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• Von Neumann
  Von Neumann

  noun

  John, 1903–57, U.S. mathematician, born in Hungary.
• von Neumann
  von Neumann

  noun

  John. 1903–57, US mathematician, born in Hungary. He formulated game theory and contributed to the development of the atomic bomb and to the development of the stored-program computer ( von Neumann machine )

Von Neumann

American  

[von noi-mahn, -muhn] / vɒn ˈnɔɪ mɑn, -mən /

noun

1. John, 1903–57, U.S. mathematician, born in Hungary.

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von Neumann British  

/ fɒn, vɒn ˈnjuːmən /

noun

1. John. 1903–57, US mathematician, born in Hungary. He formulated game theory and contributed to the development of the atomic bomb and to the development of the stored-program computer ( von Neumann machine )

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Example Sentences

Von Neumann is “searching for absolute truth, and he really believed that he would find a mathematical basis for reality, a land free from contradictions and paradoxes.”

From Scientific American • Oct. 1, 2023

By the 1970s, Connes had made strides towards a complete classification of particular systems of operators known as Von Neumann algebras.

From Nature • Sep. 28, 2020

Von Neumann, I learned, wasn’t just a poker player.

From New York Times • Jun. 19, 2020

Von Neumann extrapolated from the observed exponential rate of technological improvement to predict that “technological progress will become incomprehensively rapid and complicated,” outstripping human capabilities in the not-too-distant future.

From Slate • Feb. 28, 2019

Through his boss at Birkbeck, JD Bernal, he got a six-month Rockefeller Scholarship to Princeton which he spent time talking to computer pioneer John Von Neumann.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2016