Vannevar Bush Quotes

“If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic, we should not get very far in our understanding of the physical world. One might as well attempt to grasp the game of poker entirely by the use of the mathematics of probability.”

— Vannevar Bush

“Fear cannot be banished, but it can be calm and without panic; it can be mitigated by reason and evaluation.”

— Vannevar Bush

Science has a simple faith, which transcends utility. It is the faith that it is the privilege of man to learn to understand, and that this is his mission.

— Vannevar Bush

“A belief may be larger than a fact.”

— Vannevar Bush

“The scene changes but the aspirations of men of good will persist.”

— Vannevar Bush

“To pursue science is not to disparage the things of the spirit. In fact, to pursue science rightly is to furnish the framework on which the spirit may rise.”

— Vannevar Bush

Give these people money, let them play, and they'll come up with something.

— Vannevar Bush

“There has been a great deal said about a 3,00-mile high-angle rocket. The people who have been writing these things that annoy me, have been talking about a 3,000-mile high-angle rocket shot from one continent to another, carrying an atomic bomb and so directed as to be a precise weapon which would land exactly on a certain target, such as a city.”

— Vannevar Bush

“Science can give mankind a better standard of living, better health and a better mental life, if mankind in turn gives science the sympathy and support so essential to its progress.”

— Vannevar Bush

“The world has arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great reliability, and something is bound to come of it.”

— Vannevar Bush

“Presumably man's spirit should be elevated if he can better review his shady past and analyze more completely and objectively his present problems.”

— Vannevar Bush

“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.”

— Vannevar Bush

Scientific progress on a broad front results from the free play of free intellects, working on subjects of their own choice, in the manner dictated by their curiosity for exploration of the unknown.

— Vannevar Bush

Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and, to coin one at random, 'memex' will do. A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.

— Vannevar Bush

“Putting a man in space is a stunt: the man can do no more than an instrument, in fact can do less. There are far more serious things to do than indulge in stunts ... I do not discard completely the value of demonstrating to the world our skills. Nor do I undervalue the effect on morale of the spectacular. But the present hullabaloo on the propaganda aspects of the program leaves me entirely cool.”

— Vannevar Bush

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.

— Vannevar Bush

As long as scientists are free to pursue the truth wherever it may lead, there will be a flow of new scientific knowledge to those who can apply it to practical problems.

— Vannevar Bush

“It was through the Second World War that most of us suddenlyappreciated for the first time the power of man's concentrated efforts to understand and control the forces of nature.We were appalled by what we saw.”

— Vannevar Bush

Knowledge for the sake of understanding, not merely to prevail, that isthe essence of ourbeing.None candefine its limits, or set its ultimate boundaries.

— Vannevar Bush

Science can be effective in the national welfare only as a member of a team, whether the conditions be peace or war. But without scientific progress no amount of achievement in other directions can insure our health, prosperity, and security as a nation in the modern world.

— Vannevar Bush

“The question of whether a device will come into being depends upon three things: first, whether there is a practical use for it that warrants its development and manufacturing costs; second, whether the laws of physics applying to the elements available for its design allow the attainment of the needed ranges, sensitivities, or the like; and third, whether the pertinent art of manufacture has advanced sufficiently to allow a useful embodiment to be built successfully.”

— Vannevar Bush

“There will always be plenty of things to compute in the detailed affairs of millions of people doing complicated things.”

— Vannevar Bush

“The camera hound of the future wears on his forehead a lump a little larger than a walnut.”

— Vannevar Bush

“The common idea that scientists reject a theory as soon as it leads to a contradiction is just not so. When they get something that works at all they plunge ahead with it and ignore its weak spots ... scientists are just as bad as the rest of the public in following fads and being influenced by mass enthusiasm.”

— Vannevar Bush

“A belief may be larger than a fact. A faith that is overdefined is the very faith most likely to prove inadequate to the great moments of life.”

— Vannevar Bush

“Thus science may implement the ways in which man produces, stores, and consults the record of the race.”

— Vannevar Bush

Associative indexing, the basic idea of which is a provision whereby any item may be caused at will to select immediately and automatically another. This is the essential feature of the Memex. The process of tying two items together is the important thing.

— Vannevar Bush

“The summation of human experience is being expanded at a prodigious rate, [but] the means we use for threading through the consequent maze to the momentarily important item is the same as was used in the days of square-rigged ships.”

— Vannevar Bush

I say, technically, I don't think anyone in the world knows how to do such a thing. and I feel confident it will not be done for a very long period to come. I think we can leave that out of our thinking. I wish the American public would leave that out of their thinking.

— Vannevar Bush

“Basic scientific research is scientific capital.”

— Vannevar Bush

“On the wisdom with which we bring science to bear in the war against disease, in the creation of new industries, and in the strengthening of our Armed Forces depends in large measure our future as a nation.”

— Vannevar Bush

“The responsibility for the creation of new scientific knowledge - and for most of its application - rests on that small body of men and women who understand the fundamental laws of nature and are skilled in the techniques of scientific research. We shall have rapid or slow advance on any scientific frontier depending on the number of highly qualified and trained scientists exploring it.”

— Vannevar Bush

“Wholly new forms of encyclopedias will appear, ready made with a mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the memex and there amplified.”

— Vannevar Bush