Vannevar Bush

Biography

Abstract

Vannevar Bush was the head of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II and helped initiate the Manhattan Project. He is also known for his work on analog computers and the memex. His institutional affiliations include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts College, and Raytheon.

Important Dates

March 11, 1890Birth, Everett (Mass.).

1913Obtained BS and MS, Tufts College (now Tufts University), Medford (Mass.).

1913Engineer, Testing Department, General Electric Company.

1914Engineer, Inspection Department, United States Navy.

1914 – 1917Instructor in Mathematics (1914-1915) and Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering (1916-1917), Tufts College, Medford (Mass.).

1916Obtained DE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1917 – 1918Researcher, United States Navy.

1919 – 1938Associate Professor of Electrical Power Transmission (1919-1923); Professor of Electrical Engineering (1923-1932); and Vice President and Dean of Engineering (1932-1938), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1922Vannevar Bush, Laurence K. Marshall, and Charles G. Smith founded the American Appliance Company (now Raytheon), Cambridge (Mass.).

1934Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1939 – 1941Chair, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.

1939 – 1955President, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington (D.C.).

1940 – 1941Chair, National Defense Research Committee.

1941 – 1946Director, Office of Scientific Research and Development.

1942 – 1946Chair, Joint Committee on New Weapons and Equipment, United States Joint Chiefs of Staff.

1946 – 1947Chair, Joint Research and Development Board, United States Joint Chiefs of Staff.

1947 – 1948Chair, Research and Development Board, United States National Military Establishment (now Department of Defense).

1955 – 1974Life Member, MIT Corporation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1963Awarded National Medal of Science.

June 30, 1974Death, Belmont (Mass.).

Occupation

Applied physicist and electrical engineer.

Places

Birth

Everett (Mass.)

Undergraduate Education

Medford (Mass.)

Graduate Education

Medford (Mass.)

Cambridge (Mass.)

Employment

Cambridge (Mass.)

Washington (D.C.)

Death

Belmont (Mass.)

Subjects

Applied physics and engineering.

Atomic bomb.

Cryptography.

Electrical engineering.

Electronic differential analyzers.

Heat.

Proximity fuzes.

Radar.

Science and state.

Relationships

People

Family

Bush, Edith L.

Sister.

Bush, John Hathaway

Son.

Bush, Phoebe Davis

Wife.

Bush, Richard Davis

Son.

Advisors & Collaborators

Terman, Frederick Emmons, 1900-1982

Advised by Bush at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), "Characteristics and stability of transmission systems."

Thomson, G. P. (George Paget), 1892-1975

Thomson reported atomic bomb findings of MAUD committee to Conant and Bush.

Timbie, W. H.

Co-wrote several books.

Colleagues

Abelson, Philip Hauge

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Berkner, Lloyd V. (Lloyd Viel), 1905-1967

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Compton, K. T. (Karl Taylor), 1887-1954

Worked together at the Office of Scientific Research and Development and Bush was Vice President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under Compton.

Coolidge, William David, 1873-1975

Both employed at General Electric Company.

Draper, C. S. (Charles Stark)

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Edgerton, Harold Eugene, 1903-1990

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Fano, Ugo

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981

Both members of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Corporation.

Fleming, J. A. (John Adam), 1877-1956

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Forbush, Scott E., 1904-1984

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Hafstad, Lawrence, 1904-

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Hunsaker, Jerome C. (Jerome Clarke), 1886-1984

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Klopsteg, Paul E. (Paul Ernest), 1889-

Both employed at the National Defense Research Committee and the Office of Scientific Research and Development.

Langmuir, Irving, 1881-1957

Both employed at General Electric Company.

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Stratton, Julius Adams, 1901-1994

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Tuve, Merle Antony, 1901-1982

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Van Allen, James A. (James Alfred), 1914-2006

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Vestine, E. H. (Ernest Harry), 1906-1968

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Wetherill, George West

Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Additional

Alvarez, Luis W., 1911-1988

Armstrong, Edwin H. (Edwin Howard), 1890-1954

Babcock, Horace W.

