the design and organization of software systems that operate in a cloud computing environment. I asked one of them to tell me in relatively simple terms what that is and what it does. He wrote:
In a cloud-based architecture, resources can be easily scaled up or down as required. This is especially important for handling varying loads of user requests.
Cloud-based architectures are designed to be resilient to hardware/software failures and to continue to provide services even when certain components fail. Cloud-based architectures often involve a distributed system where various components of the software are located on different servers or even in different geographic locations.
Many cloud architectures use a microservices approach, where the application is divided into smaller, independent services that communicate with each other.
Cloud-based architectures involve large amounts of data, which need to be stored and managed effectively. This can involve databases, data warehouses and other data storage solutions.
Given that data is being stored and transferred over the internet, cloud-based architectures need to prioritize security to protect sensitive information.
I would like to thank some of the sponsors who place ads on this video. Cloud-based software architecture. Cloud server architecture. Computer network architecture courses. Mathematics. Computer science. ASU online computer science. Online computer science bachelors degree. Computer science degree online. Associates in computer technology. Cyberlink history. Oppenheimer movie. Oppenheimer film.
David Hoffman filmmaker

[@59jm24]

Oppenheimer never claimed to be the inventor of the bomb, he was director of the Los Alamos Lab, coordinating the efforts of hundreds of scientists, engineers, designers and the dozens of skills necessary to invent the gadget.

[@Anonymous-by5jp]

Which was no mean feat … and he acquired himself admirably.

[@Jakwine]

The GADGET

[@hectorr6299]

Gadget 😂😂😅😂😂

[@roderickcampbell2105]

That is fair enough 59jm24. But my understanding is that his famous statement "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." was interpreted by quite a few of his peers as a "claim" to such. It could also be because of the guilt he felt.

[@breezybhris4223]

Yeah, he was the director in the same sense that Kubrick is the director of Eyes Wide Shut, sure he didn’t do everything and required the skills of 100s of individual, integral to the creation of a great or even Average film, but in the same sense the director takes major claim and ultimate criticism for his film so did Oppenheimer take ultimate blame and ownership over his own project

[@DaMonster]

Neumann is one of the greatest mathematicians to ever exist

[@dusancorlija9088]

Really???....Terence Tao is math God for him. Stay with Minecraft BS. 🤣

[@mikemondano3624]

One documentary does not prove an hypothesis. Von Neumann was an undoubted genius, but quantity does not make quality. He contributed broadly, but others, perhaps, more deeply.

[@Anonymous-by5jp]

The man was something of a universal genius somewhat like Leibniz

[@johnpeterpear7368]

@@mikemondano3624 Heum no, he contributed both broadly and deeply to mathematics, physics, computer science and economics. Give a quick read to it's wikipedia page and you'll see. He is more often than other cited as the most intelligent scientist to have ever lived (by renowned scientists themselves, people who know what they are taling about).

[@mikemondano3624]

@@johnpeterpear7368 I never said he didn't. You should check real references, though, and not Wikipedia.

[@kmetcalfe]

You can tell how incredibly brilliant John von Neumann is by the fact that all of the greatest minds of the 20th century who met him, all felt humbled in his presence, saying things like "I thought I was smart, but this Neumann is far beyond my intelligence."

[@rotfogel]

Only Leo Szilard and Einstein were in the same ballpark

[@existential_graphs]

@@rotfogel not in scientific leagacy, but in intelligence people like Murray Gell-Mann who know Einstein and von Neumann say that Oppenheimer was the most intelligent men they have known.

[@rotfogel]

@@existential_graphs only one man really knew Szilard, Oppie is great, no doubt, he's not Szilard, Szilard's imagination actually invented the bomb + his elite knowledge of chemistry, to this day no one is close to, perhaps Einstein. Szilard was a man on an island intellectually. Only Teller and Einstein actually knew Szilard....look up what Teller says about Szilard....he was the biggest jerk, but the greatest mind, by far.

[@existential_graphs]

@@rotfogel I am not an big expert about Silzard. I can not talk about him and his intellect. You make me corious. I just wanted to emphasize that Oppie is dcribed as intelligent as von Neumann.

