For some reason John von Neumann came into my mind.
I never met John von Neumann, he died before I was born: but I met people who did.
He was one of the first, and perhaps one of the most important, computer scientists, and his architecture is the basis of almost all modern computers.
Some years ago, a former colleague from Dublin City University (DCU) (sadly recently deceased), invited me to be part of the audience in an Internet television programme. The subject of the programme was an inverview with two women, who worked on computer research with John von Neumann (or Johnny as then called him) in the 1940's.
The programme was recorded or perhaps Webcast live on the roof of a building in Temple Bar in Dublin 2, known as Dublin's left bank.
It reminded me of the Beatles in Let it Be, where then held an impromptu concert on the roof of Abbey Road studios in London, forever captured on the film. With typical modesty, John Lennon said: "Thank you, on behalf of the group, and I hope that we passed the audition!".
(When is that film coming out on DVD or even HD? It is out of circulation since the early 1980s)
Sitting beside me was a professor from DCU, who asked typically erudite questions, which I do not recall. I decided to hold my questions until hospitality after the programme.
"What was von Neumann's office like?" I asked, wondering what sort of palace this incomparable genius worked in.
"No idea" was the reply, "he used to wander around, talking to everybody at their desks, seeing how you were getting on, full of ideas, and solving problems".
"How did you get approval for all the research work on computers in the 1940s?" I asked.
"Much easier to say sorry than ask permission.
" I was told.
Their views were frank, very frank. They said that she was a good speaker, but only had one little speech!
"So where do you work?" they asked me;
"Ah! - My son works in Congress.
"
I then ended up in a argument with the programme presenter, about the projection of national identity on public service Web sites.
I was very honoured to have met two people who were there at the dawn of the computer age. I wonder what happened to that recording?
Perhaps it will turn up some day on .
Another anecdote: A lecturer in DCU, who was one time was a student of von Neumann's, was teaching me about compilers (I never want to program a compiler ever again!).
He told von Neumann that it was not possible to solve a seemingly intractable mathematical problem.
"I can think of five ways to solve it." said von Neuman.
..
John von Neumann died in 1957, at the age of 54, of cancer, probably caused by exposure to radiation, perhaps while working on the Manhattan project.
Had he lived a little longer, what more would he have taught us?
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