6 ms·

Vannevar Bush Engineered the 20th Century

143 points by cyberlimerence 2y ago

eatonphil 2y ago
I've been reading the mentioned Bush memoir "Pieces of the Action" and it's pretty good. Stories about engineering and organizational politics. As good as any business classic (e.g. "My Years With General Motors" or "High Output Management").
- ricksunny 2y ago
  Pieces of the Action is excellent. A non-autobiography autobiography. Many points in the book feature him being discreet about some name or some incident, even 20+ years on. For example, 'General Blank'early in the book, or this excerpt towards the end that is speculated on: '...other incidents such as a moment where he [Truman] and Forrestal and I were talking about something, and Forrestal spoke about the political implications of the decision. President Truman said to him 'Look, Jim, when you take a thing as serious as this to the American public, you should forget political considerations." ' It's fun recognizing that sometimes VB must be read in a Straussian way. Even to his security-cleared peers, under wartime / atomic secrecy he has to write with implication rather than directly due to risk of security lapses. The nuclearsecrecy blog by Alex Wellerstein is a great source for this kind of thing.
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jauntywundrkind 2y ago
> Bush’s pivotal contribution was his creation of the “research contract,” whereby public funds are awarded to civilian scientists and engineers based on effort, not just outcomes (as had been normal before World War II). This freedom to try new things and take risks transformed relations between government, business, and academia. By the end of the war, Bush’s research organization was spending US $3 million a week (about $52 million in today’s dollars) on some 6,000 researchers, most of them university professors and corporate engineers. I wish I could see a lot more parallels to this. Right now the only thing that jumps to mind is the NLNet grants. The recent round of 45 NGI Zero grants was announced just yesterday, https://nlnet.nl/news/2024/20240618-Call-announcement.html https://nlnet.nl/news/2024/20240618-Call-announcement.html https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40720037 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40720037 . But in general, if I'm looking for something inspiring or hopeful, I'll often see what NLNet sponsored folks have been up to; https://hn.algolia.com/?query=nlnet&sort=byDate https://hn.algolia.com/?query=nlnet&sort=byDate
- ordersofmag 2y ago
  There's a huge parallel to this mentioned in the next paragraph of the article. The 'research contract' is the foundational element of the National Science Foundation (which Bush brought into being) and is a core funding source for science in the U.S. ($9 billion last year).
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transpute 2y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush > Compton's deputy, Alfred Loomis, said that "of the men whose death in the Summer of 1940 would have been the greatest calamity for America, the President is first, and Dr. Bush would be second or third." Bush was fond of saying that "if he made any important contribution to the war effort at all, it would be to get the Army and Navy to tell each other what they were doing." > His most difficult problems, and also greatest successes, were keeping the confidence of the military, which distrusted the ability of civilians to observe security regulations and devise practical solutions, and opposing conscription of young scientists into the armed forces.. OSRD requested deferments for some 9,725 employees of OSRD contractors, of which all but 63 were granted. In his obituary, The New York Times described Bush as "a master craftsman at steering around obstacles, whether they were technical or political or bull-headed generals and admirals." > In "As We May Think", an essay published by the Atlantic Monthly in July 1945, Bush wrote: "This has not been a scientist's war; it has been a war in which all have had a part. The scientists, burying their old professional competition in the demand of a common cause, have shared greatly and learned much. It has been exhilarating to work in effective partnership."
ricksunny 2y ago
I gave a talk on Vannevar Bush & innovation at a 'pop-up city' just two weeks ago: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11rXfniJtbvzAgSMv2WpxGWsRkjXucre23mtRriTtpls/edit?usp=drivesdk https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11rXfniJtbvzAgSMv2Wpx... He really transformed US innovation. Some good, some questionable, and some stories probably yet to be told. Hope you enjoy. I'm working on uploading the video of the talk here over the next couple of days. If any questions I'll try to field them here.
- ricksunny 2y ago
  I think the most enduring mystery of #Vannevar Bush is why his name is no longer a household one today, in the way that Edison's is or that we have every reason to expect Musk's to be 80 years from now. This is one article that speaks to that, notably writing from 1990. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-24-fi-444-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-24-fi-444-st... By the way, I do recommend reading what remains the only biography of Vannevar, "Endless Frontier", written by the same author as OP's article, G Pascal Zachary. It is quite good. The subject probably merits multiple biographies just as many other pivotal people in history also have multiple biographies to provide different angles or more nuance as more information comes to light.
