Vannevar Bush - Collected Quotes

"A mathematician is not a man who can readily manipulate figures; often he cannot. He is not even a man who can readily perform the transformations of equations by the use of calculus. He is primarily an individual who is skilled in the use of symbolic logic on a high plane, and especially he is a man of intuitive judgment in the choice of the manipulative processes he employs." (Vannevar Bush, "As We May Think", 1945)

"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, "As We May Think", 1945)

"Every time one combines and records facts in accordance with established logical processes, the creative aspect of thinking is concerned only with the selection of the data and the process to be employed, and the manipulation thereafter is repetitive in nature and hence a fit matter to be relegated to the machines." (Vannevar Bush, "As We May Think", 1945)

"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, "As We May Think", Atlantic Monthly, 1945)

"There will always be plenty of things to compute in the detailed affairs of millions of people doing complicated things." (Vannevar Bush, "As We May Think", Atlantic Monthly, 1945)

"Science, by itself, provides no panacea for individual, social, and economic ills."  (Vannevar Bush, "Science: The Endless Frontier", 1945) 

"Scientific progress on a broad front results from free play of free intellects, working on subjects of their own choice, in the manner dictated by their curiosity for the exploration of the unknown." (Vannevar Bush, "Science: The Endless Frontier", 1945)

"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, "Science: The Endless Frontier", 1945)

"Science has a simple faith, which transcends utility. Nearly all men of science, all men of learning for that matter, and men of simple ways too, have it in some form and in some degree. It is the faith that it is the privilege of man to learn to understand, and that this is his mission. If we abandon that mission under stress we shall abandon it forever, for stress will not cease. Knowledge for the sake of understanding, not merely to prevail, that is the essence of our being. None can define its limits, or set its ultimate boundaries." (Vannevar Bush, "Science Is Not Enough", 1967)

"Science does not exclude faith. […] Science does not teach a harsh materialism. It does not teach anything beyond its boundaries, and those boundaries have been severely limited by science itself." (Vannevar Bush, "Modern Arms and Free Men", 1968)