Bainbridge, Kenneth T. (Kenneth Tompkins), 1904-1996

Beckler, David Z., 1918-

Bloembergen, N.

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

Bowen, Ira Sprague, 1898-1973

Bowles, Edward Lindley, 1897-1990

Briggs, Lyman J. (Lyman James), 1874-1963

Brode, Wallace R. (Wallace Reed), 1900-1974

Bryant, John H.

Clark, W. Mansfield (William Mansfield), 1884-1964

Conant, James Bryant, 1893-1978

Craigie, Laurence Carbee, 1902-

DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994

Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981

Gamow, George, 1904-1968

Goodwin, H. M. (Harry Manley), 1870-

Goudsmit, Samuel A. (Samuel Abraham), 1902-1978

Groueff, Stephane

Harrison, George Russell, 1898-1979

Hazen, Harold L. (Harold Locke)

Heisenberg, Werner, 1901-1976

Hoddeson, Lillian

McMath, Robert R. (Robert Raynolds), 1891-1962

Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

Parsons, William Sterling, 1901-1953

Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988

Ridenour, Louis N. (Louis Nicot), 1911-1959

Rule, Bruce H., 1908-1990

Smyth, Henry De Wolf, 1898-1986

Stewart, Herbert R. (Herbert Rowland), 1902-

Strauss, Lewis L.

Thomson, Elihu, 1853-1937

Urey, Harold Clayton, 1893-1981

Waterman, Alan Tower, 1892-1967

Weeks, Dorothy Walcott, 1893-1990

Wiener, Norbert, 1894-1964

Institutions

Major Positions

Carnegie Institution of Washington

President.

General Electric Company. Research Laboratory

Engineer, Testing Department.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering

Obtained DE in 1916. Associate Professor of Electrical Power Transmission, Professor of Electrical Engineering, and Vice President and Dean of Engineering.

Raytheon Company

Co-founder with Laurence K. Marshall and Charles G. Smith.

Tufts University. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Obtained BS and MS in 1913. Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering.

Tufts University. Department of Mathematics

Instructor in Mathematics.

United States. Navy

Engineer, Inspection Department and Researcher.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Johns Hopkins University. Department of Physics

Manhattan Project (U.S.)

Helped with initiation and early administration.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Corporation

Life Member.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

National Research Council (U.S.)

United States. Council of National Defense. National Defense Research Committee

Chair.

United States. Department of Defense. Research and Development Board

Chair.

United States. Joint Chiefs of Staff

Chair, Joint Committee on New Weapons and Equipment.

United States. Joint Research and Development Board

Chair.

United States. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

Chair.

United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development

Director.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Oral history interview with Vannevar Bush, 1964.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Vannevar Bush papers, 1901-1974.

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Vannevar Bush papers, 1910-1988.

Tisch Library. Archives and Special Collections

Tufts University

Medford, MA 02155, USA

Vannevar Bush papers, 1921-1974.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Vannevar Bush papers, 1934-1938.

National Academy of Sciences

2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20418, USA

Subject

AIP Office of the Director records of Henry A. Barton, 1931-1964.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Alan Tower Waterman papers, 1918-1967 (bulk 1940-1963).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Atomic energy for military purposes, 1945 [typescript].

Manuscripts and Archives Department

Hagley Museum and Library

298 Buck Road East, Greenville, DE 19807, USA

Bruce H. Rule papers, 1933-1989.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Edward Lindley Bowles papers, 1869-1990 (bulk 1920-1982).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Edwin H. Armstrong papers, 1890-1972.

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Columbia University

Butler Library, 6th Floor East, New York, NY 10027, USA

Elihu Thomson papers, 1853-1955.

