Adventures of a Mathematician

Index

Abel, Niels Henrik, 207

AEC, see Atomic Energy Commission

Agnew, Harold, 192

Air Force Space Committee, 255, 256

Alembert, Jean d’, 272

Alexander, James, 70, 244

Alexandroff, Paul, 46, 66, 68

Alvarez, Luis W., 211

Anderson, Senator Clinton P., 72, 254

Archibald, Raymond C., 100

Archimedes, 104, 274, 290

Argo, Harold and Mary, 153

Aron, Françoise, see Ulam, Françoise

Aronszajn, Nachman, 36

astronomy, cosmology, 16 ff, 203 ff, 221, 255, 258, 299

Atkinson, Geoffrey S., 149

atomic bomb, 5, 142, 146, 149 f, 152, 159, 170, 188 f, 209, 211, 221 f

atomic energy, 189, 237;

see also nuclear energy

Atomic Energy Commission, 193, 210 ff, 221, 224, 228, 231, 237, 240, 243, 253;

General Advisory Committee of, 216, 220

Auerbach, Anna, see Ulam, Anna

Auerbach, Herman, 42

Auerbach, Karol, 56

automata, 32, 82, 96, 98, 241 f, 285;

see also electronic computers

Ayres, William L., 107

Bacher, Robert F., 150

Baker, Nicholas, see Bohr, Niels

ballistics, 137, 231

Banach, Stefan (1892–1945), 6, 22, 26, 31 ff, 38, 40, 49, 54 f, 65, 107, 180, 203, 245, 293, 303

Bardeen, John, 86

Bell, Eric Temple, 291

Bell, George, 259

Bellman, Richard, 131 f

Bergman, Stefan, 119

Bernouilli law of large numbers, 73

Bernstein, Dorothy, 131

Bernstein, Felix, 27

Besicovitch, Abraham, 59 f

Bethe, Hans Albrecht, 143, 147, 149 f, 152, 156, 162, 172, 191 ff, 216, 260, 263

Beyer, William, 268

Bigelow, Arthur, 229

biology, 203 ff, 242, 259 f, 300 ff

Birkhoff, Garrett, 66 f, 84, 89 f, 92

Birkhoff, George David (1884–1944), 6, 74 ff, 82, 85, 89, 90,

Birkhoff, George David (cont.) 95, 98 f, 101, 113, 117, 120 ff

Blair, Clay, 211, 236

Bloch, Felix, 161

Bochner, Salomon, 66, 69, 73

Bohr, Niels (1885–1962), 81, 161 f, 168 f, 286

Boltzmann, Ludwig, 56, 85

Bolzano, Bernard, 282

Boole, George, 144

Borel, Emile, 282

Borsuk, Karol, 40 f, 57, 68, 270

Boulder, Col., 104, 205, 250, 266, 302

Bradbury, Norris, 192, 211 f, 215, 220 f, 223, 249

brain, workings of, 12 ff, 19, 52, 78, 97, 175 f, 180 ff, 199, 236, 241 f, 244, 274, 276, 279, 284, 289, 301

