A FINANCIAL TIMES AND TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR

An exhilarating new biography of John von Neumann: the lost genius who invented our world

'A sparkling book, with an intoxicating mix of pen-portraits and grand historical narrative. Above all it fizzes with a dizzying mix of deliciously vital ideas. . . A staggering achievement' Tim Harford

The smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Self-replicating moon bases and nuclear weapons. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable man: John von Neumann.

Born in Budapest at the turn of the century, von Neumann is one of the most influential scientists to have ever lived. His colleagues believed he had the fastest brain on the planet - bar none. He was instrumental in the Manhattan Project and helped formulate the bedrock of Cold War geopolitics and modern economic theory. He created the first ever programmable digital computer. He prophesied the potential of nanotechnology and, from his deathbed, expounded on the limits of brains and computers - and how they might be overcome.

Taking us on an astonishing journey, Ananyo Bhattacharya explores how a combination of genius and unique historical circumstance allowed a single man to sweep through so many different fields of science, sparking revolutions wherever he went.

Insightful and illuminating, The Man from the Future is a thrilling intellectual biography of the visionary thinker who shaped our century.

A splendid biography of one of the most brilliant, unpredictable and ultimately dangerous mathematicians of the 20th century * Financial Times, Best Books of the Year *
Bhattacharya is a first-class science writer with an impeccable pedigree and he does the best job I have seen of explaining the significance of von Neumann's work across many different fields. . . If you are interested in the development in the 20th century of science that impacts all our lives today, there can be no better place to seek information than this book. . . A fine tribute to von Neumann's genius and his contributions to science -- John Gribbin * Literary Review *
With great deftness, Bhattacharya gives John von Neumann his rightful place among such better-known giants as Albert Einstein or J Robert Oppenheimer. He tells the story tremendously well -- David Bodanis * Financial Times *
Good biographies of some of the greatest mathematical minds are rare. . . Rather like the books of Stephen Hawking or Carlo Rovelli, this book is rewarding on different levels. . . Mr Bhattacharya is a clear and authoritative guide * The Economist *
Splendid . . . a whistle stop tour through von Neumann's restless mind -- Manjit Kumar * Guardian *
Rivetting . . . a sharp, expansive biography of John von Neumann, a titanic 20th-century scientist * Kirkus *
An agile, intelligent, intellectually enraptured account of von Neumann's life. Bhattacharya argues convincingly that von Neumann was a man in whose extraordinarily fertile head the pre-war world found a lifeboat. Five stars -- Simon Ings * Sunday Telegraph *
Fascinating . . . Bhattacharya succeeds in arguing that von Neumann is under-appreciated, and that to understand him, we have to see him in the political and scientific movements of his time * The Critic *
Bhattacharya's crystal-clear prose makes for a tour de force of enjoyable science writing. . . A marvelously bracing biography of the ideas of John von Neumann, ideas that continue to grow and flourish with a life of their own -- Stephen Budiansky * Wall Street Journal *
It seems fair to claim there was no one like von Neumann. . . . Bhattacharya manages to cover his dazzling range of ideas clearly and compellingly -- Jon Turney * Arts Desk *

Ananyo Bhattacharya is a science writer who has worked at the Economist and Nature. Before journalism, he was a medical researcher at the Burnham Institute in San Diego, California. He holds a degree in physics from the University of Oxford and a PhD in protein crystallography from Imperial College London.