  - eatonphil 2y ago
    Thank you for the recommendation! That book looks great. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/475762.Endless_Frontier https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/475762.Endless_Frontier
    - CamperBob2 2y ago
      Zachary's a good writer. HN denizens might know him for "Showstopper!", about Dave Cutler's project at Microsoft to remake VMS as WNT.
  - transpute 2y ago
    Good article, thanks. > Bush knew how to map, build and manage the relationships and organizations necessary to get things done. He knew how to craft the human networks that could build the technological networks.. At OSRD’s height.. roughly two-thirds of the nation’s physicists were working for him.. Bush ambiguously noted that his role was far more administrative than technical: “I made no technical contribution to the war effort,” he wrote. “Not a single idea of mine ever amounted to shucks. At times, I have been called an ‘atomic scientist.’ It would be fully as accurate to call me a child psychologist.”
recursivedoubts 2y ago
interesting thing about bush was that his computing background was heavily analog, to the point that the digital switch eventually left him out of the action: > Bush gradually drifted into the backwaters of science and technology. The rise of digital computing passed him by: an analog man to the end, he underrated the possibilities of digital technology. He did, however, make one contribution to the field. His “memex”—an idea for a machine that could store and connect information and thus work as an artificial aid to memory—later inspired others to create a version in digital form: hypertext. Wikipedia entries, with their hyperlinks taking readers ever deeper and wider, would likely have pleased Bush despite their digital form. https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-rise-and-fall-of-vannevar-bush/ https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-rise-and... that's one thing that strikes me about the memex: it's very analog and, to me, that makes it seem like less of a direct line to the modern notions of hypertext, at least on first glance
- transpute 2y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush > In September 1940, Norbert Wiener approached Bush with a proposal to build a digital computer. Bush declined to provide NDRC funding for it on the grounds that he did not believe that it could be completed before the end of the war. The supporters of digital computers were disappointed at the decision, which they attributed to a preference for outmoded analog technology. In June 1943, the Army provided $500,000 to build the computer, which became ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer. Having delayed its funding, Bush's prediction proved correct as ENIAC was not completed until December 1945, after the war had ended. His critics saw his attitude as a failure of vision.
- ricksunny 2y ago
  At the point in my talk timestamped here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEKnA69M8eg&t=2279s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEKnA69M8eg&t=2279s , I make the case that a key part of his Memex vision - trails & trail-blazing as outlined in As We May Think, we haven't seen formally materialized yet...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEKnA69M8eg&t=2279s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEKnA69M8eg&t=2279s Closest I think we get is tweetorials, but would be closer if tweets had anchors to text in e-books & long-form documents, arriving upon which I could be presented with a selection of people in my social/academic network who had already taken off from that particular anchor point; and whose path ('trail' really is the ideal term) I could follow along onward to the next anchor point that they were inspired to find.
pjmorris 2y ago
He shows up as a key early player in 'The Dream Machine', Michael Waldrop, which follows JCR Licklider's career including the early development of what became the personal computer and the internet.
largbae 2y ago
Interesting contributions! Based on his roles in government I expected his famous last name to imply relation to the later presidents, but Vannevar does not appear to be related to them.
srean 2y ago
One of his advisees did well for himself https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-claude-shannons-information-theory-invented-the-future-20201222/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-claude-shannons-informati... In all seriousness, mentoring someone with the talent and potential of Shannon is no small matter. It still boggles my mind how someone who had written a master's thesis of the stature of Shannon would have the courage to pursue a PhD. What could one possibly do more in life that could top that. Had it been anyone else, he may have crumbled under an intellectual existential crisis.

