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18 SALIENT POINTS CONCERNING FUTURE OF ATOMIC BOMBS (1944)

  • Vannevar Bush
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The Essential Writings of Vannevar Bush
This chapter is in the book The Essential Writings of Vannevar Bush
© 2022 Columbia University Press

© 2022 Columbia University Press

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. “A CAPE COD YANKEE” vii
  3. CONTENTS ix
  4. FOREWORD xv
  5. INTRODUCTION xix
  6. EDITOR’S NOTE xxxvii
  7. 1 PREFACE TO OPERATIONAL CIRCUIT ANALYSIS (1929) 1
  8. 2 THE KEY TO ACCOMPLISHMENT (1932) 4
  9. 3 THE INSCRUTABLE PAST (1933) 11
  10. 4 THE WARREN WEAVER LETTERS ON THE FUTURE OF COMPUTING MACHINERY (1933) 15
  11. 5 THE PERSISTENT FALLACY OF THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR (1933) 21
  12. 6 STIMULATION OF NEW PRODUCTS AND NEW INDUSTRIES BY THE DEPRESSION (1934) 24
  13. 7 THE BUSINESSMAN IN THIS SITUATION (1934) 29
  14. 8 AGAINST ISOLATION AND FOR APPLYING SCIENCE TO WAR (1935) 32
  15. 9 THE ENGINEER AND HIS RELATION TO GOVERNMENT (1937) 35
  16. 10 THE QUALITIES OF A PROFESSION (1939) 42
  17. 11 INNOVATION, ENTERPRISE, AND THE CONCENTRATION OF ECONOMIC POWER (1939) 55
  18. 12 LETTER TO HERBERT HOOVER ON “THE WHOLE WORLD SITUATION” (1939) 67
  19. 13 LETTER TO ARCHIBALD MACLEISH ON “ADEQUATE HANDLING OF LARGE MASSES OF PHOTOGRAPHS” (1940) 71
  20. 14 “LEAVE NO STONES UNTURNED IN RESEARCH” (1940) 74
  21. 15 “TO THE THINGS OF THE MIND” (1941) Memorandum Regarding Memex 76
  22. 16 SCIENCE AND NATIONAL DEFENSE (1941) 81
  23. 17 EDISON AND OUR TRADITION OF OPPORTUNITY (1944) 88
  24. 18 SALIENT POINTS CONCERNING FUTURE OF ATOMIC BOMBS (1944) 93
  25. 19 THE BUILDERS (1945) 98
  26. 20 TEAMWORK OF TECHNICIANS (1945) 101
  27. 21 AS WE MAY THINK (1945) 108
  28. 22 “LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL” TO PRESIDENT HARRY TRUMAN (1945) 130
  29. 23 “SUMMARY” OF SCIENCE, THE ENDLESS FRONTIER (1945) 133
  30. 24 SOLDIERS AND SCIENTISTS IN PARTNERSHIP (1946) 140
  31. 25 ORGANIZING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOR WAR (1946) 144
  32. 26 THE DANGER OF DICTATION OF SCIENCE BY LAYMEN (1946) 147
  33. 27 SHOULD SCIENTISTS RESIST MILITARY INTRUSION? (1947) 154
  34. 28 SCIENCE, DEMOCRACY, AND WAR (1949) 157
  35. 29 HOW SCIENCE WORKS, OR DOESN’T, UNDER TOTALITARIANISM (1949) 166
  36. 30 THE ESSENCE OF SECURITY (1949) 175
  37. 31 THE ATOMIC BOMB AND THE DEFENSE OF THE FREE WORLD (1951) 180
  38. 32 A FEW QUICK (1951) 187
  39. 33 ON LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT (1951) 205
  40. 34 “THE TIMING OF THE THERMONUCLEAR TEST” (1952) 209
  41. 35 “THE SEARCH FOR UNDERSTANDING” (1953) 220
  42. 36 THE PEAK WAVE OF PROGRESS IN DIGITAL MACHINERY (1954) 224
  43. 37 “AN OPPORTUNITY WAS MISSED” TO HALT NUCLEAR ARMS RACE (1954) 229
  44. 38 IN THE MATTER OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER (1954) 234
  45. 39 SOME THINGS WE DON’T KNOW ABOUT SOLAR POWER (1954) 247
  46. 40 THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL INFORMATION Storage, Retrieval, Search, and the Construction of Knowledge (1955) 250
  47. 41 FAITH AND SCIENCE (1955) 254
  48. 42 WHY DO WE PURSUE SCIENCE AT ALL? (1955) 259
  49. 43 THE PIONEER (1957) 264
  50. 44 “THOSE WHO TALK FREQUENTLY BECOME IGNORED” (1957/1959) 270
  51. 45 ON SPUTNIK (1957) 276
  52. 46 “ALL-OUT WAR UNTHINKABLE TO ANY SANE INDIVIDUAL” (1959) 279
  53. 47 MACHINES TO FREE MEN’S MINDS (1960) 281
  54. 48 ON SPACE EXPLORATION The James Webb Letters (1961–1963) 285
  55. 49 THE OTHER FELLOWS’ BALL PARK (1961) 292
  56. 50 TWO CULTURES (1962) 295
  57. 51 AUTOMATION’S AWKWARD AGE (1962) 302
  58. 52 WHAT IS RESEARCH? (1963) 306
  59. 53 THE ART OF MANAGEMENT (1967) 312
  60. 54 “ON THE DIFFICULTY IN VIETNAM” (1967) 319
  61. 55 “DO BIRDS SING FOR THE JOY OF SINGING?” (1970) 322
  62. 56 THE REVOLUTION IN MACHINES TO REDUCE MENTAL DRUDGERY (1970) 324
  63. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 331
  64. INDEX 335
https://doi.org/10.7312/bush11642-022