Breit, Gregory, 124, 132, 150

Breton, Hal and Hattie von, 174 f, 179

Brillouin, Léon, 132

Brillouin, Stéfa, 132 f

British Mission, 228, 250

Broglie, Louis Victor de, 165

Brown, Harold, 255

Budenny, Marshall S., 15

Burks, Arthur, 241, 285

Bush, Vannevar, 251

Café Szkocka, see Scottish Cafe

Calkin, John W., 169, 177, 190, 209

Cambridge, England, 38, 58 ff

Cambridge, Mass., 29, 88, 94, 114, 116, 119, 122, 138, 205, 242

Cantor, Georg (1845–1918), 22, 29, 105, 263, 272, 282

Capablanca, José, 19

Caro, 108 f

Cartan, Elie (1869–1951), 57

Cauchy, Augustin (1789–1895), 85

Cayley, Arthur (1821–1895), 264

CERN (Centre Européen de Recherche Nucléaire), 261 f

Chadwick, Sir James, 161

Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan, 60 f

Cherwell, Lord (Frederick A. Lindemann), 229, 251

chess, 18, 23, 35, 42, 55, 120, 179, 202, 280

Churchill, Sir Winston, 229, 251

Chwistek, Leon, 29 f

Coble, Arthur B., 74

Cohen, Leon, 130

Cohen, Paul, 55, 96, 283, 285

computing machines, see electronic computers

Conant, James B., 251

Condon, Edward (1902–1973), 104, 203, 267, 301

Congressional Space Committee, 254

Conway, John B., 285

cosmology, see astronomy

Crick, Sir Francis H., 204, 241, 260, 300

Cushing, Harvey, 175

Czech, Edward, 107

Dan, Klara, see Neumann, Klari von

Danzig, J. van, 295

Darboux, Gaston (1842–1917), 33, 58

Davis, Robert R., 169

Del Sasso, Lewis A., 244

Descartes, René (1596–1650), 194, 206, 301

Dickstein, Samuel (1851–1939), 45

Doolittle, General James H., 257

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, 59, 145

Dykstra, Clarence A., 126

Dyson, Freeman, 256

Eddington, Sir Arthur S. (1882–1944), 60, 62

Eilenberg, Samuel, 66, 68, 134

Einerson, Ivar, 86

Einstein, Albert (1879–1955), 4, 6, 18, 47, 62, 73, 81, 108, 112, 157, 167, 184, 205, 223, 272, 294

Eisenhower, President Dwight D., 243, 251, 253, 255

electronic computers, 4, 13, 96, 137, 155, 181 f, 197 f, 200 f, 212 f, 215 f, 218, 225 f, 229, 241, 244, 257, 264, 284 ff;

see also automata

Eliot, Charles W., 87

Elliott, Josephine, 215

Erdös, Paul, 53, 54, 60, 131, 134 ff, 178 f, 294

Ernst, Marcin, 16 f

Estreicher, Karol, 30

Euler, Leonhard (1707–1783), 20, 58, 104

Evans, Cerda and Foster, 213

Evans, Herbert, 130

Everett, C. J., 31, 104, 124, 129 ff, 160, 195, 213 ff, 219 f, 225, 253

evolution, 205

Feinsinger, Nathan P., 125

Fejer, Leopold (1880–1959), 110

Fermat, Pierre (1601–1665), 48, 278, 291

Fermi, Enrico (1901–1954), 6, 152, 157, 161 ff, 172, 184, 191, 193, 215, 217 ff, 223, 225 ff, 233 ff, 243, 245, 257, 303

Fermi, Laura, 234, 236 f, 282

Feynman, Richard, 77, 150, 152 f, 156 ff, 162, 169, 221, 252, 297

Fisk, James B., 86, 193

fission bomb, see atomic bomb

Flanders, Donald A., 169

Ford, Kenneth, 220

Ford, Colonel Vince, 255

Foucault pendulum, 230

Fowler, Williarn A., 257

Frankel, Stanley, 153, 184 f, 213

France, Anatole, 23, 123, 224

Freud, Sigmund, 18,22

Frisch, David and Rose, 144

Frisch, Otto, 6, 162

Froman, Darol K., 219

Galois, Evariste (1811–1832), 207, 277

Gamow, Barbara, 205

Gamow, George (1904–1968), 100, 151, 202 ff, 211 f, 231 f, 266 f, 270, 294, 303

Gamow, Rho, 233

Gardner Space Committee, 256

Gardner, Trevor, 255 ff

Gaulle, General Charles de, 251

Gauss, Karl Friedrich (1777–1855), 231, 289

Getting, Ivan, 86

Goad, Walter, 259

Gödel, Kurt, 55, 76, 80, 283

Goldstein, Max, 218

Gorman, Elizabeth S., 244

Gould, Gordon, 259

Graustein, William Caspar (1888–1941), 75, 89

Greenstein, Jesse L., 257

Griggs, David, 257

Grossman, M., 57

Guerlach, Henry, 86

Gurney, Herbert W., 267

Guttierrez, J. J., 168

Hadamard, Jacques (1865–1963), 121 f

Halpern, Ada, 45

Hanfmann, George, 87

Hanley, Professor, 125, 130

Hardy, Godfrey H. (1877–1947), 58, 60, 94

Harlow, Francis, 196

Harvard, 5, 61, 71, 75, 82, 84, 86, 88 f, 91 f, 95, 100, 112 f, 116 ff, 122 f, 125, 128, 137, 147, 191, 223, 231, 260