I've been reading the mentioned Bush memoir "Pieces of the Action" and it's pretty good. Stories about engineering and organizational politics. As good as any business classic (e.g. "My Years With General Motors" or "High Output Management").

ricksunny 2y ago
Pieces of the Action is excellent. A non-autobiography autobiography. Many points in the book feature him being discreet about some name or some incident, even 20+ years on. For example, 'General Blank'early in the book, or this excerpt towards the end that is speculated on: '...other incidents such as a moment where he [Truman] and Forrestal and I were talking about something, and Forrestal spoke about the political implications of the decision. President Truman said to him 'Look, Jim, when you take a thing as serious as this to the American public, you should forget political considerations." ' It's fun recognizing that sometimes VB must be read in a Straussian way. Even to his security-cleared peers, under wartime / atomic secrecy he has to write with implication rather than directly due to risk of security lapses. The nuclearsecrecy blog by Alex Wellerstein is a great source for this kind of thing.

deleted 2y ago

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jauntywundrkind 2y ago

> Bush’s pivotal contribution was his creation of the “research contract,” whereby public funds are awarded to civilian scientists and engineers based on effort, not just outcomes (as had been normal before World War II). This freedom to try new things and take risks transformed relations between government, business, and academia. By the end of the war, Bush’s research organization was spending US $3 million a week (about $52 million in today’s dollars) on some 6,000 researchers, most of them university professors and corporate engineers. I wish I could see a lot more parallels to this. Right now the only thing that jumps to mind is the NLNet grants. The recent round of 45 NGI Zero grants was announced just yesterday, https://nlnet.nl/news/2024/20240618-Call-announcement.html https://nlnet.nl/news/2024/20240618-Call-announcement.html https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40720037 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40720037 . But in general, if I'm looking for something inspiring or hopeful, I'll often see what NLNet sponsored folks have been up to; https://hn.algolia.com/?query=nlnet&sort=byDate https://hn.algolia.com/?query=nlnet&sort=byDate

ordersofmag 2y ago
There's a huge parallel to this mentioned in the next paragraph of the article. The 'research contract' is the foundational element of the National Science Foundation (which Bush brought into being) and is a core funding source for science in the U.S. ($9 billion last year).

deleted 2y ago

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deleted 2y ago

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transpute 2y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush > Compton's deputy, Alfred Loomis, said that "of the men whose death in the Summer of 1940 would have been the greatest calamity for America, the President is first, and Dr. Bush would be second or third." Bush was fond of saying that "if he made any important contribution to the war effort at all, it would be to get the Army and Navy to tell each other what they were doing." > His most difficult problems, and also greatest successes, were keeping the confidence of the military, which distrusted the ability of civilians to observe security regulations and devise practical solutions, and opposing conscription of young scientists into the armed forces.. OSRD requested deferments for some 9,725 employees of OSRD contractors, of which all but 63 were granted. In his obituary, The New York Times described Bush as "a master craftsman at steering around obstacles, whether they were technical or political or bull-headed generals and admirals." > In "As We May Think", an essay published by the Atlantic Monthly in July 1945, Bush wrote: "This has not been a scientist's war; it has been a war in which all have had a part. The scientists, burying their old professional competition in the demand of a common cause, have shared greatly and learned much. It has been exhilarating to work in effective partnership."

ricksunny 2y ago

I gave a talk on Vannevar Bush & innovation at a 'pop-up city' just two weeks ago: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11rXfniJtbvzAgSMv2WpxGWsRkjXucre23mtRriTtpls/edit?usp=drivesdk https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11rXfniJtbvzAgSMv2Wpx... He really transformed US innovation. Some good, some questionable, and some stories probably yet to be told. Hope you enjoy. I'm working on uploading the video of the talk here over the next couple of days. If any questions I'll try to field them here.

