John von Neumann Celebration

We are pleased to present this special event to commemorate the 100th birthday of the legendary mathematician John von Neumann. For more information about John von Neumannm, see:

• MacTutor History of Mathematics entry
• Princeton Companion entry

Featured Speakers:

Marina von Neumann Whitman (1.00 - 1.30)
Professor of Business Administration and Public Policy, University of Michigan
For more about Marina Whitman click here.
Speaking 1.00 - 1.30.

Douglas Hofstadter (1.30 - 2.30)
Director, Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition
College of Arts and Sciences Professor of Cognitive Science
Indiana University, Bloomington
Author of Godel, Escher, Bach (1979), the Metamagical Themas column of Scientific American, Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies (1995) and Le Ton beau de Marot (1997).
For more about Douglas Hofstadter, click here.
Title: "The Shared Logic of Self-Ref and Self-Rep: Links between Godel's self-referential strings, von Neumann's self-replicating machines, and the core mechanisms of life on earth."

Break: 2.30 - 3.00 (sharp).

George Dyson (3.00 - 4.00)
Author and Historian.
George Dyson is author of Darwin among the Machines, and is the son of English physicist Freeman J. Dyson and Swiss mathematician Verena Huber-Dyson. For more about George Dyson click here.
Talk title: Von Neumann'S Universe: Digital Computing at the Institute for Advanced Study, 1945-1958.

John Horton Conway (4.00 - 5.00)
John von Neumann Distinguished Professor of Mathematics
Princeton University.
John H. Conway is the co-author of Winning Ways for your Mathematical Ways and the creator of The Game of Life (a cellular automata) and of the surreal number system. For more about John Horton Conway, click here.
Talk title: Von Neumann as an Inspiration I've been inspired by several pieces of John von Neumann's work, and I will illustrate this by describing how I was influenced (by his work) on cellular automata, transfinite numbers, abstract set theory, and games.