Vannevar Bush (1890–1974)
Autor(a) de Modern arms and free men: a discussion of the role of science in preserving democracy
About the Author
Educated as an electrical engineer, Vannevar Bush had a distinguished career that included electrical engineering and a number of contributions to the development of the computer. He is best known, however, as an administrator of government. Bush was responsible for shaping governmental support for mostrar mais science after World War II. His work included the creation of the National Science Foundation, the premier funding agency of scientific research in the United States. Bush was professor and then dean of engineering of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also served as president of the Carnegie Institution of Scientific Research. His most important post, however, was as director of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II. This job gave him direct access to President Franklin Roosevelt and President Truman, enabling him, almost single-handedly, to shape postwar U.S. science and technology policy. His writings, although not numerous, also were singularly influential in conveying to government leaders and to the world at large his vision of science as the progressive influence in the modern world. Bush died in 1974. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
Obras de Vannevar Bush
Associated Works
Etiquetado
Conhecimento Comum
- Data de nascimento
- 1890-03-11
- Data de falecimento
- 1974-06-28
- Sexo
- male
- Nacionalidade
- USA
- Educação
- Tufts University
- Ocupação
- engineer
- Organizações
- General Electric
Raytheon - Premiações
- John Fritz Medal (1951)
National Medal of Science (Engineering, 1963)
Membros
Resenhas
Hugely important. This report laid the foundations for the next 50 years of US science.
Listas
Prêmios
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Estatísticas
- Obras
- 9
- Also by
- 2
- Membros
- 232
- Popularidade
- #97,292
- Avaliação
- 4.0
- Resenhas
- 2
- ISBNs
- 20
- Idiomas
- 1
This article is widely credited as the precursor of the Web[1]. In it that appeared as War World II was winding down, Vannevar Bush proposes the memex device as a tool to extend the power of the brain. He begins by laying the groundwork for recent scientific breakthroughs that sound antiquated to a 21st civilian. Several of them, such as dry photography, are completely irrelevant as technology has passed them by. Although, Vannevar Bush spends quite some time going into the technical details of these future technologies, he is ultimately more focused on the bigger picture of what these make possible in way of the memex device -- a self-contained desk with multiple ways of collecting, storing and accessing information.
The Web has come to replace the need for us each to have our own computing device. However, there are a few concepts which I think we've lost along the way. These include the idea of trails through the information and the ability to comment on links. Both Bush and Berners-Lee, the founder of the world wide web, consider the ability to add information to the system to be far more important than simply digesting it. The Web has come some ways towards being a 2-way medium. Yet, there is no mechanism that allows users to easily create, annotate and share trails through the data. Fortunately, the web is still young and is undergoing rapid evolution as individuals, families, groups, businesses and governments come to rely on it for everyday purposes.
[1] http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/2/1/000015/000015.html… (mais)