| Title: |
Nicholas C. Metropolis
|
| Local code: |
OH 135
|
| Document type: |
Oral history
|
| Accessibility: |
Free Only
|
| Repository: |
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Charles Babbage Institute
|
| Collection: |
Charles Babbage Institute Oral History Program
|
| Description: |
Metropolis, the first director of computing services at Los Alamos National Laboratory, discusses John von Neumann's work in computing. Most of the interview concerns activity at Los Alamos: how von Neumann came to consult at the laboratory; his scientific contacts there, including Metropolis, Robert Richtmyer, and Edward Teller; von Neumann's first hands-on experience with punched card equipment; his contributions to shock-fitting and the implosion problem; interactions between, and comparisons of von Neumann and Enrico Fermi; and the development of Monte Carlo techniques. Other topics include: the relationship between Turing and von Neumann; work on numerical methods for non-linear problems; and the ENIAC calculations done for Los Alamos.
|
| Extent: |
26 pages
|
| URL: |
http://www.cbi.umn.edu/oh/pdf.phtml?id=198
|
| Original Language: |
English
|
| Time span: |
Not indicated ... to 1987 (Year of interview)
|
| Speaker: |
Metropolis, Nicholas C., 1915-
|
| Speaker gender: |
Male
|
| Speaker date of birth: |
1915
|
| Speaker occupation: |
Director
|
| Age at speaking: |
72
|
| Document location: |
Los Alamos, NM
|
| Document date: |
29-May-1987
|
| Interviewer: |
Aspray, William
|
| Locations discussed: |
North America; United States
|
| Topics discussed - ASP terms: |
Computer software; Electric engineering; Engineering; Information technology; North America; Oral history; Software engineering; United States
|
| Topics discussed - Other terms: |
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
|
| ASP release: |
2005-06
|
| Document code: |
OHI0024009-25552
|
