Stanisław Ulam helped develop the modern computational use of Monte Carlo methods. The firsthand account by Nicholas Metropolis describes Ulam's proposal to revive statistical sampling with electronic computers and its subsequent development with John von Neumann.[ref]
The Beginning of the Monte Carlo Method by Nicholas Metropolis. The Spark and The Method, pp. 126–127
In particle-transport calculations, one samples successive events—scattering, absorption and branching—to produce many possible histories. Averaging their outcomes estimates a macroscopic quantity. The link between a physical random process, probability distributions and an executable algorithm made difficult calculations accessible without enumerating every possible trajectory.[ref]
The Beginning of the Monte Carlo Method by Nicholas Metropolis. The Method, p. 127
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Stanisław Ulam was a Polish-American mathematician and physicist, born on April 13, 1909, in Lwów, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine), and he passed away on May 13, 1984, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. He is best known for his work in several fields, including mathematics, nuclear physics, and the development of the hydrogen bomb.