[@rotfogel]

@@existential_graphs Szilard is the greatest mystery in the history of phyics...by far...check out his patents with Einstein concerning refrigeration in the early 20th century, well before his discovery of the nuclear bomb. I've researched him extensively, he was AN ASSHOLE. no one could stand him for 5 minutes. When he told the military department upon how to make the bomb and he provided the exact science, they told him to get the 'F' out right now and gave the project to 'Oppie' because Oppie was much easier to control than dickheaded Szilard. Check him out, he bragged at conferences he wasn't invited to about the nuclear chain reaction which would cause a nuclear explosion. He went to conferences he wasn't invited to and told everyone there, the 'Otto Hahns' of the world, exactly what they should be focusing on....in the early 1930s.

[@zagyex]

Fun fact, Neumann and Eugene Wigner had the same math teacher in high school (László Rátz)

[@wisertomorrowpodcast]

The fact that this is only being posted now highlights the size and scope of your archive. What a treasure! Just wonderful.

[@TheBillaro]

not necessarily

[@Dark_CovidianaDance]

/The true power of the internet/ is a exemplify _Timeline of women in science_ Adela Katz , Kathleen McNulty, Kathleen Antonelli, Jean Jennings Bartik, Frances Elizabeth Holberton, Frances Spence , Ruth Teitelbaum etc etc...

[@patricksmith4424]

I think Von Neumann is a candidate for the cleverest man that ever lived. By all accounts he was in a different league to even Noble prize winners of the time. He could give instant answers to highly complex problems.

[@johnschuh8616]

His thinking was more for less magical. He had insight, by which I mean he could see many possibilities at a time and then by some play of the mine put his finger on the right choice. It was in a way like the ability too count cards excerpt he invented his own set of cards.

[@AirForceJuan2]

The concentration of extraordinary minds enrolled in the remarkable schools of Budapest in the early 20th century is well known among those who are interested in science history and cognitive outliers. I think they were collectively nicknamed the “Aliens” - so far ahead were they and in such concentration over their peers in other academic centers in the world at the time. One Neumann biographer (I can’t presently recall which) told of an incident in which a reporter asked one of the “Aliens” why he thought there was such a concentration of geniuses produced in Budapest at the time. (Might have been Wigner but again I cannot recall precisely) and the amused future Nobel prize winner reportedly exclaimed “Geniuses? There was only one genius among us and that was Janni [ie Neumann].” It is not necessary to be aware of the astounding accomplishments of these incredible minds to get a sense of how profound that exclamation was but it certainly helps. Neumann was in the truest sense, in a class all to himself and apart from all others living at that time and possibly can only find cognitive peers going back to Maxwell, Gauss, Newton, etc.

[@dekippiesip]

Idk about that. I would put Gauss, Euler, Newton, Einstein, etc in the same league and not a rung below him.

[@patricksmith4424]

@@dekippiesip yes I agree, I would put the gents you mentioned apart from Einstein well above Von Neumann in inventive Genius. I dont think they would be as clever in the everyday sense of the world though. Being an inventive genius doesn't mean you can solve complex problems almost instantly. Probably some are mere mortals in that respect.

[@maaaaaaaaarcel]

Hilbert.

[@keithwald5349]

That may be true. Von Neumann was revered even by the top super geniuses. The work he did on the implosion lens design and on solving the problems of instability in the numerical calculations of the shockwave hydrodynamics were pivotal. Similar to Fermi's rare combination of theoretical and experimental expertise in physics, von Neumann possessed a rare combination of pure and applied expertise in mathematics.

[@numbersix8919]

Wow! I've known about von Neumann my entire adult life but had no idea a document like this existed. Seeing von Neumann's computer, being able to see and hear Stanislaw Ulam and other heavy hitters, and the first-hand accounts, including Teller's story of von Neumann's last days...this is wonderful. We don't yet have self-replicating robots but they already are referred to as "von Neumann machines."

