Privatdozent Photo Edition #4

von Neumann, Einstein, Morgenstern, Morse & Lefschetz (1952)

Colourized group photograph of Munro, von Neumann, Oates, Einstein, Morgenstern, Laserna, Wilks, Morse and Lefschetz from 1952

At the core of what made Princeton the center of the mathematical universe post-WW2 were arguably four European men: Albert Einstein, John von Neumann, Oskar Morgenstern and Kurt Gödel. The four were very close:

• Towards the end of his life, Einstein reportedly confessed to Morgenstern that even though “my own work no longer meant much, I come to the Institute merely … to have the privilege of walking home with Gödel”. Gödel discovered unique solutions to Einstein’s field equation and presented them to him on the his 70th birthday. Their relationship has been the topic of many books and articles, including the aptly named When Einstein Walked with Gödel* by Jim Holt.

• von Neumann and Morgenstern became close friends starting in 1939 from a mutual interest in ‘maxims of behaviour’, what would later be the field of game theory. The two co-authored the book Theory of…