Hausdorff, Felix, 55

Hawkins, David, 153, 158 ff, 174, 190, 214, 266, 281

Hawkins, Frances, 161

Heidegger, Martin, 264

Heisenberg, Werner, 165, 221

Henderson, Lawrence J. (1878–1942), 86, 88, 118

Herblock (Herbert Block), 251

Hermite, Charles, 58

Hilbert, David (1862–1943), 6, 45, 57, 76, 81 f, 282, 289, 291, 293, 295

Hill, Albert, 257

Hinton, Joan, 144

Hirniak, 48 f

Hitler, Adolf, 35 f, 263

Hoffmann, Frédéric de, 211, 220

Homans, George, 88

Hopf, Heinz, 57

Houtermans, Fritz, 149

Hurewicz, Witold (1904–1956), 116

Hurwitz, Henry, Jr., 145

Husserl, Edmund, 264

hydrogen bomb, 5, 109, 131, 152, 184, 195, 209 ff, 219 ff, 234, 236 f, 251

Hyers, Donald, 124, 131, 173, 186

ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile), 231;

von Neumann ICBM Committee, 241, 255, 257

implosion, 153 f

Infeld, Leopold, 61 f

Ingraham, Mark, 120, 127, 134, 144

Institut Poincaré, 57 f

Institute for Advanced Studies (Princeton), 4, 47, 66, 68 ff, 73 f, 134, 238

Janiszewski, Zygmunt (1888–1920), 25, 38

Jimenez y Flores, 56

Johnson, President Lyndon B., 251, 254 f

Kac, Mark, 43 f, 96, 255, 268 ff

Kaczmarz, Stefan, 26 f

Kárman, Theodore von (1881–1963), 70, 79, 109

Kennedy, President John F., 86, 89, 251, 253, 256 f

Kister, James, 201

Kistiakowski, George B., 143, 169, 253

Kleene, Steven, 124

Knaster, Bronislaw, 40, 44, 46

Kolmogoroff, Andrej N., 160, 295

Konopinski, Emil, 149 f, 152, 169

Kowalevski, Gerhardt, 19

Kruskal, Martin, 227

Kuratowski, Kazimir, 25 ff, 35 f, 38, 40 f, 44, 46 f, 55, 65 f, 75, 107

Lagrange, Comte Joseph de (1736–1813), 104

Langer, Lawrence, 169

Langer, William, 134, 173

language, influence of on thought, 275

Laplace, Pierre Simon de (1749–1827), 58, 159

Lauritsen, Charles C. (1892–1968), 257

Lawrence, Ernest O. (1901–1958), 161, 170, 211

Lax, Peter, 228

Lebesgue, Henri (1875–1941), 282

Lefschetz, Solomon (1884–1972), 68 f, 132

Lehmer, D. H., 117

Leibnitz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1646–1716), 104

Leonard, William Ellery, 126

Leray, Jean, 68

Lespinasse, Julie de, 272

Levin, Harry, 86

Levinson, Norman, 94

Lindemann, F. A., see Cherwell, Lord

Livermore (Calif.) Laboratory, 221, 255

Loeb, Carl, Jr., 115

Lomnicki, Antoni, 27

Lomnicki, Zbigniew, 27, 39

Long, Earl, 169

Longmire, Conrad, 221

Lorentz, Hendryk A., 296

Los Alamos, 3 ff, 34, 49, 61, 94, 109, 131, 138, 141, 144 ff, 148 ff, 155 ff, 160 ff, 164 ff, 172 ff, 177, 184 ff, 188, 190 ff, 195 f, 199, 201, 206, 209, 211 ff, 220 ff, 225, 227 ff, 237, 239, 249 ff, 254 f, 259 f, 264, 266 f, 269, 293

Lotka, Alfred James, 160

Lowell, Abbott Lawrence, 88

Lowes, John Livingston, 86

Lwów, 4, 9 f, 14, 18, 23, 27, 29, 32, 35 ff, 39 ff, 43 f, 47, 50 f, 65, 67 f, 73, 93, 99, 106 ff, 116, 131, 133, 269, 282

