Vannevar Bush and the Culture of American Engineering

万尼瓦尔·布什和美国工程文化

• 批准号: 8707473
• 负责人: Lawrence Owens
• 金额: $ 0.9万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1987
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1987-10-15 至 1988-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8707473&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Vannevar; Bush; Culture; American; Engineering

By any standard, Vannevar Bush was one of the central figures of the twentieth century. An aggressive, young electrical engineer who joined the staff of MIT in 1919, he rose through the ranks to become in 1932 the Institute's first vice-president and dean of engineering. In 1939, he moved to Washington to assume the presidency of the Carnegie Institution, one of the country's prestigious private foundations and sources of support for basic science. However, the threat of war quickly diverted his attention towards problems of a different sort; in short order, Bush catapulted into the leadership of the drive to mobilize science and engineering for the American war effort. The subsequent accomplishments of the National Defense Research Committee and the Office of Scientific Research and Development are well known, especially their managements of the projects that led to improved radars, the proximity fuse, synthetic penicillin, and the atomic bomb. These successes brought notoriety to the scientific community and influence to Bush who played a key part in the public debates and legislative battles that produced the Atomic Energy Commission and the National Science Foundation. Specifically, Dr. Owens' examination of Vannevar Bush, concentrating on the period 1940-1955, illuminates his life and career during this critical period during which important connections between American engineering and the "politics" of American science emerged and enables us to understand his significance in the wider context of American History. Dr. Owens study will make an important contribution to understanding the great contemporary dilemmas that touch science, political power, national security, and the contribution of technical expertise to social progress.

无论以何种标准衡量，万尼瓦尔·布什都是这场战争的核心人物之一。 世纪。 一个积极进取的年轻电气工程师 1919年，他加入了麻省理工学院， 1932年，任该学院第一副院长兼工程系主任。 1939年，他搬到华盛顿，担任美国总统。 卡内基研究所是美国著名的私立 支持基础科学的基金会和来源。 但 战争的威胁很快把他的注意力转移到了 不同的排序;在短期内，布什一跃成为领导人， 为美国战争动员科学和工程的动力 努力 国防部随后的成就 研究委员会和科学研究办公室， 发展是众所周知的，特别是他们的管理， 这些项目导致改进雷达、近炸引信、合成 青霉素和原子弹 这些成功使声名狼借， 科学界和影响布什谁发挥了关键作用 在公众辩论和立法斗争中， 能源委员会和国家科学基金会。 具体来说，欧文斯博士的检查万尼瓦尔布什，集中在 1940年至1955年期间，照亮了他的生活和职业生涯在这一时期， 在这一关键时期， 工程学和美国科学的“政治”出现了， 让我们了解他在美国更广泛背景下的重要性。 历史 欧文斯博士的研究将作出重要贡献， 理解当代触及科学的巨大困境， 政治权力、国家安全和技术贡献 社会进步的专业知识。