Interesting.
I gather from the comments others had posted at the bottom of the reading online as well as context of his writing that Bush wrote this piece following WWII. (God, I hope that's a correct assumption...) His ideas for the spreading of information at that time really are revolutionary, "futuristic" even.
Scientists doing research at the time of the war, Bush says, are becoming more and more overwhelmed by the amount of discoveries and ideas they are finding. They are in need of a better way to keep that information compiled and together for future reference and use. Bush writes, "The difficulty seems to be, not so much that we publish unduly in view of the extent and variety of present day interests, but rather that publication has been extended far beyond our present ability to make real use of the record. ...the means we use for threading through the consequent maze of the momentarily important item is the same as was used in the days if square-rigged ships." (SULLIVAN'S references to SHIP LOGS here PEOPLE!!)
Bush goes on to talk about photography as a ay of gathering information and the many ways that information can be stored (film, wax disks, magnetic wires...) What most grabbed me was this statement: "There are plenty of mechanical aids with which to effect a transformation of scientific records." He's talking about the internet/computers or some other kind of device to help sort through things and to make it easier!
My favorite part of the entire reading, however, was this one: "The world has arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great reliability; and something is bound to come of it. A record if it is to be useful to science, must be continuously extended, it must be stored, and above all it must be consulted." MEANING, Bush knew these kinds of technologies would advance and extend, making storing and collecting data and information easier. He know, somehow, that, for example, photography would advance far enough in order to view the photograph immediately following the click of the button.
Interesting.
In other news, I either have killer allergies or a nasty sinus infection raging inside my head... Either way, this sucks.
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