[@ericpmoss]

My mom was one of the 'computers' at Los Alamos, and knew Ulam -- she shared an office with Ulam's wife, Francoise. I'm sure she heard fun stories about all of them, but never talked about it, sadly. The only story I have is how she made brownies for Claire, Stan's daughter. That evening, there was a knock on the door, and Stan said, "My daughter said you made a marvelous thing called a 'brownie'. Do you have any extra that I might try one?" The whole family was very nice. The only other thing Mom recalled was that Ulam could not stand Teller, and the feeling was mutual. She said that Teller walked in and Ulam stiffened and you could feel the tension, every time. I can only guess it was a simple personality clash, but who knows? Bengt Carlson, a mathematican at the same lab, was convinced that Ulam should get the credit for the H-bomb, so I can imagine there was a rivalry that boiled over.

[@numbersix8919]

@ericpmoss Good story, great, in fact. Of course, he disliked Teller. Teller was a swine and a phony. It's quite understandable.

[@koczeka]

Naumann, one of the brightest genius ever walked on this planet. Cheers from Hungary!

[@parameshwarhazra2725]

Von Neumann was an underrated mathematics genius of his time.

[@justanotherguy469]

One of my childhood heroes. Thank you for this tribute to him. To think that someone could change something as violent and coarse as a shockwave into a precision instrument through mathematical calculations is thoroughly astounding. The fact that his contemporaries spoke so ardently of him tells you a lot about his genius and character.

[@markkennedy9767]

Von Neumann was scarily intelligent. A true genius.

[@pythagorasaurusrex9853]

Neumann is completely underrated. Todays computer still work on his ideas (CPU, RAM, Data buses etc)

[@abhayjaiswal3392]

Neumann was called as Alien during Manhattan project by top official Scientist who worked together with him. He was incredibly genius

[@TL....]

this channel is a national treasure I hope some federal people see the value in preserving David's lifetime work

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Boy I hope so too. David Hoffman filmmaker

[@DJKinney]

David Hoffman is a premier American filmmaker. This channel should not surprise you.

[@canadajim]

Wow, thank you for posting this.

[@Enigma758]

Von Neumann is my #1 hero. Thank you for publishing this!

[@dr.merlot1532]

John Von Neuman is my hero and, In my opinion, the greatest applied Mathematician to have ever lived.

[@emg6610]

Mr. Hoffman, thank you very much for uploading this. I recall watching a short of this video --when Teller speaks--and I remember that people were begging for the full video to be uploaded. Finally, it has been uploaded! I know it is your work, and I wish I had the resources to make my contribution. Nonetheless, I hope the "algorithm" and your subscribers allow you to have your well-deserved acknowledgement. Regards and thank you again for this masterpiece!

[@kiaruna]

This is the kind of content I find youtube relevant for, thank you for posting this !

[@TomcatSTL]

A fabulous contribution to our collective appreciation of Von Neumann and his work. Thank You.

[@user-uq5qw1fk3d]

What an incredible documentary. Thanks David!

[@patrickwalsh2361]

Thanks again for another excellent video David!

[@drewpall2598]

This was most fascinating in light of what we know today about computers and even early adding machines. Thanks David Hoffman

[@jenpsakiscousin4589]

Hans Bethe was another brilliant mind, who figured out how to calculate all the stuff they needed to know before even proceeding.

[@indianajones3315]

HB was one of my professors.

[@rotfogel]

It was almost all Leo Szilard's invention, but go on!

[@uwanttono4012]

Thanks for posting this!! Absolutely engrossing to watch and learn more about this man; amazing stuff and to have this recorded for posterity is awesome!

[@robertgyenes6510]

actually it was Neumann, Teller, Wigner, Szilard. All Hungarians. Also Tesla and Einstein helped but calculation and fusion and case was made by those mentioned guys

[@adamsteele6148]

Teller was a dick

[@crome2194]

Amazing footage and interviews. Wow. Thanks.

[@aujax1]

a while back i spoke to von neumann’s daughter about a possible documentary project regarding her father. she wrote a book about her life, her father and all of the brilliant people who surrounded him. very interesting woman.

[@bendavis2234]

A book that I’d recommend reading is called “Prisoner’s Dilemma” that gives a great account of Johnny Von Neumann. It also expresses the connection of his ideas of game theory with the arms race of the Cold War. It’s not strictly a biography of him, but it communicates his ideas of game theory and it’s societal influence very effectively. Highly recommend!

