June 28, 1974, Belmont, Massachusetts, United States
Fact
Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2004 for the differential analyzer, forerunner of the modern computer.
Vannevar Bush was an American engineer, inventor and science administrator, who is credited with the invention of the first analog computer. He also played a key role in the development of the atomic bomb, as well as the Manhattan Project. Bush was born in Everett, Massachusetts, on March 11, 1890. His father, Charles Bush, was a successful businessman, and his mother, Ellen Gould Bush, was a homemaker. Bush had two brothers and one sister. He was educated at Everett High School and then at Tufts College, where he studied electrical engineering. After graduation, Bush worked for General Electric and then for the American Telephone & Telegraph Company.
In 1918, he married Phyllis Payne, with whom he would have three children. In 1919, Bush returned to Tufts to teach electrical engineering. He also began working on his own inventions, including the first analog computer, which he patented in 1925. In the 1930s, Bush became interested in the potential of using radio waves to communicate with submarines. He also developed a system for tracking aircraft that was later used by the military during World War II. In 1940, Bush was appointed to the National Defense Research Committee, where he oversaw the development of radar and sonar.
He also played a key role in the development of the atomic bomb. In 1945, Bush was appointed as the head of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, which oversaw the Manhattan Project. After the war, Bush returned to his position at Tufts. He also served on the President’s Science Advisory Committee and the Atomic Energy Commission. Bush died on June 28, 1974, at the age of 84. ..
General Info
Full Name
Vannevar Bush
Died
June 28, 1974, Belmont, Massachusetts, United States
Profession
Inventor, Electrical engineer
Education
Tufts University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nationality
American
Family
Children
John Hathaway Bush, Richard Davis Bush
Parents
Perry Bush, Emma Linwood née Paine
Accomplishments
Awards
IEEE Edison Medal, John Fritz Medal, Medal for Merit, Josiah Willard Gibbs Lectureship, Public Welfare Medal, Hoover Medal, William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement, National Medal of Science for Engineering, John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science, John Scott Legacy Medal and Pre...
