Vannevar Bush

11 March 1890 – 28 June 1974

Vannevar Bush (1890-1974) was an American engineer, inventor, and science administrator who headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II, coordinating the nation's wartime research including the initiation of the Manhattan Project. He built early analog computers such as the differential analyzer and, in his 1945 essay 'As We May Think', described the memex, a concept that anticipated hypertext and the personal computer. His report 'Science, The Endless Frontier' shaped postwar U.S. science policy and led to the founding of the National Science Foundation.

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Life events

Born in Everett, Massachusetts
11 March 1890

Vannevar Bush was born in Everett, Massachusetts, the son of a Universalist minister.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Earned doctorate in engineering from MIT and Harvard
1916

Bush received a joint doctorate in electrical engineering from MIT and Harvard University.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married Phoebe Davis
5 August 1916

Bush married Phoebe Clara Davis; the couple had two sons.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Built the differential analyzer at MIT
1931

Bush developed the differential analyzer, an analog computer able to solve differential equations, at MIT.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Became president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington
1938

Bush left MIT to lead the Carnegie Institution, a major research organization.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Directed the Office of Scientific Research and Development
1941 – 1947

As head of the OSRD, Bush coordinated American scientific research for the war effort, including radar, the proximity fuze, and the initiation of the atomic bomb project.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Published 'Science, The Endless Frontier'
July 1945

Bush's report to the President argued for sustained federal funding of basic research and led to the creation of the National Science Foundation.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Published 'As We May Think'
July 1945

In The Atlantic, Bush described the memex, a hypothetical device for storing and cross-linking information that anticipated hypertext.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Died in Belmont, Massachusetts
28 June 1974

Bush died of pneumonia after a stroke at the age of 84.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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