John von Neumann

John von Neumann (1903 – 1957) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, engineer and polymath. He was a genius and visionary that contributed profoundly to the advancement of mankind. His cognitive abilities were legendary and his peers often thought he was a species superior to that of man, or an evolution beyond man.

Some of his major contributions:


 * mathematics (foundations of mathematics, functional analysis, ergodic theory, representation theory, operator algebras, geometry, topology, and numerical analysis)
 * physics (quantum mechanics, hydrodynamics, and quantum statistical mechanics)
 * nuclear physics (thermonuclear reactions in the hydrogen bomb used in the Manhattan Project)
 * computing (Von Neumann architecture, linear programming, self-replicating machines, stochastic computing, game theory, digital computers) - his architecture is at the basis of modern computing almost 80 years later and will be unlikely to be made obsolete soon even with the rise of quantum computing
 * Cellular automata and DNA
 * Weather systems and global warming

He promoted the policy of MAD (mutually assured destruction) to limit the arms race and to make realize the futility of a nuclear war.

The first use of the concept of a technological singularity is attributed to von Neumann.