[@gillianc6514]

Absolutely! I would even say it was life-changing when I read it as a post-grad Physics student. We see the sad effects of Game Theory everywhere.

[@bramvanderkruk7838]

The Maniac, by Benjamin Labatut, brought me here

[@marketingdisaster]

This was AMAZING from end to end!! Thank you so much for sharing. Inspiring and humbling. ...Where do I get one of those blowy hats?

[@HUNVilly]

Amazing, as a Hungarian subscriber of your channel I'm doubly thankful for this video.

[@aapex1]

You David are more than a "filmmaker", you are an archivist of history. Thank you!

[@KittyGrizGriz]

Thank you for showcasing his story David; first time I’ve heard of him~what a brain.😮

[@matthewfarmer2520]

This looks like something that young Sheldon from the show would be interested in lol I thank you for sharing this long video. I'm bad in math as I have learning disabilities for years. Thanks David Hoffman film maker for sharing. Interesting to watch a good documentary film 👍🎞️🎥

[@RavenNl403]

I have heard of this man. Thank you for introducing him David. Very intellectual man. ❤

[@YarJarRar]

He's a monster, he's like the Goku of mathematics.

[@drewpall2598]

David I've heard of John von Neumann and have read your description write ups I will watch the full film later on tonight. 😊

[@frankmansour362]

Please stop claiming that Oppenheimer built the bomb. He was a manager. A lot of other nobel prize winners worked diligently on the Manhattan project, together with other talented people.

[@rburnettcpa]

Some people are just way smarter than others. Very humbling!

[@lancemusgrave7087]

Thanks for sharing the video. Impressive work about a true genius.

[@frankbillingsley2678]

Bravo! A great science, history and very interesting program of a singular genius.

[@Andrew-rc3vh]

The film is excellent and one of the most intelligent I've seen. Well done!

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Thank you Andrew for your comment. If your resources allow, I would sure appreciate your using the THANKS button under any of my videos including the one you have commented on. It is something new that KZbin is beta testing and would mean a great deal for my continuing efforts. David Hoffman filmmaker

[@satioOeinas]

This is amazing, thank you so so much. 🌍🙏🏻

[@luciehanson6250]

The subject matter is totally over my head, but takes me to appreciate their shared excitement and wild thoughts

[@InXLsisDeo]

Absolutely fascinating !

[@psikeyhackr6914]

IBM hired John von Neumann as a consultant in 1951, but when I worked there I never saw or heard any mention of him. Of course all of the computers I repaired as a Customer Engineer used the von Neumann architecture but never called that.

[@B_Bodziak]

At first glance of your comment, I thought you'd typed "I hired John von N...", and I spent far too much time trying to sort that out in my head. With 5 decades of reading under my belt, one would think I'd have learned not to continue my practice of skipping 50+% of the words when I'm reading non-technical writings. 🤦

[@psikeyhackr6914]

@@B_Bodziak LOL I wasn't old enough to hire anybody at that time. Actually, I wasn't old enough to breathe.

[@sbove]

Amazing film. Thanks for sharing!!! So great to see footage of Von Neumann, Ulam, Bethe, Teller, Goldstein, Morgenstern... Von Neumann died too young...only 53...of cancer "that may have been caused by exposure to radiation during his time at Los Alamos National Laboratory."

[@pmcate2]

I was pleasantly surprised the Godel was in Oppenheimer, albeit briefly. I was disappointed that JVN was not.

[@annakwiatkowska8882]

Amazing documentary. I love it. Thank you David for sharing. Big hug from Poland 🇵🇱 🤗♥️

[@briancase6180]

Wow, people had a creepy sensibility back then. That close up of his eyes and music reminds me of the Twilight zone. Von Neumann was anything but creepy. Thanks for making this available! I've seen snippets of it in other documentaries, but this is the first time I've seen this in complete form.

[@mikecane]

Thank you very, very much!

[@Bogart1899]

The fastest mind of the 20th century probably of all time.

