John von Neumann was a Hungarian born mathematician who, in a widely circulated 1945 report on the EDVAC computer, described a computer architecture in which a program's instructions are stored in the same memory as its data, rather than fixed by wiring as in earlier machines. This design, now called the von Neumann architecture, became the basis of nearly every general purpose computer built since. He also made foundational contributions to game theory, quantum mechanics and the Manhattan Project.
Facts
AwardJosiah Willard Gibbs Lectureship 3 AwardFinancial Times Person of the Year 3 AwardFellow of the Econometric Society 3 AwardFellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics 3 AwardCarl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal 3 AwardSilliman Memorial Lectures 3 FAQs
Why is the stored-program design called the von Neumann architecture if others built on the same ideas?
The name comes from his widely circulated EDVAC report, but the architecture drew on the work of Eckert and Mauchly.
The name follows the paper that carried the design to a wide audience. While consulting for the EDVAC project at the University of Pennsylvania, John von Neumann wrote an incomplete First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, which described a computer that stored both its data and its program in the same address space, unlike the earliest computers, which stored programs separately on paper tape or plugboards. Wikipedia notes that the single-memory, stored-program architecture was based on the work of J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the inventors of ENIAC and its successor EDVAC, and that the draft's premature distribution nullified the patent claims of Eckert and Mauchly. The label therefore reflects who published the description, and the credit for the underlying design is shared and has been debated.
Connections
Associated With
His 1945 First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC described the organization of logical elements that later machines follow.
Source Wikipedia: Computer architecture
John von Neumann's 1945 First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC described the stored-program architecture, with a single memory holding both instructions and data, that gives the von Neumann architecture its name and underlies most computer designs since.
Source Computer: A History of the Information MachineMartin Campbell-Kelly and William Aspray
ENIAC, Systems Von Neumann consulted on ENIAC and its successor EDVAC, whose 1945 design report, describing the stored program architecture now named for him, he authored.
Source Computer: A History of the Information MachineMartin Campbell-Kelly and William Aspray
Credited
Source Middle-square method (Wikipedia)
Source Monte Carlo method (source article)
In Field
Source Wikipedia: John von Neumann
Invented
Source Wikipedia: IAS machine
Source Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC): Johnniac
Source Wikipedia: Merge sort
Source Middle-square method (Wikipedia)
John von Neumann proved the minimax theorem underlying the algorithm in his 1928 game theory paper.
Source Wikipedia: Von Neumann architecture
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Sources
1. Computer: A History of the Information Machine
Martin Campbell-Kelly and William Aspray, Basic Books, 1996
2. Wikipedia: John von Neumann
Wikimedia FoundationComputer science
He was a pioneer in building the mathematical framework of quantum physics, in the development of functional analysis, and in game theory, introducing or codifying concepts including cellular automata, the universal constructor and the digital computer.
Lead section
John von Neumann ( von NOY-mən; Hungarian: Neumann János Lajos; December 28, 1903 - February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian and American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist and engineer.
In Field: Theory of Computation, Lead
He was a pioneer in building the mathematical framework of quantum physics, in the development of functional analysis, and in game theory, introducing or codifying concepts including cellular automata, the universal constructor and the digital computer.
View the Source 3. Wikidata: John von Neumann
Wikipedia: Computer architecture
WikipediaAssociated With: Computer Architecture, History sectionQuote, Associated With: Computer Architecture, History section
John von Neumann's 1945 paper, First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, which described an organization of logical elements.
Wikipedia: Von Neumann architecture
WikipediaInvented: Von Neumann Architecture, History sectionView the Source Wikipedia: Merge sort
Wikimedia FoundationInvented: Merge Sort, History sectionQuote, Invented: Merge Sort, History section
invented by John von Neumann in 1945
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC): Johnniac
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC)Invented: JOHNNIAC, DefinitionQuote, Invented: JOHNNIAC, Definition
A mainframe computer based on a design by John von Neuman
Middle-square method (Wikipedia)
Credited: Middle-square method, History, In mathematics
The method was invented by John von Neumann, and was described by him at a conference in 1949.
Invented: Middle-square method, History, In mathematics
The method was invented by John von Neumann, and was described by him at a conference in 1949.
View the SourceMonte Carlo method (source article)
Credited: Monte Carlo method, HistoryQuote, Credited: Monte Carlo method, History
Von Neumann, Nicholas Metropolis and others programmed the ENIAC computer to perform the first fully automated Monte Carlo calculations
Wikipedia: IAS machine
Wikimedia FoundationInvented: IAS Machine, Infobox, developer fieldQuote, Invented: IAS Machine, Infobox, developer field
John von Neumann
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