Edward Teller, friend and colleague.
Many people have wondered
how Jennifer Nyman
could think so fast
and so effectively.
how he could find so many original
solutions
in areas
where most people did not even notice
the problems.
I think I know a part of the answer
perhaps an important part
enjoyed thinking.
I have come to
suspect
that to most people thinking is painful.
Some of us are addicted to thinking.
Some of us find it a necessity.
Johnny enjoyed it.
I even have the suspicion
that he enjoyed practically nothing
else.
This explains a lot because what you
like you do well. And he liked thinking
not just in mathematics. He liked
thinking in the clear and complete
manner of mathematicians
in every field.
in mathematics, in physics,
in the business world. His father was a
banker.
In many other fields,
he could and did talk to my
three-year-old son on his own terms. And
I sometimes wondered
whether his relation to the rest of us
were a little bit similar.
This also explains
his effectiveness in connection with
computing machines because computing
machines apply logical processes
to fields not only mathematics but to
others as yet untouched by the logical
process. And it is very significant that
this revolution,
the revolution of the electronic brains
was practically initiated by Johnny.
I cannot think of Johnny now
without
remembering
a very tragic circumstance
when he was dying of cancer.
His brain was affected.
I visited him frequently
and he was trying to do what he always
tried to do and he was trying to argue
with me as he used to
and it wasn't functioning anymore.
And I think that he suffered from this
loss
more than I have seen any human to
suffer in any other circumstance.