Von Neumann's 1947 math quote resurfaces alongside rare 1952 IAS computer photo
pickover · x · 2026-10-27
Math popularizer pickover shared John von Neumann's 1947 ACM speech line: "If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is."
The attached image is a June 10, 1952 news photo of J. Robert Oppenheimer and von Neumann in front of the IAS machine — then the fastest computer for its precision, doing 200 multiplications and 100,000 additions per second, with memory for 1,024 twelve-digit numbers. Von Neumann was one of its designers.
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