The Econmist - USA (2021-10-09)

82 Books & arts The Economist October 9th 2021

working  on  reforms  inpost­communist

Russia she was assumed tobea prostitute

on  entering  a  hotel  forameeting.Asa

speaker at a conference shewasmistaken

for a tea lady. In the WhiteHouseMrTrump

supposed she was a secretary.Foryearsshe

was  paid  less  than  menwhoweredoing

equivalent jobs. 

Not  only  did  Ms  Hillovercomethese

difficulties, she turned themtoheradvan­

tage,  drawing  on  her  experiencestospot

patterns  and  connections.In particular,

she  sees  striking  similaritiesbetweenthe

impoverished region of herrootsanddis­

advantaged areas of both AmericaandRus­

sia.  The  cold  war  had  concealedthefact

that Britain, America andRussiahadmuch

in  common:  visiting  grimpartsofRussia

she  “encountered  the  north­eastofEng­

land on a vast scale”. 

The  similarities  extendtopolitics,she

argues. The chasm betweenordinarypeo­

ple in such neglected placesandthepoliti­

cal  elites  creates  fertile  groundforpopu­

lists  claiming  to  representtheirinterests.

Once  the  hope  was  thatRussiawouldin

time  become  more  like  America.Instead,

Ms  Hill  suggests,  the  reverse has hap­

pened:  “Trump  would come more to

resemble  Putin  in  political practiceand

predilection than he resembledanyofhis

recent  American  presidential predeces­

sors.”  As  she  watched  hiscoupattempt

develop,  the  parallels  withRussiabecame

striking, and alarming. 

Lest they forget

Her journey from disadvantagedoriginsto

success has echoes of thebestsellingtales

of  Tara  Westover’s  “Educated” and J.D.

Vance’s “Hillbilly Elegy”. Inallcaseseduca­

tion is the key. Ms Hill weavespolicywon­

kery  into  her  story,  liberallyreferringto

studies  by  colleagues  at the Brookings

Institution, the think­tankwhereshenow

works. An afterword includesa checklistof

ideas  for  how  individuals,frombusiness

executives to teachers andstudents,cando

their bit to help remove barrierstooppor­

tunity  and  overcome  the drawbacks of

“forgotten places”. 

Ms  Hill  calls  this  one ofthegreatest

imperatives  of  the  21st  century.Shemay

exaggerate  the  parallels  betweenAmerica

and Russia (the differencesinpoliticalin­

stitutions  and  culture  areenormous).Yet

the alarm she sounds is urgent.America’s

political polarisation is notjusta domestic

problem,  but  a  national­securityonetoo.

“I have seen first­hand justhowvulnerable

America  is  to  the  politicalafflictionsthat

have  befallen  Russia,”  shewarns;Russia’s

slide  into  authoritarianism since 2000

could become America’s.JustasBorisYelt­

sin  amassed  executive  powersandpaved

the way for Mr Putin, sotheTrumppresi­

dency could allow a morecapablepopulist

to “pull a Putin in America”.n

Thehistoryofscience

Martian’s landing

I

n1945,whileina stateofexhaustion,

themathematicianJohnvonNeumann

hada kindofstammeringpremonition.He

wasinLosAlamos,workingontheatom

bomb,andhetoldhiswifeKlarithatthe

“energysource”hewashelpingtodevelop

wouldmakescientists“themosthatedand

alsothemostwantedcitizensofanycoun­

try”.Thenheinformedherthathisother

ongoingproject,thecomputer,wouldone

daybeevenmoreimportant—andpoten­

tiallyevenmoredangerous.

Goodbiographiesofsomeofthegreat­

estmathematicalmindsarerare:because

theywerepolymaths,biographerswhocan

interprettheirmanifoldachievementsfor

theordinarymortalarethemselvesthinon

theground.ThishasbeenvonNeumann’s

fate,andtheupshotisthathehasnothad

therecognitionhedeserves.AnanyoBhat­

tacharya,a sciencejournalistformerlyat

TheEconomist, setsouttocorrectthatin­

justice,andsofilla yawninggapinthehis­

toryofscience.

Von Neumann belonged to a small

groupofbrilliantHungarians,ofmainly

Jewishbackgrounds,whointhe1930sfled

Nazism  for  America,  where  they  were

dubbed  “the  Martians”  because  of  their

strange language and even stranger brains.

All would transform science, but von Neu­

mann  would  transform  daily  life,  and  he

did so in varied and profound ways. He was

undoubtedly  a  genius,  and  reading  this

book  gives  you  an  inkling  of  what  that

overused  word  really  means.  More  than

one  highly  intelligent  acquaintance  re­

marks  that  it  was  as  if  von  Neumann  was

the only person who was really awake.

The problem facing the biographer of a

mathematician  is  that  conveying  math­

ematical  concepts  in  mere  words  risks

either boring the cognoscenti or bemusing

the  uninitiated.  Rather  like  the  books  of

Stephen Hawking or Carlo Rovelli, though,

this  one  is  rewarding  on  different  levels.

Everyone can grasp the significance of the

puzzles  posed,  and  if  readers  want  to  fol­

low  the  genius  through  the  steps  of  his

solutions  then  Mr  Bhattacharya  is  a  clear

and authoritative guide.

Perhaps it was because he was fluent in

the language of the universe that von Neu­

mann flitted so easily between disciplines.

While  still  a  young  man  he  made  impor­

tant contributions to quantum mechanics.

Later he played a seminal role in the Man­

hattan  Project  that  built  the  bomb,  and

devised  the  architecture  for  the  first  pro­

grammable computers. He laid the founda­

tions of game theory (introducing the term

“zero­sum”  along  the  way),  stimulating

revolutions across the social sciences and

biology.  At  times  he  was  in  such  demand

that a usAir Force plane was kept on stand­

by  to  whisk  him  from  one  top­secret  gov­

ernment lab to another.

He  was  equally  comfortable  in  basic

and  applied  research,  sitting  with  pencil

and paper in his dining room in Princeton

or  debating  with  top  military  brass  out  in

the  New  Mexico  desert;  but  his  interests

were  clearly  linked.  He  needed  program­

mable computers to calculate the size and

force of shock waves from explosions, and

game  theory  to  address  the  thorny  ques­

tion of nuclear deterrence. The years of the

second world war were especially produc­

tive for him, as if he were propelled by the

destruction  of  the  “perfect  intellectual

setting” that was the Central Europe of his

youth,  not  to  mention  the  deaths  of  mil­

lions of its inhabitants. 

And  yet,  Mr  Bhattacharya  argues,  the

reputation that von Neumann acquired as

the  coldest  of  cold  warriors  was  un­

deserved.  He  knew  the  depths  to  which

humankind  could  sink,  but  he  was  by

nature  more  co­operative  than  competi­

tive. The man from the future had seen for

himself that science could be used for both

good  and  bad,  and  considered  the

only legitimate responsetobe the exercise

of intelligent judgment.“Forprogress,” he

wrote, “there is no cure.”n

The Man from the Future. By Ananyo

Bhattacharya. Allen Lane; 368 pages; £20.

To be published in America in February by

W.W. Norton & Company; $30

Greetings, earthlings