[@JWF99]

With all the technological advances (so many hinged upon his own work/concepts) I wonder what he or a mind such as his in a similar position would be capable of today? That word "incredible" comes to mind again. Amazing video David! (I let the ads run) TYVM✌

[@B_Bodziak]

I think many of us are thinking the same.

[@JWF99]

@@B_Bodziak 👍👍👍

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

JWF99 - Thank you Jim. David

[@JWF99]

@@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker My pleasure David! The ads weren't that bad today! For some reason I had a lil more "patience" than usual! ✌😉✌

[@mikecane]

It would have something if von Neumann and Alan Turing had been able to meet.

[@B_Bodziak]

Wow!! You're almost at a million subscribers! That was quick!

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Not quick actually. Going very slowly. David Hoffman filmmaker

[@roderickcampbell2105]

I remember reading "Adventures of a Mathematician" by Ulam. I read it because the title sounded funny. What adventures do mathematicians have? Well, I found out. I knew anyway. I loved the stories of Fermi, von Neumann, Feynman and others. Ulam, himself was an adventure.

[@Anonymous-by5jp]

I also read that book with great pleasure. I would also recommend the following books “What little I remember” by Lise Meitner’s nephew Otto Frisch, “Bird of passage” by Rudolph Peierls, “The Fermi Solution” by Hans Christian von Baeyer

[@roderickcampbell2105]

@@Anonymous-by5jp Thanks very much by5jp! I will definitely look those books up. These are lives and stories worth remembering. One of my brothers is an algebraic topologist. Oh, well.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

Dr. Von Neuman made many valuable contributions to the beginnings of electronic computers, the vast majority of CPUs use what's known as "Von Neuman architecture".

[@bertarissen6568]

Some people laughed, some cried, most people were silent…and one was euphoric when the bomb exploded!

[@BKaneNp8]

Thank you for sharing

[@dadadrew]

Thank you, Mr Hoffman.

[@fluffykitties9020]

What a great documentary!

[@ihp5353]

So sad he's not in Oppenheimer movie!

[@fernandoluiz8850]

Thanks David

[@runedharma22]

Oppy did not claim to be the sole inventer. He managed the Scientists to work together and oversaw the work.

[@DavidCodyPeppers.]

David, I understand your reluctance to do shorts. I suffer from the same mindset. In my case I believe my long form content is good enough which is my hubris. That being said: 1:30 - 2:53 And 2:55- 4:01 Would make great shorts. I never knew about Neumann until you posted this. I have a new individual to add to my list of Heroic Humans. Thank You. Peace! \o/

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Thank you David. You might be right but I am just going to stay out of the shorts business. I'm sure you understand. David Hoffman filmmaker

[@luciehanson6250]

It's a great compliment to David. Many followers feel the same. Join us as a member!

[@briancase6180]

Much of this appears in bits and pieces in other documentaries, especially about the Manhattan project.

[@lvgaben]

Im so proud of the Hungarian scientist, He was Hungarian as Edward Teller, and Leo Szilard, John G. Kemeny, Paul Halmos, George de Hevesy, Theodore von Kármán, Eugene Wigner and so many other top scientists, who moved to the USA and changed the history in 20th century... Without these genius im sure USA is not same as we known today...

[@Judel100]

Hungarian Jews.

[@dr.kollozsolt2206]

With hungarian language.

[@jwestney2859]

I am blown-away by this video. My brain is so amazed that I cannot watch the whole thing in one session.

[@mkd1964]

I think the title is supposed to read... Could Not Have Built the Bomb "without" this Math Genius.

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Thank you. Damn dyslexia. I have corrected this. David Hoffman filmmaker

[@vishnupundle9321]

After all Oppenheimer was technical project manager.

[@jozsefhalajko6995]

Neumann was a Hungarian. Like Szilard, Teller, and more. Playing major roles in the development of nuclear power. Erdos in math Hungarian also. So many great Hungarians. ( compare to the size of the country). Is there any reason why we never mention this fact? Seems like they don't want to mention this. I suspect some political, propagandists reason. Or simply jealousy... or something else. Not nice anyway. Germany has also so many scientists, artist, etc. They are also rarely mentioned. Very childish behavior.

