I have just finished reading The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann by Ananyo Bhattacharya. I actually bought the book following pretty universal praise when it was first published, evidenced by the unread hardback sat on my shelf for the last 3 years. I read the first ~100 pages at uni, but at the time struggled to get on board with the maths and physics. I have gone back to it this week and I am so glad I did.

Whether it was the wisdom of time, the fact that I am a better reader now or the fact I was re-reading the opening section I found the whole book completely gripping and could barely put it down. On the pages was one of the smartest and sharpest mind’s of the 20th Century, sprinkling seeds of knowledge into problems discussed daily in the 21st. For context, the book sits between a biography and an anthology of Von Neumann’s subject matters of interest.

The book tours through foundational mathematics, quantum mechanics, the birth of modern computation, nuclear physics, game theory and self-replicating automata. At each stage you get a real sense of the genius of Von Neumann luring - sprinkling genius to open doors for new discoveries and understanding, if he wasn’t making the giant leaps forward himself!

Bhattacharya does an incredible job of making each section inspiring. The quantum mechanics section was within perfect reach for me. Accessible enough that I could follow the wonder of the discoveries and advancements made, yet far enough away to leave me with more questions than answers. Game theory had the same implications, where I could follow how the theory could be applied to zero-sum two player games followed by coalitions and then Nash’s introduction of selfish players uninterested in collaboration. As this was being spelled out on the pages, I began to wonder about game theory applications in real world settings, such as nature. Almost as if it was planned, the book delivers a beautiful exposition of game theory in the animal kingdom.

A great lesson that sometimes a bit of time is all you need to turn a bad book into a brilliant book.