Library

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Francis Bitter papers, 1925-1967.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

George Gamow correspondence, 1948-1949.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

George R. Harrison papers, 1916-1973.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Harold Hazen papers, 1920-1980.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Harry Goodwin papers, 1888-1936.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Henry De Wolf Smyth papers, 1885-1987.

Library

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Herbert R. Stewart papers, 1920-1985.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

I. I. Rabi papers, 1899-1989 (bulk 1945-1968).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Irving Langmuir papers, circa 1871-1957.

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

J. Robert Oppenheimer papers, 1921-1980 (bulk 1947-1967).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

John Bryant collection.

Archives

Historical Electronics Museum, Inc.

P. O. Box 746, M.S. 4015, Baltimore, MD 21203, USA

John Clarke Slater papers, 1908-1976.

Library

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Lee A. DuBridge papers, 1932-1986.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Lewis L. Strauss papers, 1914-1974.

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library

West Branch, IA 52358, USA

Lillian Hoddeson papers, 1904-2001.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Louis N. Ridenour papers, 1946-1959.

University Archives

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1408 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Midcentury Convocation records, 1949.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Merle Antony Tuve papers, 1901-1982 (bulk 1941-1966).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

MIT Office of the Chairman records, 1934-1987.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

MIT Office of the Chancellor records, 1949-1957.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

MIT Office of the President and Chancellor records of the President, Jerome B. Wiesner, 1960-1984.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

MIT Office of the President records of Karl Taylor Compton and James Rhyne Killian, 1930-1959.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

MIT Office of the Vice President records, 1932-1938.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Mount Wilson Observatory Optical Shop papers, 1903-1938.

Henry E. Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA

Norbert Wiener papers, 1898-1966.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Office of Scientific Research and Development [OSRD], 1939-1950 (bulk 1939-1947).

Office of the National Archives

National Archives and Records Administration

8th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408, USA

Oral history interview with David Z. Beckler, 2001 August 22 and December 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Horace W. Babcock, 1977 July 25.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Ira Bowen, 1968 August 9 and 1969 August 26.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Kenneth Bainbridge, 1991 June 10.

IEEE Global History Center

Rutgers University

39 Union Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA

Oral history interview with Lt. General Laurence C. Craigie, 1971.

Historical Research Center

United States Air Force

Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, USA

Oral history interview with Luis Alvarez, 1967 February 14 and 15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Merle Antony Tuve, 1967 May 6.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Nicolaas Bloembergen, 1983 June 27

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Paul E. Klopsteg, 1970 March 31.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Philip Morse papers, 1927-1980.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Research Corporation records, 1919-1949.

Research Corporation

101 North Wilmont Rd., Suite 250, Tucson, AZ 85711-3332, USA

Robert A. Millikan papers, 1821-1953.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Robert R. McMath papers, 1916-1962.

Bentley Historical Library

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA

Robert Van de Graaff papers, 1928-1948 (bulk 1943-1946).

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Stephane Groueff papers, 1955-1975.

Mugar Library Special Collections

Boston University

771 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA

Transcripts of tributes to Elihu Thomson presented at the American Philosophical Society and the Franklin Institute by former associates, 1939.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

W. Mansfield Clark papers, 1903-1964.

Library

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Wallace R. Brode papers, 1901-1974 (bulk 1928-1969).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

William Sterling Parsons papers, 1943-1953.

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Published Resources

Author

Answers to problems in principles of electrical engineering / W.H. Timbie.

Endless horizons / by Vannevar Bush.

Modern arms and free men: a discussion of the role of science in preserving democracy.

Pieces of the action.

Principles of electrical engineering / by William H. Timbie and Vannevar Bush.

Science is not enough.

Science, the endless frontier. A report to the President by Vannevar Bush, director of the Office of scientific research and development. July 1945.

Scientists face the world of 1942 : essays / by Karl T. Compton, Robert W. Trullinger, Vannevar Bush.

Summary technical report of Division 14, NDRC / U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, Director, National Defense Research Committee, James B. Conant, Chairman, A.L. Loomis, Chief.

