Personalprofile
Earlypersonalexperience
VannevarBush(1890.3.11~1974.6.26),Bush’slifeandMassachusetts(AlsoreferringtoMassachusettsandMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology)forgedanindissolublebond.HewasborninEverett,Massachusetts,USAinMarch1890.Aftercontributinghislifetoscienceandeducation,BushdiedinBelmont,MassachusettsinJune1974.
In1913,VanNevawgraduatedfromTuftsUniversitywithabachelor'sandmaster'sdegree.Inhismaster'sthesis,heproposedadevicecalledProfileTracer,whichissimilartoalawnmowerandconsistsoftwowheelsandapen,whichcandrawthepathtakeninrealtime.
In1917,VannevardobtainedajointPh.D.fromMITandHarvardUniversityandbegantoworkatTuftsUniversityandjoinedtheAmericanRadioandResearchCooperation(AMRAD,AmericanRadioandResearchCooperation)Institute.ThenwiththeoutbreakofWorldWarI,hejoinedtheNationalResearchCounciloftheUnitedStatesandinventedthewoodenpredecessorofthetestsubmarine.
In1919,VanNevaleftTuftsUniversitytojoinMIT.Atthattime,heservedasthevicepresidentofMITandthedeanoftheMITSchoolofElectronicInformation.Beginningin1930,Bush,whowasaprofessorofelectronicengineeringatMIT,andaresearchteambegantodesigna"differentialanalysismachine"thatcouldsolvedifferentialequations,creatingtheworld'sfirstanalogelectroniccomputer.ThispioneeringworkclearedthewayforthebirthofdigitalcomputersafterWorldWarII.Intheearly1940s,asPresidentRoosevelt’sscientificadviser,VanNevaBushorganizedandledthefamous"ManhattanProject"thatproducedthefirstatomicbomb.Sincethen,hehasparticipatedinmanymajorscientificandtechnologicalprojectsfromtheinventionofthehydrogenbomb,theflighttothemoon,andthe"StarWarsProject."ScientificresearchinstitutionssuchastheNationalScienceFoundation(NSF)andAdvancedResearchProjectsAgency(ARPA)approvedbytheUSgovernmentbasedonBush’ssuggestionsandideashaveensuredtheUnitedStates’long-termleadershipincutting-edgetechnology.
FatherofSiliconValley
Inthefieldofinformationindustry,VanNevaBushhasmadeoutstandingcontributions.Thebirthoftwowell-knownhigh-techindustrialparksintheUnitedStates-California's"SiliconValley"andthe"High-TechCorridor"onRoute128inBostonhavecondensedBush'sefforts.FrederickTerman,knownasthe"FatherofSiliconValley",gothisPh.D.inelectronicsatMIT.Bushwasnotsomeoneelse.ThebirthofHewlett-Packardin1939wasavictoryforTermanandavictoryforBush.Sincethen,thenameofVanNevaBushhasforgedanindissolublebondwithSiliconValley.
HonorsandAchievements
ManhattanProject
VannevarBush:thefamousorganizerandleaderoftheManhattanProject.In1945,VannevarBushpublishedanarticletitled"AsWeMayThink"intheJulyissueof"AtlanticMonthly".ThearticledescribesamachinecalledMEMEX,whichalreadyhastoday'shypertextandhyperconnectionconcepts.HeisthereforecalledtheInternetProphet.
MEMEX:Themachinedescribedinthebook"AsWeMayThink"byVannevarBush,quotedbelow.
Futurecomputerswilluseelectricity.Theywillbeahundredtimesfasterthantoday'smachinesorevenmore.Therepetitivethinkingprocessisnotlimitedtocalculationsandstatistics.Infact,commercialaffairsandtheever-expandingmarketarewaitingfortheadventofmass-producedcomputers,someofwhichwillbeabletomeetthemostdemandingrequirementsofcurrentcivilization.
Considerthedeviceforpersonaluseinthefuture.Itwillbeamechanizedpersonallibrary.Itneedsanametoattractpeople’sattention:"MEMEX"isfine.MEMEXissuchamechanizeddevicethatpeoplecanuseinItstoresbooks,recordsandletters,andcanberetrievedatahighspeedandgreatflexibility.Asanauxiliarydevice,itistheinfiniteexpansionofthehumanbrain.
MEMEXhasaslantedtranslucentscreenonwhichdatacanbeprojectedforreading,aswellasakeyboard,aseriesofbuttonsandhandles.
Oneendofitisthestoragematerial,andthevolumeproblemissolvedverywellduetotheimprovedmicrofilm.
MostofthecontentsofMEMEXaredirectlypurchasedandcanbeinserteddirectly.
Allkindsofbooks,pictures,periodicals,newspaperscanbeobtainedinthiswayandinsertedforreading,andbusinesslettersarealsoavailable,andthereisalsoadirectinputdevice.
