The Man From The Future

Von Neumann came up with the cellular automata that can replicate itself. John Conway later simplified the rules and came up with the Game of Life. At LifeWiki people still continue to discover new interesting patterns.

Von Neumann was a big proponent of ICBMs (rockets with range over 5500 kilometers). Overall he was driven by patriotic attitude toward United States and hate towards communists.

Might be interesting to read later:

• Adventures of a Mathematician by Stanislaw Ulam