I am among those who strongly agree with Dan -- these remarks are for 3rd-rate blogs, not the Auditory List (=friends amd colleagues seldom with nobility of title, only of mind an spirit).
Hpwever, as a born Hungarian, I can't let Eackard's assertions go without a reply/ Von Neumann, indeed, came from a Jewish family of considerable fortune and of considerable "European culture" -- as most well-to-do Hungarians at the turn of the century thought of themselves and were thought of by others in Central Europe. The Habsburg monarcvhy did reward many such families, whether Hungarian, Czech, or Austrian by birthplace and first language (yes! Yiddish was seldom the language in those families who wanted to "blend in") by gibing them a tilte. Yet, to say that they bought the title would be wrong: they were never charged for it, directly. It was more like a reward for contributing large amounts of money, work, and social-political effort to the betterment of economic, cultural, and social life in the Monarchy -- especially in the "minority regions" like Hungary, Slovakia, Galicia, Froatia, etc. So, these families became noble because they behaved like nobles: they were true and committed citizens of their monarchy, their region, and their towns. A historical footnote: nobility titles were de facto sold by monarchs all over Europe from the Middle Ages on, the only difference being that those new-nobles were not of Jewish origin.
Eckard: do your research better. Békésy György who translated his name into German when he was a student in German speakeing countries to Georg von Bekesy, came from very old Hungarian nobility. However, I would seriously doubt that he, the real;y-noble noble man as he was, would have made any distinction between his and von Neumann's "von".
For the information of all of you: I don't enjoy, even hate, lecturing this way on the list.
Pierre
PS: Eckard, if you are interested, I can tell you how I acquired my name. But not on the list. Rather, call me and I will tell you live voice -- it would take less of my time.
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Daniel J. Tollin [mailto:Daniel.Tollin@xxxxxxxxx]
>Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 08:42 AM
>To: AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: AW: Cochlea Amplifier models : a new list
>
>Hi,
> I think it is obviously clear that Eckard's correspondences are processed through some sort of software language translator. I suspect that Eckard's whacky comments are likely errors in translation (at least I hope so). I don't know how else to explain his last two gems.
>
>Dan Tollin
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: AUDITORY - Research in Auditory Perception [mailto:AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Richard F. Lyon
>Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 1:22 PM
>To: AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: AW: Cochlea Amplifier models : a new list
>
>At 9:13 PM +0200 10/22/07, Toth Laszlo wrote:
>>On Mon, 22 Oct 2007, Eckard Blumschein wrote:
>>
>>> I know for sure that von Neumann's nobility was simply a bought title.
>>> I suspect his compatriot von Békésy a nobleman of the same sort.
>>
>>Am I the only one who thinks that such comments are not proper in a
>>scientific discussion list?
>
>I felt that that comment fit rather well among
>other Eckard Blumschein comments.
>
>Dick
>