Budapest-The Golden Years

von Neumann Memorial Lectures;

A panel discussion of John von Neumann, Hungarian education, and early twentieth century mathematics, Budapest: The Golden Years is the first of two public events that comprise the von Neumann Memorial Lectures. The event is sponsored by the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies and the John Templeton Foundation.

The panel will use their familiarity with the life, times, and person of John von Neumann to explore the circumstances of his education and upbringing, as well as those of the many other creative and productive mathematicians and scientists from that time and place. The panel will attempt to bring to life for the audience the spirit of Hungary in those years.

The starting point for the discussion is The Social Construction of Hungarian Genius, 1867–1930, a paper by Professor Tibor Frank, an historian of Hungarian exiles.