Von Neumann was an American mathematician who, by coincidence, had also been born in Hungary and had attended the same school as Mr Harsanyi.

ECONOMIST: John Harsanyi

Nothing much happened, however, until 1946 when an American mathematician called Warren Weaver became intrigued with the way the British had used their pioneering Colossus computer to crack the military codes produced by Germany's Enigma encryption machines.

ECONOMIST: A gift of tongues

All that changed when he set up shop in Menlo Park, New Jersey, and cobbled together a team that included, among others, a German glassblower, an African American engineer, a Swiss watchmaker, an American mathematician, and a British textile machinist.

FORBES: Thoreau's Idea Hunt, and Ours

Saitoti, an American-trained economist and mathematician, also worked for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS