Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century - Hardcover

9780684828213: Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
Follows the life and career of one of the twentieth century's most politically and economically influential engineers and inventors, from his defining role in the rise of America's military-industrial complex to his outspoken criticism of it. 12,500 first printing.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:
G. Pascal Zachary is a senior writer at the Wall Street Journal. He has lectured on the history of technology at the University of California at Berkeley, the Smithsonian Institution, and Columbia University.
Review:
Deeply informed and insightful, Zachary has thoroughly captured the spirit of Bush and his times. In evaluating the man's legacy, he honors Bush as a role model for his generation's engaged engineers. -- The New York Times Book Review, Thomas P. Hughes

This book provides a framework for understanding the incredible changes wrought in U.S. society by the power and influence of government-backed scientific and technological research. It does this by profiling Vannevar Bush, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineer who, as head of the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), oversaw all wartime military research. He mobilized the nation's scientific and technological talent by funding private research with public funds. He also had the brass to stand up to conservative military leaders and force them to adopt new hardware, such as radar. Author G. Pascal Zachary does a good job of personalizing Bush, who could be decidedly unappealing. The scientist was such an elitist that he questioned whether the United States could continue as a democracy in the post-World War II era. But Zachary also presents a portrait of a dedicated patriot who agonized over his involvement in the wartime carpet-bombings of Germany and Japan. Above all, Bush emerges as a clear thinker who knew how to seize power and wasn't afraid to wield it. This is an important book--not necessarily for the details of Bush's life, but for the view it gives us of how the science/technology establishment grew. This is Vannevar Bush's true legacy, as the person who engineered it. Zachary tells the story with stylistic grace and meticulous attention to detail. -- Upside, Cliff Barney

Vannevar Bush is best known for his 1945 essay As We May Think, which described an imaginary, automated system to link together all of humanity's knowledge. It was a system, in short, that prefigured hypertext and the Web by almost 50 years. But this visionary essay was really just a footnote to the life of a man.... Endless Frontier ... describes how Bush stamped his indelible imprint on our times. But, the ironic coda to this story is that after having helped create the military-industrial complex that defined the postwar era, Bush was deeply unhappy with what he had wrought. Here, Zachary becomes most eloquent, almost elegiacal. -- Wired, Steve G. Steinberg

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherFree Press
  • Publication date1997
  • ISBN 10 0684828219
  • ISBN 13 9780684828213
  • BindingHardcover
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages528
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781501196454: Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9781501196454
Publisher: Free Press, 2018
Softcover

  • 9780262740227: Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century

    Mit Pr, 1999
    Softcover

  • 9780029356739: Endless Frontier Vannevar Bush Engineer of the American Century

    The Fr..., 1997
    Hardcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Gregg Pascal Zachary
Published by Free Press (1997)
ISBN 10: 0684828219 ISBN 13: 9780684828213
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0684828219

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 31.20
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gregg Pascal Zachary
Published by Free Press (1997)
ISBN 10: 0684828219 ISBN 13: 9780684828213
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
LibraryMercantile
(Humble, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # newMercantile_0684828219

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 33.21
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gregg Pascal Zachary
Published by Free Press (1997)
ISBN 10: 0684828219 ISBN 13: 9780684828213
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0684828219

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 34.36
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gregg Pascal Zachary
Published by Free Press (1997)
ISBN 10: 0684828219 ISBN 13: 9780684828213
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0684828219

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 34.31
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.30
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gregg Pascal Zachary
Published by Free Press (1997)
ISBN 10: 0684828219 ISBN 13: 9780684828213
New Hardcover First Edition Quantity: 1
Seller:
monobooks
(Livingston, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. First edition 1997, first printing, numbers line starts with 1. Published by Free Press. Hardcover with DJ. Condition new, square tight and crisp book, no edgewear, no markings of any kind, no names, no underlinings, no highlights, no bent page corners, not a reminder. DJ new, bright and shiny, no tears, no chips, price not clipped (32.50). Thick 8vo, 528 pages. Heavy book will require additional postage for international orders. Seller Inventory # 021622

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 35.00
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.50
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gregg Pascal Zachary
Published by Free Press (1997)
ISBN 10: 0684828219 ISBN 13: 9780684828213
New Hardcover Quantity: 2
Seller:
Save With Sam
(North Miami, FL, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory # VIB0684828219

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 50.55
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gregg Pascal Zachary
Published by Free Press (1997)
ISBN 10: 0684828219 ISBN 13: 9780684828213
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0684828219-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 56.26
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gregg Pascal Zachary
Published by Free Press (1997)
ISBN 10: 0684828219 ISBN 13: 9780684828213
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GF Books, Inc.
(Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 0684828219-2-1

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 68.17
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gregg Pascal Zachary
Published by Free Press (1997)
ISBN 10: 0684828219 ISBN 13: 9780684828213
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 1.89. Seller Inventory # Q-0684828219

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 62.68
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 5.53
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Gregg Pascal Zachary
Published by Free Press (1997)
ISBN 10: 0684828219 ISBN 13: 9780684828213
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Wizard Books
(Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0684828219

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 104.33
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.50
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds