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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. John von Neumann worked with what company to help design a faster, more compact computer?
(a) Nixdorf Computer Corp.
(b) Rand.
(c) International Business Machines.
(d) Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corp.

2. In the divide the cake game the chooser seeks to minimize the ___ piece of cake the cutter will receive.
(a) Maximum.
(b) Minimum.
(c) Amount.
(d) Size.

3. The RAND Corporation became know for "___" the unthinkable as they considered problems arising in varied situations?
(a) Thinking.
(b) Recommending.
(c) Doing.
(d) Saying.

4. In Chapter 1 if neither loved one pushes their button by the time limit what happens?
(a) Both are beaten.
(b) Both die.
(c) One dies.
(d) Both are set free.

5. Prussians issued Kriegspiel to every ____.
(a) Regiment.
(b) Squad.
(c) Patrol.
(d) Platoon.

6. During von Neumann's time on the Princeton social scene, he attended numerous parties and his drink of choice was what?
(a) Scotch.
(b) Bourbon.
(c) Whiskey.
(d) Wine.

7. Who played Kriegspiel as a boy?
(a) Robert Axelrod.
(b) John von Neumann.
(c) John Nash.
(d) Merrill Flood.

8. When you make a decision in a game that you think your opponent will make, you are using a minimax or ___ strategy.
(a) Equal.
(b) Pure.
(c) Mixed.
(d) Minimum.

9. Which one of von Neumann's colleagues, though a left wing pacifist, joined with him in advocating preventative nuclear war against the Soviet Union?
(a) Nash.
(b) Oppenheimer.
(c) Einstein.
(d) Russell.

10. Shortly after earning his PhD in mathematics, von Neumann moved to what country for a teaching position?
(a) Brazil.
(b) Israel.
(c) Germany.
(d) The United States.

11. In Chapter 5 it is mentioned that the RAND Corporation became known as what type of place?
(a) A government conspiracy operation.
(b) A funding black hole.
(c) A think tank.
(d) The best brains in the world.

12. In what year was von Neumann invited to join the Manhattan Project?
(a) 1946.
(b) 1943.
(c) 1954.
(d) 1912.

13. Besides Bertrand Russell, what mathematician thought a new war between the U.S. and Soviet Union was inevitable once the conflict ended between the Allied and Axis powers?
(a) John von Neumann.
(b) Kurt Godel.
(c) John Nash.
(d) Merrrill Flood.

14. In what country did von Neumann earn his PhD in mathematics?
(a) Germany.
(b) The Middle East.
(c) Hungary.
(d) The United States.

15. In what century was Kriegspiel developed?
(a) 18th.
(b) 17th.
(c) 19th.
(d) 20th.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the bomb called that von Neumann developed which became the basis for later nuclear device development?

2. In the game prisoner's dilemma the police separate the two criminals into ______ .

3. What course topic was von Neumann invited to teach at Princeton?

4. John von Neumann developed game theory partly as an alternative foundation to what?

5. What was the first name of von Neumann's second wife?

(see the answer keys)

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