Annotated Bibliography

Bush, Vannevar. “As We May Think” July 1945. http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/computer/bushf.htm (28 Feb 2000)

• Summary

The advances of science have undoubtedly, brought man many benefits. Yet, at the same time, scientific resources have also allowed man to visit on others massive destruction. Mankind should, however, channel its energies towards exploiting scientific advancements to better the quality of life. To this end, much more can be done and usually, a hybridization of scientific methods will generate newer and more efficient ways of doing things.

Among the examples that Bush used in the 1945 article is the idea of the memex which is often held as the earliest conception of the hypertextual environment. The memex is a device that would allow an individual to “store his books, records and communications” and to consult them “with exceeding speed and flexibility.” Bush adds that the essential feature of the memex lies in its capacity for “associative indexing” (what is now known as the hyperlink) whereby “any item may be caused at will to select immediately and automatically another.”

• Review

Bush’s 1945 conception of the memex is seemingly prophetic of the hypertext and any discussion of hypertext history inevitably includes mention or elaboration of the memex and Bush's contribution to the whole idea of electronic hypertexts. What was merely an idea in his mind has today, been realized, to our convenience and ease. Even at that time however, the idea of the memex went hand in hand with that of the hyperlink — it is perhaps the only way by means of which chunks of related information could be called up. That is to say, the memex or the hypertext, requires for its feasibility the very element of the hyperlink (or, in Bush’s words, an “associative index”) and a first instance is thus given of the symbiotic relationship of the hyperlink to the hypertext. That one cannot exist or has no meaning without the other is hence, without a doubt; the hyperlink, to the hypertext, has a crucial significance.