Transcript Vannevar Bush

Outline of presentation
1. Vannevar Bush – CV
2. The after-war situation
3. The Memex
4. Steven Johnson on Bush
5. Discussion point
6. Links (Vannevar Bush and the Memex)
Vannevar Bush - CV
1890
1913
1914-15
1916-17
WWI
1919
1923
1932
1935
Born in Everett, Massachusetts, USA
Graduated from Tufts College with B.S., M.S.
Worked for Inspections, U.S. Navy
Earned his doctorate in engineering, MIT
Worked on submarine detection for the U.S. Navy
Returned to MIT as an Associate Professor
Made a Full Professor at MIT
Appointed Vice-president of MIT
Developed the "differential analyzer“ at MIT
Vannevar Bush - CV
1939-41
1940
1941-47
1944
1945
Chairman of the National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics (member until 1948)
Chairman of President Roosevelt’s National Defence
Research Committee (NDRC)
Director of the Office of Scientific Research and
Development (OSRD)
President Roosevelt asks Bush for recommendations on
the application of "lessons learned" from WWII to
civilian, peace-time activities
Bush submits "Science, the Endless Frontier" in
response to Roosevelt's request.
Vannevar Bush - CV
1945
1946
1950
1974
Bush proposes the Memex in his article, "As We May
Think", published in the Atlantic Monthly
Chairman of the Joint Research and Development Board of
the War and Navy Departments
Establishment of the National Science Foundation (NSF)
under the direction of Bush
Bush ends his life on 30 June
Vannevar Bush - photos
Portraits
Vannevar Bush - photos
The profile tracer (1913)
Vannevar Bush - photos
The differential analyzer (1931)
The after-war situation
Situation:
The creative aftermath of WWII 
Information overload - “a growing mountain of research”
Invention of mechanical aid devices
Problem:
Need for storage
Need for making information accessible (by use of science)
Solution:
The Memex
(a device which was half microfilm machine and half computer)
The Memex
• A mechanized device in which knowledge may be stored and easily
consulted (→ the PC).
• Consists of a desk. (→ desktop metaphor).
• Contains information stored on microfilm.
• The user has several projection positions (→ Windows)
• An extension of the powers of human memory
Association vs. indexing
The Memex
• Trails are built by codes. (→ DOS/Windows)
“Thereafter, at any time, when one of these items are in view, the other
can be instantly recalled merely by tapping a button below the
corresponding code space. Moreover, when numerous items have been
thus joined together to form a trail, they can be reviewed in turn, rapidly
or slowly, by deflecting a lever (...)”
– “[The user] has supplemental levers. One deflecting one of these levers to
the right he runs through the book before him, each page in turn being
projected at a speed which just allows a recognizing glance at each. If he
deflects it further to the right. he steps through the book ten pages at a
time; still further at 100 pages at a time. Deflection to the left gives him
the same control backwards.”
• Trails may be inserted in other memexes (→ Floppy disc, CD, DVD)
Steven Johnson on Bush
 Anticipates the World Wide Web
 ... and online databases and CD-ROM’s
 Bush’s vision exceeds the WWW
– Building vs. following trails of interest
– Building trails compared to bookmarks
 Bush missed the core competency of the PC
Discussion point
To what extent is there a need for the possibility of
building rather than simply following trails of interest on
the Web?
Additional information on Vannevar Bush
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http://www.discovery.com/stories/deadinventors/dead980807/deadinventors.html
http://alto.histech.rwth-aachen.de/www/quellen/bush/photos.htm (including photos)
http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/bush.html
http://web.mit.edu/invent/www/inventorsA-H/bush.html
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/002719.php
http://www.livinginternet.com/?i/ii_bush.htm
http://www.eecs.mit.edu/AY95-96/events/9.html
http://www.everettweb.com/history/bush.htm (including CV)
http://www.cs.brown.edu/research/graphics/html/info/timeline.html (including CV)
http://www.maxmon.com/1927ad.htm (the Differential Analyzer)
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0034.html
http://www.ausbcomp.com/~bbott/wik/bushref.htm (links to Vannevar Bush references)
Additional information on the Memex
http://www.cs.brown.edu/memex/
http://www.press.jhu.edu/press/books/landow/memex.html
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0051.html