Great Talent Even in Small Nations! The Secret of the Atomic Bomb! Borneo's Allure! The Sea Embraces All Rivers!

In later generations, whenever people discussed European and American scientists since the twentieth century, they almost automatically meant the four nations of Britain, France, Germany, and the United States.

That was because those four countries had the greatest number of scientific giants—so many that anyone could casually rattle off several illustrious names.

At different points in time, they had all stood at the center of science, representing the most advanced direction.

Other countries did not enjoy such distinction.

Although the Netherlands produced Lorentz, Denmark produced Bohr, Austria produced Schrödinger, and Italy produced Fermi, they were often lone heroes, as though one person had drained away all the fortune of their homeland, leaving no real foundation behind.

As for the smaller countries, they were often simply overlooked.

Hungary was one such small nation.

After separating from Austria-Hungary, Hungary's standing in Europe plummeted, and it became a second-rate country.

Yet from just such an inconspicuous little nation emerged several scientific giants.

They were: Von Neumann, Wigner, Szilard, von Kármán, and Taylor.

All five had participated in the Manhattan Project. They knew one another and were on very good terms.

The computer theories created by von Neumann became the foundation of the later Information Age.

Thus, as a consultant, he was responsible for the theoretical calculations of the Manhattan Project, including the use of computers.

Most people in later generations held a misconception: that China's atomic bomb had been calculated with abacuses.

That statement was actually inappropriate.

The abacus was responsible for only a few parts. Most of the calculations still relied on computers.

At the time, China already possessed relatively advanced transistor computers capable of meeting the computational demands.

Szilard was even more formidable. As early as 1933, he proposed the nuclear chain reaction, and in 1934, he proposed the concept of