herman yung

Published in July 1945, Dr. Vannevar Bush’s article about the direction and role of scientific research is a very good look into that era’s future. More importantly, that era’s future has become our present. Many of the things that Bush introduces have already been invented and implemented into our modern culture and society, so much so that in some respects, life would be totally different than it is now had some of these scientific works not been developed at all. Bush talks about how scientists generally tend to developed massive amounts of practical technologies during wartime. Yes, these technologies are usually first used for war purposes, but as soon as the war efforts are over, these technologies frequently move into society to be used by the general public.

One example that many can probably easily relate to (either from personal experience and ownership, or the personal encounter with one) is the existence of the large Hummer vehicles on pedestrian streets. In short, the Hummer as we know it as a civilian vehicle was never intended to be used on city streets. The original base vehicle for the modern Hummer was strictly developed for use in traveling over rough terrain in war-torn countries where potholes are much more than just a hole in the pavement and where treading through rivers of water is more than just a leisurely activity seen done by happy families in GM commercials. However, when the need for the military Humvee ceased to exist at the scale previously being outputted by military scientists and engineers, the idea for the commercial Hummer as we know it today became a priority over the continued military development. In much the same ways, Bush introduces the reader to many ideas that may be practical in practice (materials needed are available), but may not be too economical for the time being (current needed materials cost too much). Bush does say that given some time, materials generally do tend to decrease in price which makes the development of certain technologies more relevant to one time period rather than another.

Like I said before, a lot of what Bush writes about is a pretty accurate depiction of what culture and society have become. To think that just 50 years ago, someone like Bush was dreaming of technologies that many people today take for granted is just a bit amusing in its own way. Reading this article really made me think about how life was like when searching and gathering information was much harder than it is today. And not just that, the article also made me realize that computation machines, primarily the computer chip which powers nearly all electronic devices like the personal computer, have really changed the way the world works and that I really do take it for granted. I have the ability to access more information than I can organize, and when I do need to organize it all, tools and programs that I can use on a computer are available to me so that I do not go crazy searching and arranging my information. In many ways, the development and consumption of such tools has made my life easier.

Judging from the article, it sounded like 1945 was a time of punch cards, early photographic ventures, and just general disorganization of information. Sure, information was all around at that time, but having good access to it was harder. In almost all of the different sections in this article, I clearly saw evidence of something that existed that could bridge the gap between this article and modern day. Ideas such as the organization of ideas by association reminded me of “tagging”, which is the use of keywords coupled with a structure which can be used on blogs (like this one) or search results (like in Google). In fact, even the concept of an early Google was mentioned when Bush wrote of the ability to have the entire Encyclopedia Britannica at hand at any given moment, or the capability to store all of its information in something the size of a matchbox (this made me think of storage devices from CDs to DVDs to USB thumb drives). Also, the obvious connection to modern digital photography is the idea that “the picture is finished as soon as it is taken.”

Bush says, “Science has provided the swiftest communication between individuals; it has provided a record of ideas and has enabled man to manipulate and to make extracts from that record so that knowledge evolves and endures throughout the life of a race rather than that of an individual.” I think that at the core of it all, Bush really just wants information and technology to flow freely to the public and to allow the public to use it on their own free will. I believe that if Dr. Vannevar Bush were to still be alive today, he would be happy to see some of his wishes and dreams a reality.

# posted by Herman Yung : 4:30 AM  0 comments