When Wiener met Einstein (1925)

Left: Wiener with Max Born in Göttingen in 1925 (Photo: George H. Davis, Jr. Courtesy MIT Museum). Right: Albert Einstein with Niels Bohr outside the Fifth Solvay International Conference on Electrons and Photos in 1927 (Photo: Paul Ehrenfest / AIP Emilio, Segre)

Mathematician and later father of cybernetics Norbert Wiener (1894-1964) crossed paths with many great minds in his life, from Bertrand Russell and G.H. Hardy, to Max Born, John F. Nash Jr. and John von Neumann. von Neumann’s assistant Edgar R. Lorch’s recollection of one of his boss’ encounters with Wiener bears repeating:

“I met [von Neumann] recently at a party. The high point of the evening was a recitation race between him and Norbert Wiener. Somehow, someone recited a line from Lewis Carroll’s “The Hunting of the Snark”. Norbert Wiener with his usual ebullience and sonorous voice, began reciting from line one. Johnny started off in pursuit. Norbert accelerated, but Johnny came up even. We held our breaths as the lines po…