Von Neumann: The Interaction of Mathematics and Computing by Stanislaw M. Ulam

The First International Research Conference on the History of Computing was a milestone in the history of computing, drawing a global elite of computer pioneers from the first generation of electronic digital computing. Most talks are approximately 45 minutes in duration and feature a lecture with a brief question and answer period afterwards. Ulam was a major figure on the Manhattan Project, the US World War II project to develop an atomic bomb. He worked very closely with many of the West’s leading scientists at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories during this time, especially the legendary mathematician John von Neumann. In this wide-ranging talk, Ulam discusses his relationship with von Neumann and their discussions about mathematical physics, quantum theory and hydrodynamics – an area of study related to their work on the atomic bomb. This lecture’s transcript was included in the edited volume from the conference, viz. Ulam, Stanislaw, M., “Von Neumann: The Interaction of Mathematics and Computing,” in Metropolis, N., and Howlett, J., Rota, Gian-Carlo, A History of Computing in the Twentieth Century, New York: Academic Press, 1980, pp. 93 – 99. Catalog Number: 102695481