Lwów Polytechnic Institute, 24, 26, 31, 47

McKibben, Joseph, 144

Madison, Wisconsin, 120, 122 f, 125 f, 128 ff, 136 ff, 144 f, 173, 195

Manhattan Project, 145, 172;

see also Los Alamos

MANIAC, see electronic computers

Manley, John, 249

Marcinkiewicz, Jozef (1910–1940), 92, 93

Mark, J. Carson, 171, 193, 219, 250, 266

mathematics, 25 ff, 52 ff, 65 ff, 84, 90 ff, 103 ff, 121 ff, 128, 135, 268, 273 ff

algebra, 121, 130, 282, 292

algebraic geometry, 134, 283

algorithms, 280, 293

analysis, 26, 40, 98, 268

Banach spaces, 38, 100

branching processes, 142, 153, 159, 214

category theory, 46, 85

combinatorial analysis, 134, 264, 268, 282

complexity, 298

complex numbers, 278

continuum hypothesis, 21, 29, 196

differential equations, 276

differential geometry, 291

diophantine equations, 293

ergodic theory, 85, 95, 98

Fermat’s theorem, 278, 291

Fourier series, transforms, 92, 96, 269

foundations of mathematics, 75, 268, 284

function spaces, 31, 110, 137

games, 32, 242, 268, 281 f, 284 f, 287

mathematics (continued)

group theory, 30, 129, 207

infinities, 282 f, 297

information theory, 160, 294

logic, 30, 75, 130, 183, 259, 268

mathematical physics, 148, 192, 287

measure theory, 47, 55, 65, 131, 282

multiplicative processes, 159, 213 (see also branching processes, above)

number theory, 58, 92, 96, 134, 268, 270, 291

numerical analysis, 264

probability theory, 27, 99, 195 f, 270, 282, 284 f, 294

Riemann hypothesis, 134, 279

set theory, 25, 27 ff, 40 f, 43, 65, 73, 75, 96, 105, 121, 268, 282

topology, 40 f, 43, 66 f, 103, 105, 268, 270, 282 f

transfinite numbers, 21

undecidability, 283

Matiasevic, Yuri, 285, 293

Matthias, Bernd, 254

May, Karl, 23, 229

Maxwell, James Clerk, 299

Mayer, Maria, 110

Mazur, Stanislaw, 26, 31 ff, 38, 42, 50, 53, 99, 104, 107, 129, 270

Mazurkiewicz, Stefan (1888–1945), 25, 40

memory, 12 ff, 18, 54, 179 ff, 199, 236

Menger, Karl, 56

Menkès, Zygmund, 115

meteorology, weather control, 185

Metropolis, Nicholas, 153, 169, 177, 184 f, 209, 213, 225, 228, 237

Metzger, 21

Michael, Aristotle D., 177

’’Mike” test, 220 f

Monge, Gaspard, 58

Monte Carlo method, 137, 196, 198 f, 232

Montgomery, Dean, 134

Moore, Charles N., 283

Morgan, J. P., 231

Morgenstern, Oskar, 160, 242

Morison, Samuel Eliot, 86

Morse, Marston, 73

Mycielski, Jan, 268

Nabokov, Vladimir, 14, 124, 184

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), 254

Naval Research Laboratory, 232

Neumann, John von (1903–1957), 4, 5, 35, 44, 49, 60, 65, 73, 172, 188 f, 207, 231, 252, 291, 295, 303

AEC Commissioner, 231, 237 f, 239

association with SMU, 65 ff, 100 ff, 107 ff, 136 f, 191, 193 f, 229 ff

and computers, 13, 184 f, 198 ff, 229 f, 286

in Europe, 23, 66 ff, 107 ff

illness and death, 238 ff

Los Alamos connection, 141 ff, 146 f, 153 f, 161, 162, 166 f, 222 ff

at Princeton, 4, 65 f, 69 ff, 75 ff, 95 ff

See also automata, electronic computers, ICBM

Neumann, Klari von, 110, 191, 193, 213, 229, 239 f, 243

Neumann, Marietta von, 69, 102, 109, 113

Neumann, Marina von, 66, 69

Newton, Isaac (1642–1726), 16, 59, 104, 167, 205

Nikliborc, Wladislaw, 26, 35, 37, 48

Nikodym, Oton, 32

Noether, Emmy, 46

Novikoff, Peter S., 285

nuclear energy, 224, 252, 254

nuclear propulsion, 252, 255;

see also Orion; Project Rover

Oppenheimer, J. Robert (1904–1968), 147, 151 ff, 158, 162, 170, 192, 211, 217, 223 f, 234, 237, 251

