Source : WordNet®

John von Neumann
     n : United States mathematician who contributed to the
         development of atom bombs and of stored-program digital
         computers (1903-1957) [syn: {von Neumann}, {Neumann}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

John von Neumann
     
         /jon von noy'mahn/ Born 1903-12-28, died 1957-02-08.
     
        A Hungarian-born mathematician who did pioneering work in
        quantum physics, game theory, and {computer science}.  He
        contributed to the USA's Manhattan Project that built the
        first atomic bomc.
     
        While serving on the BRL Scientific Advisory Committee, von
        Neumann joined the developers of {ENIAC} and made some
        critical contributions.  In 1947, while working on the design
        for the successor machine, {EDVAC}, von Neumann realized that
        ENIAC's lack of a centralized control unit could be overcome
        to obtain a rudimentary stored program computer.  He also
        proposed the {fetch-execute cycle}.
     
        {(http://www.sis.pitt.edu/~mbsclass/is2000/hall_of_fame/vonneuma.htm)}.
     
        {(http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/VonNeumann.html)}.
     
        {(http://ftp.arl.mil/~mike/comphist/54nord/)}.
     
        (2001-01-30)