Outline of presentation

1
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)

2
Vannevar Bush - CV

• Born in Everett, Massachusetts, USA
• Graduated from Tufts College with B.S., M.S.
• 1914-15 Worked for Inspections, U.S. Navy
• 1916-17        Earned his doctorate in
  engineering, MIT
• WWI 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

3
Vannevar Bush - CV

• 1939-41 Chairman of the National Advisory
  Committee for Aeronautics (member until 1948)
• Chairman of President Roosevelts National
  Defence Research Committee (NDRC)
• 1941-47 Director of the Office of Scientific
  Research and Development (OSRD)
• 1944 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.

4
Vannevar Bush - CV

• 1945 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
• 1950 Establishment of the National Science
  Foundation (NSF)
• under the direction of Bush
• 1974 Bush ends his life on 30 June

5
Vannevar Bush - photos

• Portraits

6
Vannevar Bush - photos

• The profile tracer (1913)

7
Vannevar Bush - photos

• The differential analyzer (1931)

8
The after-war situation

• Situation
• The creative aftermath of WWII ?Information
  overload - a growing mountain of
  researchInvention of mechanical aid devices
• Problem
• Need for storageNeed for making information
  accessible (by use of science)
• SolutionThe Memex(a device which was half
  microfilm machine and half computer)

9
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

10
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)

11
Steven Johnson on Bush

•  
• Anticipates the World Wide Web
•  
•   ... and online databases and CD-ROMs
•  
•   Bushs vision exceeds the WWW
• Building vs. following trails of interest
• Building trails compared to bookmarks
•  
•   Bush missed the core competency of the PC

12
Discussion point

• To what extent is there a need for the
  possibility of building rather than simply
  following trails of interest on the Web?

13
Additional information on Vannevar Bush

• http//www.discovery.com/stories/deadinventors/dea
  d980807/deadinventors.html
• http//alto.histech.rwth-aachen.de/www/quellen/bus
  h/photos.htm (including photos)
• http//www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/bush.html
• http//web.mit.edu/invent/www/inventorsA-H/bush.ht
  ml
• 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/inf
  o/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)

14
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