John von Neumann

The polymath whose stored-program architecture is the blueprint of nearly every computer built since 1945.

Specifications & Metrics

era

1903 – 1957

Core Principles & Analysis

• The 'von Neumann architecture' separates instructions and data in one memory — the First Draft report of 1945.
• He contributed to game theory, cellular automata, the Manhattan Project and quantum foundations.
• His merge-sort is still the textbook example of divide and conquer.