The MANIAC

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From one of contemporary literature’s most exciting new voices comes a haunting story centered on Hungarian polymath John von Neumann, exploring the impact of his legacy on the dreams and nightmares of the twentieth century and the dawn of AI. Following the success of Benjamín Labatut’s electrifying work that captivated global readers, this new narrative expands on the lives of mathematicians and physicists who ventured into strange and perilous territories. John von Neumann, a prodigy whose brilliance intimidated those around him, revolutionized multiple fields, inventing game theory, the first programmable computer, and pioneering AI and digital life. Through a chorus of family, friends, colleagues, and rivals, Labatut reveals the evolution of von Neumann's unparalleled mind and the profound effects of his work on the world. The narrative forms a literary triptych, starting with Paul Ehrenfest, an Austrian physicist who despaired as science became a tyrannical force, and culminating a century later in the clash between South Korean Go Master Lee Sedol and the AI program AlphaGo. This encounter encapsulates the central question of von Neumann's unfinished project: creating a self-reproducing machine capable of evolving beyond human comprehension. A work of beauty and momentum, this story confronts us with the profound questions facing humanity.