Cursor
"Cursor"
Ofcourse,therearealsorecordsforconsultation,whichcomefromdailyindexingwork.Iftheuserwantstofindinformationfromabook,heonlyneedstotapthecodeofthebookonthekeyboard,andthecoverofthebookwillbeprojectedontothebrowserinfrontofhimimmediately.Inaddition,hehasanadditional"cursor"thatcanbeused.Dragthecursortotheright,andthebookwillbeprojectedpagebypageinfrontofhim,ataspeedthatallowspeopletobrowseeachpageclearly.Pullittotherightagain,andthebrowsingspeedcanbecome10pagesatatime,andthenitwillbe100pagesatatime.Thereisalsoakeythatallowstheusertogodirectlytothefirstpageoftheindex.
Track
"Track"
Ifthereisamoredirectmethodforsearching,itwillbemuchmoreconvenienttoindexthecontacts.ThisisMEMEXBasicconcept:Parallelretrievaloftwoconditionsisanimportantrequirement.Whenausercreatesatrack,hemustspecifyaname,insertitintohiscodebook,andcallituponthekeyboard.
Inthisway,wheneveroneoftheseitemsisdisplayed,therelateditemcanbecalledup.
Completelynewencyclopediaswillalsoappear,withinterconnected"trajectories"runningthroughthem.Patentattorneyscaneasilyfindthousandsofissuedpatents,surgeonscanrefertoanatomybooks,andhistorianscanalsohavealargenumberofpersonalchronology.
Therewillbeanewprofession,thatis"trajectorymaker",theywillconstructuseful"trajectory"fromalargeamountofordinarymaterialsandfeelhappyfromit.Thelegacyofthemasterswillnotonlybewhathepersonallycontributedtothetreasurehouseoftheworld'sknowledge,butwillbecometheoverallknowledgeframeworksharedbymankind.Atthistime,peoplewillbeabletomake,store,andretrieveallhumanrecordsthroughthem.
Impact
Itisattractivetoimaginemorespectaculartoolsinthefuture,anditwillbeboringtostudymethodsandcomponentsthatarecurrentlyknownorthataredevelopingrapidly.Predictionisverydifficult,butifyoumakeapredictionbasedonthecurrentsituation,youcantellthepossibilitymorethanjustaprediction.Itcanalsobeasuggestion,becauseapredictionbasedonanexistingsituationismoreeffective,notbasedonTheunknownpredictionisjustaguess.
Works
"AsWeThink"
AsWeMayThink
July1945AsWeMayThink,publishedinTheAtlanticMonthly,Issue176,Volume1,hasbeenrecognizedbytheinformationindustryasaclassicofinformationscience.Bushputforwardthe"Memex"concept,whichhasaprofoundimpactonlatergenerations.Memex,designedtohelphumansthinkandmanageinformation,isadatabasesystemthatstoresandretrievesalargeamountofinformationthroughelectroniccomputers;thishumanbrain-likemachinecanretrieveinformationaccordingtotheneedsofusers,andfocusesonusersandsystemsTheinteractionbetween.Thesystemhelpsacademicresearcherstocollect,combine,analyzeandapplyvariousdatabyestablishingconnectionpaths,searching,processing,andintegratingtechnologies.Inaddition,Memex'sdesignhasthecharacteristicsofreducingstoragespace,increasingretrievalspeed,andexpandingmemory.Thisconceptlaysthefoundationforthefuturedevelopmentofpersonalcomputers,informationretrieval,hypertext,hypermedia,onlinepubliccatalogs,globalnetworks,anddigitallibraries.
Otherworks
PrinciplesofElectricalEngineering
Publishedin1922,whenhetaughtattheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnologyDepartmentofElectricalEngineeringtextbook.
OperationCircuitAnalysis
Publishedin1929.
Science,EndlessFrontier
isBush’s1945reporttoPresidentRoosevelt.Ittalkedabouttherelationshipbetweenscienceandgovernment,diseaseduringthewar,andtherelationshipbetweenscienceandpublicwelfare,suchasnationalsecurity,people’swork,basicresearch,andscientificresearchforcultivatingyoungAmericans.Bushalsoemphasizedthatthegovernmentshouldcontinueforthesecondtime.Duringthewar,heconductedresearchonmedicineandrelatedsciences,andassistedpublicandprivateorganizationsinscientificresearch.ThisbookpromptedtheUSgovernmenttoestablishtheNationalScienceFoundation(NSF)in1950.
EndlessHorizons
Publishedin1946.Thisbookisacollectionofessaysontopicssuchasscience,Memex,military,publicinterest,andwar.
ModernArmsandFreeMen:ADicussionoftheRoleofScienceinPreservingDemocracy
Publishedin1949.ThisbookdiscussestheroleofscienceindemocraticpoliticsandcallsonAmericandemocraticpoliticsandscientificresearchnottobeaffectedbychangesintheworldsituation.ThisbookbecameabestsellerandhadagreatinfluenceonAmericanpoliticsandmilitarypolicyatthattime.
SciencePauses
Publishedin1964.Thisbookemphasizesthatscienceandtechnologyassisthumansindesigningvariousmachineryandequipmenttoimprovetheirlives,andexpoundstherelationshipbetweenphilosophyandscience.
ScienceisnotEnough:ReflectionsforthePresentandFuture
Acollectionofessayspublishedin1969.
PiecesofAction
Publishedin1970.ThisbookgathersBush’sarticles,memos,andrecordsoflifeandthoughtspublishedovertheyears,andisBush’sautobiography.