Summary technical report of Division 15, NDRC / Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, Director ; national Defense Research Committee, James B. Conant, Chairman ; division 15, C.G. Suits, Chief.

Summary technical report of Division 16, NDRC / Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, Director ; national Defense Research Committee, James B. Conant, Chairman ; division 16, George R. Harrison, Chief.

Summary technical report of Division 17, NDRC / Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, Director ; National Defense Research Committee, James B. Conant, Chairman ; Division 17, George R. Harrison, Chief.

Summary technical report of Division 18, NDRC / U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, Director, National Defense Research Committee, James B. Conant, Chairman, Division 18, Clyde Williams, Chief.

Summary technical report of Division 19, NDRC / Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, Director ; National Defense Research Committee, James B. Conant, Chairman ; Division 19, H.M. Chadwell, Chief.

Summary technical report of Division 4, NDRC / Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, Director ; National Defense Research Committee, James B. Conant, Chairman ; Division 4, Alexander Ellett, Chief.

Summary technical report of Division 6, NDRC / U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, Director, National Defense Research Committee, James B. Conant, Chairman, Division 6, John T. Tate, Chief.

Summary technical report of Division 8, NDRC / Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, Director ; national Defense Research Committee, James B. Conant, Chairman ; division 8, Ralph A. Connor, Chief.

Summary technical report of NDRC, master subject index / Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, Director, National Defense Research Committee, James B. Conant, Chairman.

Summary technical report of the Applied Mathematics Panel, NDRC / U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, Director, National Defense Research Committee, James B. Conant, Chairman, Applied Mathematics Panel, Warren Weaver, Chief.

Summary technical report of the Committee on Propagation, NDRC / U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, Director, National Defense Research Committee, James B. Conant, Chairman, Committee on Propagation, Chas. R. Burrows, Chairman.

Subject

Before Memex: Robert Hooke, John Locke, and Vannevar Bush on External Memory, Science in Context 20 (2007): 21-47

Dr. Bush Writes a Report: 'Science, the Endless Frontier', Science 191 (1976): 41-47

Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century (New York: Free Press, 1997)

From Analytical Engine to Electronic Digital Computer: The Contributions of Ludgate, Torres, and Bush, Annals of the History of Computing 4 (1982): 327-341

From Bush to Engelbart: 'Slowly, Some Bells Were Ringing', IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 29 (2007): 31-39

From Memex to Hypertext: Vannevar Bush and the Mind's Machine (Boston: Academic, 1991)

From the World Brain to the World Wide Web, British Society for the History of Mathematics Bulletin 22 (2007): 1-10

Information and Secrecy: Vannevar Bush, Ultra, and the Other Memex (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1994)

Microwave Radar, the Atomic Bomb, and the Background to US Research Priorities in World War II, Science, Technology, and Human Values 13 (1988): 276-289

Reconstructing Sociotechnical Order: Vannevar Bush and U. S. Science Policy, in States of Knowledge: The Co-Production of Science and Social Order, ed. ed. Sheila Jasanoff (New York: Routledge: 2004), 225-253

The Counterproductive Management of Science in the Second World War: Vannevar Bush and the Office of Scientific Research and Development," Business History Review 68 (1994): 515-576

The National Science Foundation and the Debate over Postwar Research Policy, 1942-1945: A Political Interpretation of 'Science, the Endless Frontier', Isis 68 (1977): 5-26

Vannevar Bush and the Differential Analyzer: The Text and Context of an Early Computer, Technology and Culture 27 (1986): 63-95

Vannevar Bush and the Early Days of Raytheon, IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine 8 (1993): 3-6

Vannevar Bush centenary : extending the vision / sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Vannevar Bush Physics Today obituary.

Vannevar Bush: 1890-1974, Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences

Vannevar Bush's New Deal for Research, or: The Triumph of the Old Order, Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences 17 (1987): 299-344