ricksunny 2y ago
I think the most enduring mystery of #Vannevar Bush is why his name is no longer a household one today, in the way that Edison's is or that we have every reason to expect Musk's to be 80 years from now. This is one article that speaks to that, notably writing from 1990. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-24-fi-444-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-24-fi-444-st... By the way, I do recommend reading what remains the only biography of Vannevar, "Endless Frontier", written by the same author as OP's article, G Pascal Zachary. It is quite good. The subject probably merits multiple biographies just as many other pivotal people in history also have multiple biographies to provide different angles or more nuance as more information comes to light.
- eatonphil 2y ago
  Thank you for the recommendation! That book looks great. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/475762.Endless_Frontier https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/475762.Endless_Frontier
  - CamperBob2 2y ago
    Zachary's a good writer. HN denizens might know him for "Showstopper!", about Dave Cutler's project at Microsoft to remake VMS as WNT.
- transpute 2y ago
  Good article, thanks. > Bush knew how to map, build and manage the relationships and organizations necessary to get things done. He knew how to craft the human networks that could build the technological networks.. At OSRD’s height.. roughly two-thirds of the nation’s physicists were working for him.. Bush ambiguously noted that his role was far more administrative than technical: “I made no technical contribution to the war effort,” he wrote. “Not a single idea of mine ever amounted to shucks. At times, I have been called an ‘atomic scientist.’ It would be fully as accurate to call me a child psychologist.”

recursivedoubts 2y ago

interesting thing about bush was that his computing background was heavily analog, to the point that the digital switch eventually left him out of the action: > Bush gradually drifted into the backwaters of science and technology. The rise of digital computing passed him by: an analog man to the end, he underrated the possibilities of digital technology. He did, however, make one contribution to the field. His “memex”—an idea for a machine that could store and connect information and thus work as an artificial aid to memory—later inspired others to create a version in digital form: hypertext. Wikipedia entries, with their hyperlinks taking readers ever deeper and wider, would likely have pleased Bush despite their digital form. https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-rise-and-fall-of-vannevar-bush/ https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-rise-and... that's one thing that strikes me about the memex: it's very analog and, to me, that makes it seem like less of a direct line to the modern notions of hypertext, at least on first glance

transpute 2y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush > In September 1940, Norbert Wiener approached Bush with a proposal to build a digital computer. Bush declined to provide NDRC funding for it on the grounds that he did not believe that it could be completed before the end of the war. The supporters of digital computers were disappointed at the decision, which they attributed to a preference for outmoded analog technology. In June 1943, the Army provided $500,000 to build the computer, which became ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer. Having delayed its funding, Bush's prediction proved correct as ENIAC was not completed until December 1945, after the war had ended. His critics saw his attitude as a failure of vision.
ricksunny 2y ago
At the point in my talk timestamped here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEKnA69M8eg&t=2279s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEKnA69M8eg&t=2279s , I make the case that a key part of his Memex vision - trails & trail-blazing as outlined in As We May Think, we haven't seen formally materialized yet...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEKnA69M8eg&t=2279s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEKnA69M8eg&t=2279s Closest I think we get is tweetorials, but would be closer if tweets had anchors to text in e-books & long-form documents, arriving upon which I could be presented with a selection of people in my social/academic network who had already taken off from that particular anchor point; and whose path ('trail' really is the ideal term) I could follow along onward to the next anchor point that they were inspired to find.

pjmorris 2y ago

He shows up as a key early player in 'The Dream Machine', Michael Waldrop, which follows JCR Licklider's career including the early development of what became the personal computer and the internet.

largbae 2y ago

Interesting contributions! Based on his roles in government I expected his famous last name to imply relation to the later presidents, but Vannevar does not appear to be related to them.

srean 2y ago

One of his advisees did well for himself https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-claude-shannons-information-theory-invented-the-future-20201222/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-claude-shannons-informati... In all seriousness, mentoring someone with the talent and potential of Shannon is no small matter. It still boggles my mind how someone who had written a master's thesis of the stature of Shannon would have the courage to pursue a PhD. What could one possibly do more in life that could top that. Had it been anyone else, he may have crumbled under an intellectual existential crisis.