[@vrokhlenko]

Neumann was a Jew. And would have been killed had he stayed in Hungary.

[@vaccaphd]

The Martians!

[@kxkxkxkx]

Amazing😮 thank you

[@simonstrandgaard5503]

Would love to see a full movie about John von Neumann.

[@pmcate2]

idk why he wasn't included in Oppenheimer

[@simonstrandgaard5503]

@@pmcate2 he was mentioned briefly in the Oppenheimer movie, iirc.

[@pmcate2]

@@simonstrandgaard5503 Yeah but he should have been a major character

[@David_7171]

Why he was left out of Nolan’s movie is very puzzling.

[@anteantekeert8235]

He was not left out just wasn't mentioned by name. There is the scene where he explains a mathematical solution to Openheimer when Army officers enter the room and he as of protest leaves the scene.

[@DrJohnnyJ]

I understand that von Neuman's family was Christian converts, not Jewish.

[@Rafael-oi6dj]

He had a direct influence in the making of the first computer machine, called the ENIAC

[@larsvongraff5794]

Pure Gold

[@alonamaloh]

"I can only say that his stored-program concept might have never been discovered by another person or it might have taken many years before it was discovered [...]". That statement must have been particularly aggravating to Presper Eckert, who probably invented the concept when working on ENIAC, although von Neumann ended up with the credit.

[@atlaskaiser9951]

Wow I read about this guy when doing a computer science project

[@kitakitzFarm]

Shared with everyone I know. Very interesting

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Thank you. David Hoffman filmmaker

[@cdorman11]

I first saw this film back in the '90s. It was in the Courant library. One part that struck me, that stayed with me all these years is that Johnny said that scholarships can help only so much since they come at the _end_ of the process. So many people don't decide what they're good at until a year or two into college. Johnny's experience was that it happens much earlier, and that support needed to be in place to assist with it. Hungary pushed a faster pace in grade school at the time, which was great for guys like him and Teller and Wigner, but not so great for the average student.

[@j.477]

,,, great comment,, just goes to show,, always stay dialectic in th' approach,, when aijhow possible ..

[@haakoflo]

The school system cannot possibly catch people like von Neumann at the right age. The genious of such people becomes obvious around the age 5-6, if not earlier, but 99% of adults have no way to even recognize it. Some (like Terence Tao) have parents or other adults closeby that can provide proper stimuli. But without such people, most of these kids will waste 10-15 of their best learning years before finally ending up in college. Many will picked up very bad habits on the way, from being able to understand instantly what other kids need to study hard in order to grasp.

[@justanotherguy469]

Now they want children to believe that men can have babies. The excretory mechanism is now the birth canal. Those who can get you to believe in absurdities can get you to commit atrocities. -Voltaire

[@starsandnightvision]

The KZbin subtitles show the name van Neumann as ''phenomen''. How fitting.

[@hckyplyr9285]

Thank you so much Mr. Hoffman. Agreed on all the plaudits on von Neumann......it's frightening how little multimedia record there is of him. You had a most interesting career. Every 6-12 months I'll be looking into one esoteric subject after another and so regularly I'll stumble onto your work. It's breadth and scope and Quality is most impressive. Have you posted a video of your own biography? BTW this looks like the kind of program that would have run on National Educational Television in the 60s.....is that true in this case?

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

Yes it did run on NET. David Hoffman Filmmaker

[@Daveyboyz1978]

All these films about Oppenheiner fail to mention R Feynman who also made a useful contribution as head of the maths team. He basically invented multi-thread processing by use of different colour cards and sped up all the calculations. I guess what I am saying is a great many, great men made great contributions to solving all the problems involved in the Manhatten project.

[@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker]

I don't think you saw my film. It is not about Oppenheimer. No doubt Feynman made great contributions and was a fantastic man. David Hoffman filmmaker

[@Daveyboyz1978]

@@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker I m referencing your title "Oppenhiemer could not have..." well many contributed is my point. In the recent film and in a documentary I watched the other week, Hans Bethe is mentioned but not Feynman who worked under him. This project used so many great minds its unbelievable.

