To get a good perspective on what we have now, it is often wise to look at what we had in the past. This technique may be even wiser to see what we will have in the future.
Below are "starred" selections from Vannevar Bush's "
As We May Think" from the July 1945 edition of
The Atlantic:
Radio and TV waves are transmitted. Transmission of a message via literature is indefinite; there is no guarantee of reception.
and reviewing the results of research are generations old
No kidding. Had there been any real progress in written word since the printing press?
and by now are totally inadequate for their purpose.
Only the case if NO ONE reads books or magazines at this time. This could be true. Or someone is frustrated at no one reading their works. But I'm reading this one?
If the aggregate time spent in writing scholarly works and in reading them could be evaluated, the ratio between these amounts of time might well be startling. "Startling". Unexpected, unanticipated, like bumping into someone when you turn a corner. Not "shocking". Probably because most people realize how much time is put into scholarly works, and how few people are either interested or able to find the text. The numbers just might be a "little surprising".
Those who conscientiously attempt to keep abreast of current thought,
"conscientiously". and yet still only an "attempt". Keeping upwith new science sure is tough.
even in restricted fields, by close and continuous reading might well shy away from an examination calculated to show how much of the previous month's efforts could be produced on call.
The more books or papers you read, the harder it is to retain the piece as a whole. Instead, take an overall message and maybe remember a couple statistics. (What a shame to summarize a text, losing all its details and intricacies that are usually glided over.)
Mendel's concept of the laws of genetics was lost to the world
The quality of an idea must then be measured on who receives it as much as the content of the idea itself. An idea that is not spread is therefore "lost" tragically.
for a generation because his publication did not reach the few who were capable of grasping and extending it; and this sort of catastrophe is undoubtedly being repeated all about us, This is quite necessarily an assumption; there is no way to know of all the things you don't know. Although logical, this assumption sounds desperate, a pleading to the reader.
as truly significant attainments become lost in the mass of the inconsequential.
"Truly significant" versus "inconsequential". A warning on the magnitude of good being in-differential from evil.
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. The summation of human experience is being expanded at a prodigious rate,
What is "the record"? In context, it is a collective whole of knowledge within written documents. This idea is interesting becaus collectivizing knowledge makes this seem like having a great tool collect dust in a shed. And furthermore, it is growing; its potential is undeniable but currently its utility is minimal.
and the means we use for threading through the consequent maze to the momentarily important item
"Momentarily" important item. Our demand of some artifact of knowledge is constantly changing. Our efforts to find such, given the multiplicity of such occasions, must be minimized.
is the same as was used in the days of square-rigged ships.
Flipping through books to find some fact of science = using square sails. At this point we've only improved one of these things.
…
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. Growth, sustainability, and productivity. The quality of scientific knowledge is similar to that of a living organism.
Today we make the record conventionally by writing and photography, followed by printing; but we also record on film, on wax disks, and on magnetic wires. Even if utterly new recording procedures do not appear, these present ones are certainly in the process of modification and extension." Oh, it would be great if there was some new way to "make the record". Alas, there are some new technologies that allow different modes or recording. At least there is some growth...
