Why numpy gave "segmentation fault" upon import and pydoc?

I suggest you try setting up a python virtual environment using virtualenv and the install numpy in the environment and see if the problem is replicated.

There have been issues of numpy breaking when installed against a system's default python installation. There is a discussion on this here. You can refer to it for further insight on the problem.

Also there are issues with numpy dependency libraries causing the problem. Someone in the discussion pointed out that ATLAS library may an issue and installing numpy without ATLAS solves it.

Inside the file pydoc.py, you have to change the default function:

def pipepager(text, cmd):
    """Page through text by feeding it to another program."""
    pipe = os.popen(cmd, 'w')
    try:
        pipe.write(text)
        pipe.close()
    except IOError:
        pass # Ignore broken pipes caused by quitting the pager program.

To:

def pipepager(text, cmd):
    """Page through text by feeding it to another program."""
    import subprocess
    pipe = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdin=subprocess.PIPE, shell=True).stdin
    try:
        pipe.write(text)
        pipe.close()
    except IOError:
        pass # Ignore broken pipes caused by quitting the pager program.

Apparently the problem goes away when you change the os.popen()

Look here for more information.

Did you try installing the 1.8 instead of the 1.9? the 1.9 is still a beta version. Normally with numpy 1.8 it should work

I have the same problem when I import numpy 1.9.0 which is compiled by GCC 4.1.2. It is solved by using GCC 4.4.7.