John von Neumann: Formative Years

This biographical essay by von Neumann's younger brother traces the development of John von Neumann's axiomatic method to his early environment. Nicholas Vonneuman sees the early contact with eminent scientists and scholars in their parents' house and the discussion of management practices at dinner conversations as shaping experiences in his brother's life. His mother's motto "to make the impossible possible" also exerted great influence on his brother.