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. “A CAPE COD YANKEE” vii
  3. CONTENTS ix
  4. FOREWORD xv
  5. INTRODUCTION xix
  6. EDITOR’S NOTE xxxvii
  7. 1 PREFACE TO OPERATIONAL CIRCUIT ANALYSIS (1929) 1
  8. 2 THE KEY TO ACCOMPLISHMENT (1932) 4
  9. 3 THE INSCRUTABLE PAST (1933) 11
  10. 4 THE WARREN WEAVER LETTERS ON THE FUTURE OF COMPUTING MACHINERY (1933) 15
  11. 5 THE PERSISTENT FALLACY OF THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR (1933) 21
  12. 6 STIMULATION OF NEW PRODUCTS AND NEW INDUSTRIES BY THE DEPRESSION (1934) 24
  13. 7 THE BUSINESSMAN IN THIS SITUATION (1934) 29
  14. 8 AGAINST ISOLATION AND FOR APPLYING SCIENCE TO WAR (1935) 32
  15. 9 THE ENGINEER AND HIS RELATION TO GOVERNMENT (1937) 35
  16. 10 THE QUALITIES OF A PROFESSION (1939) 42
  17. 11 INNOVATION, ENTERPRISE, AND THE CONCENTRATION OF ECONOMIC POWER (1939) 55
  18. 12 LETTER TO HERBERT HOOVER ON “THE WHOLE WORLD SITUATION” (1939) 67
  19. 13 LETTER TO ARCHIBALD MACLEISH ON “ADEQUATE HANDLING OF LARGE MASSES OF PHOTOGRAPHS” (1940) 71
  20. 14 “LEAVE NO STONES UNTURNED IN RESEARCH” (1940) 74
  21. 15 “TO THE THINGS OF THE MIND” (1941) Memorandum Regarding Memex 76
  22. 16 SCIENCE AND NATIONAL DEFENSE (1941) 81
  23. 17 EDISON AND OUR TRADITION OF OPPORTUNITY (1944) 88
  24. 18 SALIENT POINTS CONCERNING FUTURE OF ATOMIC BOMBS (1944) 93
  25. 19 THE BUILDERS (1945) 98
  26. 20 TEAMWORK OF TECHNICIANS (1945) 101
  27. 21 AS WE MAY THINK (1945) 108
  28. 22 “LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL” TO PRESIDENT HARRY TRUMAN (1945) 130
  29. 23 “SUMMARY” OF SCIENCE, THE ENDLESS FRONTIER (1945) 133
  30. 24 SOLDIERS AND SCIENTISTS IN PARTNERSHIP (1946) 140
  31. 25 ORGANIZING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOR WAR (1946) 144
  32. 26 THE DANGER OF DICTATION OF SCIENCE BY LAYMEN (1946) 147
  33. 27 SHOULD SCIENTISTS RESIST MILITARY INTRUSION? (1947) 154
  34. 28 SCIENCE, DEMOCRACY, AND WAR (1949) 157
  35. 29 HOW SCIENCE WORKS, OR DOESN’T, UNDER TOTALITARIANISM (1949) 166
  36. 30 THE ESSENCE OF SECURITY (1949) 175
  37. 31 THE ATOMIC BOMB AND THE DEFENSE OF THE FREE WORLD (1951) 180
  38. 32 A FEW QUICK (1951) 187
  39. 33 ON LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT (1951) 205
  40. 34 “THE TIMING OF THE THERMONUCLEAR TEST” (1952) 209
  41. 35 “THE SEARCH FOR UNDERSTANDING” (1953) 220
  42. 36 THE PEAK WAVE OF PROGRESS IN DIGITAL MACHINERY (1954) 224
  43. 37 “AN OPPORTUNITY WAS MISSED” TO HALT NUCLEAR ARMS RACE (1954) 229
  44. 38 IN THE MATTER OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER (1954) 234
  45. 39 SOME THINGS WE DON’T KNOW ABOUT SOLAR POWER (1954) 247
  46. 40 THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL INFORMATION Storage, Retrieval, Search, and the Construction of Knowledge (1955) 250
  47. 41 FAITH AND SCIENCE (1955) 254
  48. 42 WHY DO WE PURSUE SCIENCE AT ALL? (1955) 259
  49. 43 THE PIONEER (1957) 264
  50. 44 “THOSE WHO TALK FREQUENTLY BECOME IGNORED” (1957/1959) 270
  51. 45 ON SPUTNIK (1957) 276
  52. 46 “ALL-OUT WAR UNTHINKABLE TO ANY SANE INDIVIDUAL” (1959) 279
  53. 47 MACHINES TO FREE MEN’S MINDS (1960) 281
  54. 48 ON SPACE EXPLORATION The James Webb Letters (1961–1963) 285
  55. 49 THE OTHER FELLOWS’ BALL PARK (1961) 292
  56. 50 TWO CULTURES (1962) 295
  57. 51 AUTOMATION’S AWKWARD AGE (1962) 302
  58. 52 WHAT IS RESEARCH? (1963) 306
  59. 53 THE ART OF MANAGEMENT (1967) 312
  60. 54 “ON THE DIFFICULTY IN VIETNAM” (1967) 319
  61. 55 “DO BIRDS SING FOR THE JOY OF SINGING?” (1970) 322
  62. 56 THE REVOLUTION IN MACHINES TO REDUCE MENTAL DRUDGERY (1970) 324
  63. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 331
  64. INDEX 335
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