The Duties of John von Neumann's Assistant in the 1930s. A 26 year-old former graduate student of Columbia University, Edgar R. Lorch (1907–1990) has just completed his Ph.D. in mathematics. He is, in his own words, awarded a National Research Council Fellowship for a year of post-doctoral studies.
John von Neumann taught at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. John Lorch was offered a position as his assistant at the IAS. Lorch's duties included reciting aloud lines from Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark" and reciting German poetry.
In the 1930s, von Neumann's assistant was required to keep up with him and his lectures. The assistant was also required to translate his numerous 100-page papers into English. The job required a person to be "sharp, fast, clever and tough," writes author N.A. Vonneuman. "No matter, the Annals of Mathematics editorial assistant retyped the letter, supplying all the missing symbols" "I left my meeting with Veblen in a downcast mood" "The job entailed such onerous duties that only someone with an iron constitution could survive" This essay is based on the article "Szeged in 1934" by Edgar R. Lorch. It is part of a series of stories on math-related topics, published in Cantor's Paradise, a weekly Medium publication.