Orion space vehicle, 253, 256

Orlicz, Wladislaw, 26

Ouspenski, James B., 159

Oxtoby, John, 84 ff

Paley, Raymond, 93

Pasta, John, 226 ff, 257

Pauli, Wolfgang, 45, 221, 261

Perlman, Selig, 125

Perrin, Francis, 251

Peterson, Donald, 259

physics, 30, 81, 98, 104, 112, 132, 147 ff, 162, 164 ff, 189, 203 ff, 216, 221, 226, 233, 235, 250, 261, 286, 296 ff

aerodynamics, 136 f

astrophysics, 258

complementarity, 168

constants, 148, 169, 204, 205

electromagnetism, 30, 279, 299

elementary particles, 112, 205, 235, 261, 296

entropy, 294, 298

hydrodynamics, 136 f, 148, 185, 196, 279

isotopes, 233

mechanics, 99, 137, 144, 147 f, 257

mesons, 235

neutrons, 148, 153, 159, 177, 197, 213

partons, 297

quantum theory, 30, 67, 77, 81, 92, 97 f, 112, 132, 148, 165 ff, 205, 245, 251, 262, 279, 287, 295, 299 f

relativity, 18, 37, 81, 105, 112, 164, 221, 295 f

statistical mechanics, 31, 132

vacuum, polarization of, 157

Pilsudski, Jozef, 15

Placzek, George, 158, 192

Plateau, Joseph, 113

Plato, 175, 237

Plesch, Arpad, 108

Plesch, Janos, 108, 239

Poincaré, Henri (1854–1912), 21, 25, 45, 62, 82, 98, 180, 228, 275, 289, 291, 295

Polya, George, 60, 180

Porter, Keith, 302

Possel, René de, 58

Princeton, 47, 49, 62, 65 ff, 72 ff, 83, 102, 104, 107, 110, 113, 122, 132, 135, 141, 202, 213, 225, 229, 244

Project Rover, 250, 252, 254;

see also nuclear propulsion

Proust, Marcel, 182

Puck, Theodore, 259 f

Quine, Willard, 87

Rabi, Isaac Isidore, 111, 161, 215, 223, 239

radiation, 148, 177, 216, 259, 261, 267

Rainey, Rupert, 175

Rarita, William, 152

Richardson, James, 100

Richardson, James H., 225

Richtmyer, Robert, 186, 192 f, 263, 266

Riemann, Bernhard, 295

Ries, Minna, 47

Riesz, Fredrick, 110

rocket propulsion systems, 254 ff;

see also Orion; Project Rover

Roeberg, Jane, 153

Rosen, Henryk, 108

Rosenbluth, Marshall, 220

Rota, Gian-Carlo, 72, 104, 129, 207, 263 ff, 268, 291

Rubinowicz, Wojciech, 31

Russell, Bertrand, 118, 137

Ruziewicz, Stanislaw, 22, 40

Samuelson, Paul, 86

Schauder, Juliusz (1896–1943), 39, 67

Scherr, Ruben, 168

Schmidt, Wolfgang, 268

Schouten, Jan A., 119

Schrandt, Robert, 201

Schreier, Jozef, 43, 58, 78, 82

Schriever, General Bernard A., 255

Schrödinger, Erwin, 165

Scottish Book, The, 50 f, 107

Scottish Cafe, 33, 35, 49, 93, 107

Segré, Emilio, 162, 164

Selberg, Atle, 244

Serber, Robert, 152

Shannon, Claude, 160, 294

Shapley, Harlow, 124

Shepley, James R., 211, 236

Sierpinski, Waclaw (1882–1969), 21, 25, 40, 44

Smoluchowski, Marian, 294

Society of Fellows (Harvard), 82, 84 ff, 88 f, 100, 113, 118

Socrates, 175, 237

Sommerfeld, Arnold, 30

space vehicles and space exploration, 252 ff

space-time, 183 f, 279, 295, 297

Stebbins, Joel, 144 f, 126, 142

Stein, Myron, 201

Stein, Paul, 201 f

Steinhaus, Hugo (1887–1972), 21 f 29, 32, 35, 41 ff, 50 f, 58, 96, 107, 262, 268 f