[@nlcatter]

using human comptuers

[@williambranch4283]

Von Neumann was very smart with differential equations (including math of QM) and computer architecture, but didn't live long enough to know that turbulence is chaotic.

[@jamesthornton9399]

Nice Piece.

[@49metal]

This is remarkable.

[@topquark22]

We have to credit for the invention of the modern computer: Babbage, Von Neumann and Turing, and many others. The physical engineering we owe to the invention of the transistor. Not one single person was responsible. It was an inevitable culmination of human ingenuity.

[@user-yt7gm1pn6k]

I believe Bletchley Park really opened Von Neumann's eyes, also inspiring the Von Neumann architecture.., I hope the coloured lad in the video got his question(s) answered...

[@justanotherguy469]

I am certain that many of the uncolored children had many questions as well, and they too were answered.

Neumann was a true, true genius and brilliand mind. He should have received at least 3 Nobels, 2 physics (for quantum mechanics and fluid dynamics) and 1 economics.

[@koczeka]

Yes, plus if there would be Mathematics Nobel too (the field where he was the greatest). I saw an interview where Nobel price winner Jeno Wigner was questioned how it felt to work with Einsten, Leo Szilard, Heisenberg, Bohr and many other geniuses... he replied he only knew 1 genius: Johnny, he was a lot smarter than all of them.

[@thelarrys.]

Bad clickbait video title, great video.

[@johnridgeway5265]

From Cockcroft, Rutherford and Walton. Without them there is no nuclear science.

[@ToniFromBrooklyn]

Thank you.

[@ianwalker6378]

Is that the full recording of him speaking at the beginning of the documentary?

[@jwestney2859]

I recently became amazed by Alvin Weinberg…. Who collaborated with Eugene Wigner…. Who talks in your video about VonNeumann.

[@mortalclown3812]

The expanse of his genius is mind-boggling. (Just look at his Wikipedia page under 'known for'.) I wonder if life's lonely for people like that. Rest in paradise, Professor. 🔭✨🌙🌏

[@richardkovacs2006]

I don't think so. Neumann attended school with many like-minded people, group of future Nober Prize winners, who all went to the US, and formed the group of the Martians. His maths teacher (their math teacher) was legendary. He became friends with other (russian and german) scientists at Priceton (like Ulem). And his 2nd marriage was happy, just by how his wife talked about him. I think he was very lucky with his personality, too. Not just with his brains.

[@michaelblankenau6598]

It would seem that way . Although there were undoubtedly others who could perhaps keep up with him that could not have been a very large number .

[@stephenmoerlein8470]

A true polymath.

[@B_Bodziak]

A once in a century mind.

[@justanotherguy469]

There are many minds similar to his in a century. They are economically deprived, and many are purposely misguided. The ruling elite, which controls the world's currency creation, does not want people around with the ability to think tangentially on all subject matters, else their criminal malfeasance be exposed. The true authors of many of history's holocausts. Many of the world's greatest minds came from families with affluent economic stability, as Von Neumann did in his formative years.

[@Daniel-ob1vn]

Thank you for this. I just finished a book on Gödel. I´m fascinated by genius. No one came close to von Neumann, though.

[@michaelblankenau6598]

Probably true . And think how few of the general public now anything about him .

[@neiljohnson7914]

My novel Shards Of Divinities features the ideas of Godel prominently. The novel is called Shards Of Divinities and you can check it out on the site whose name is the largest river in South America. Go there and do a search for Shards Of Divinities.

[@reydelostontos7131]

Come on. Oppenheimer could not have built the bomb without the whole team of people with different skills and specialties that he supervised.

[@ExistentialSadness]

Watching this after Oppenheimer, I'm a proud Hungarian. Thank you John!

[@richardkovacs2006]

Oppenheimer is a horrible movie. It will be pushed to vet an oscar, no question about that, but will soon be foegotten. It's boring, non-factual, and very dirty towards the Martians, while way to kind towards Oppenheimer...

[@StewartWalker-hy1eo]

What about James Chadwick who discovered the Neutron and Ernest Rutherford who split the Atom in Manchester