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The MANIAC by Benjamín Labatut

Rata I.'s Recommendation for the 510 Club | July 2024

 

Aptly named in more ways than one, The MANIAC is a reference to Johnny von Neumann's Mathematical Analyzer, Numerical Integrator and Automatic Computer. Classified as fiction, this is a novel that creatively weaves together real people and historical fact into a triptych of literary biographies. More about the mathematicians than the maths, it is nonetheless an interesting characterisation of how the last century brought us to A.I. as we know it today.

Beginning with the upheaval of physics and logic in the 1920s-30s, part one is set against the backdrop of Nazi ascension in Europe, telling the tragic demise of father of statistical mechanics, Paul Ehrenfest.

The meat of the book follows the life of famous mathematician and polymath John von Neumann. Told "documentary style," von Neumann's section reads like a series of vignettes from those who knew him, each with their own voice and perspective. Collectively they cover his early life, logic, his time on the Manhattan Project and with RAND (the think tank that led the development of game theory and MAD, linear programming, and Monte Carlo methods), as well as early conceptualisations of Artificial General Intelligence. It centres on von Neumann's MANIAC computer (sponsored by the US military) that could handle the intricate calculations needed for the H-bomb: he used the time left over from the calculations for his own investigations into these questions that have since animated many fields of mathematics.

The book wraps up with the nail-biting match between Go master Lee Sedol and AlphaGo in 2016.

Labatut is also the author of another book I would recommend: When We Cease to Understand the World, which explores the work and lives of several 20th century thinkers in chemistry, physics and maths (including, among others, Einstein, Haber, Schwarzchild, Grothendieck, Heisenberg, Schrödinger).

Both books are largely philosophical. Paralleling developments in scientific and mathematical fields with a more fraught message, Labatut reveals the enormity of technological and ideological progress through how it is inextricably linked to the complexities and flaws of individuals, as well as the grand and terrible machinations of history.

If you liked the film Oppenheimer (or the book it was based on, American Prometheus by Kai Bird), you will likely enjoy The MANIAC.
You may also like the non-fiction Turing's Cathedral by George Dyson, which - despite the name - is also about von Neumann and his work with computation at the IAS at Princeton.

Bonus: to get a sense of Labatut's writing style, read an essay by him (featuring logician George Boole) here: The Gods of Logic - Before and after artificial intelligence (Harper's Magazine)

 

 

 

WHAT IS THE 510 CLUB?

The 510 Club is named after the Dewey Decimal classification for Mathematics. It is a book recommendation project facilitated by Mathateca that is published in the monthly Christchurch MathsJam newsletter and on the Facebook page. Each month we feature a mathematical book recommendation, whether that’s a novel, articles / essays, a puzzle book, textbook, biography... just as long as it features maths in some way. Read the above book at your leisure then feel free to comment your thoughts below, or come along to the following Christchurch MathsJam sessions to join in an informal maths/book chat with the reviewer.

We're always looking for suggestions! If you're interested in contributing a book rec one month, please email christchurch@mathsjam.com to sign up.