Sternbach, Ludwig, 43

Stone, Harlan, 92

Stone, Marshall, 30, 66 f, 91

Stozek, Wlodzimierz, 27, 35 ff, 47 f, 65

Strauss, Admiral Lewis, 210, 221, 223, 237 f, 243

“super,” the, see hydrogen bomb

Sylvester, James J., 264

Szilard, Leo, 294

Tamarkin, Jacob David, 94, 99 f, 116

Tarski, Alfred, 29 f, 40, 114, 119, 122

Taschek, Richard, 144

Taylor, Sir Geoffrey, 144

Taylor, Theodore, 221, 256

Teller, Edward, 146 ff, 162, 164, 169, 172, 184 ff, 193, 202, 209 ff, 219 ff, 223, 231, 235 ff, 239, 251, 253, 257

Test Ban Treaty, 251

thermonuclear reactions, 149, 152, 211 ff, 219 ff;

see also hydrogen bomb

thinking process, 22, 178, 180, 184, 289

Thomson, Sir Joseph John, 60

Thucydides, 102, 244

Toll, John, 220

Townes, Charles, 255

Truman, President Harry S., 210 f, 253

Tuck, James, 228 f, 259

Turkevitch, Anthony, 210

Twining Committee, 256

UFO (unidentified flying objects), 301 f

Uhlenbeck, George E., 269

Ulam, Adam (brother), 113 ff, 118, 191

— 329 -

Ulam, Andrzej (cousin), 72, 115

Ulam, Anna (mother), 9, 15, 113

Ulam, Claire (daughter), 161, 174, 230, 235, 239, 244

Ulam, Françoise (Aron), 44, 125, 133, 145, 161, 174 ff, 178, 189, 190, 215, 230, 239, 244, 260, 262, 269, 270, 272

Ulam, Jozef (father), 9 ff, 18 ff, 113 f

Ulam, Michael(uncle), 56 f, 108

Ulam, S. M.

birth, 9

brain illness, 174 ff

in Cambridge, England, 58 ff

Colorado, University of, 266 ff

doctor’s degree, 47

Los Alamos, 141–171, 188–208, 209–224, 249-265

marriage, 125

mathematical curiosity, early, 20 ff

“self-portrait,” 271 f

U.S. citizenship, 137 f

World War II, outbreak of, 116

Ulam, Szymon (uncle), 16, 114

University of Colorado, 91, 161, 260

University of Southern California (USC), 173 f, 179, 186

University of Wisconsin, 62, 120, 123, 125

Vassilief, Alexander, 124

Veblen, Oswald, 73 f, 115, 283

Veblen, Thorstein, 74

Verne, Jules, 5, 23, 255, 229

Vienna, 10 f, 56 f, 261

Virgil, 111

Vitali, G., 92

Voltaire, 105, 262

Von Neumann, John, see Neumann, John von

Walden, William, 201

Wang, Hao, 285

Watson, James D., 241, 260, 300

Wavre, Roland, 45 f

Weierstrass, Karl, 55, 282

Weil, André, 133

Weisskopf, Victor F., 152, 162, 168 f, 172, 191, 260 ff, 270

Weizsäcker, Carl Friedrich von, 216

Wells, H. G., 5, 23

Wells, Mark, 201

Weyl, Hermann (1885–1955), 30, 72, 121, 291

Wheeler, John, 215, 220 f

Whitehead, Alfred North (1861–1947), 29, 86, 118 f, 138, 285

Whitehead, Mrs. A. N., 30, 118

Whitney, Hassler, 91

Whyburn, Gordon T., 107

Wiener, Norbert (1894–1964), 45, 91 ff, 109, 137, 160, 294

Wiesner, Jerome, 253 ff, 257

Wigner, Eugene, 112, 124, 160, 277

Woodward, Robert B., 86

Wundheiler, Alexander, 119

Yang, Chen Ning, 294

Young, Lawrence C., 62

Zabuski, Norman, J., 228

Zawirski, Zygmund, 21, 23, 65

Zygmund, Antoni, 38, 93, 96, 270