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There is a long list of notable men and women who were either born
in Chelsea or spent some part of their life in the city. One such
person was Dr. Vannevar Bush, one of the foremost scientific minds of
the twentieth century.
Vannevar Bush was born in Everett, Massachusetts, on March 11,
1890, the son of Universalist minister. Reverend Richard Perry Bush
and Emma Paine Bush. Reverend Bush was pastor of the First
Universalist Church in Everett for thirteen years. On March 1, 1892,
Reverend Bush accepted pastorate of the Universalist Church on
Chestnut and Fourth Street in Chelsea. Vannevar grew up in Chelsea
and attended the Chelsea schools graduating from Chelsea High School.
He attended Tufts University, receiving his Bachelor degree and in
1913 received a Master of Science degree. Vannevar Bush then spent
time teaching mathematics at Tufts before leaving to study for his Doctorate. |
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After a year's study on ajoint program between M. 1. T. and
Harvard, Vannevar received a
Doctorate of Engineering degree in 1916. He accepted the position
of assistant professor of electrical engineering at Tufts. In the
same year. Miss Phoebe Davis accepted his proposal of marriage.
During World War I, Vannevar worked for the U. S. Navy, carrying
on research and experiments on submarine devices. After the war he
was accepted as associate professor of electrical power transmission
at M. 1. T. and four years made as a full professor. During his years
as a professor, Vannevar continued to be a consultant for the
American Research and Development Corporation and worked on projects
which led to the beginning of the Raytheon Company. While at M. 1. T.
Dr. Bush developed the "Product Integraph" which was
completed in 1927. It was a device of electrical measurements that
gave the answer to problems which could not be solved by formal
mathematics. During his years at M. 1. T. Vannevar Bush made many
other scientific contributions such as the "Differential
Analyzer" in 1931 which was used in World War H in the
computation of Navy range
tables and fire-control systems. From 1932 to 1938 Dr. Bush served
as vice-president ofM. 1. T. and first dean of the School of
Engineering. In 1938, Dr. Bush was appointed president of the Carnegie
Institute in Washington, D. C. In June 1940, the National Defense
Research Committee (NDRC) was formed with Dr. Bush elected as
chairman. The Committee was formed to deal with the lack of
technological preparedness of the U. S. In 1941, President Roosevelt
created the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) awl
placed it under the directorship of Dr. Vannevar Bush. The new office
superseded the NDRC and as head of the OSRD, Dr. Bush mobilized all
the country scientific efforts and directed the most decisive weapons
development in history. Until 1943, the OSRD was in charge of the
atomic bomb project.
After the war Dr. Bush remained active in Washington D. C. for a
few more years before returning to his home, now in Belmont, and to
M. 1. T. A building housing the Center for Materials and Engineering
was named the Vannevar Bush Building in his honor by M. 1. T. in
1965. Dr. Vannevar Bush died on June 28, 1974 at the age of 84.
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