& SCIENTIST OF THE FUTURE RECORDS EXPERIMENTS WITH A TINY CAMERA FITTED WITH UNIVERSAL-FOCUS LENS, THE SMALL SQUARE IN THE EYEGLASS AT THE LEFT SIGHTS THE OBJECT

AS WE MAY THINK

A TOP U.S. SCIENTIST FORESEES A POSSIBLE FUTURE WORLD IN WHICH MAN-MADE MACHINES WILL START TO THINK

by VANNEVAR BUSH

DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Condensed from the Atlantic Monthly, July 1945

Tt has not been a scientists’ war; it has been a war in which all have had a part. The scientists, burying their old professional competition in the de- mand of a common cause, have shared greatly and learned much, It has been exhilarating to work in effective partnership, What are the scientists to do next?

For the biologists, and particularly for che medical scientists, there can be licele indecision, for their war work has hardly required them to leave the old

ths. Many indeed have been able to carry on their war research in their

tmiliar peacetime laboratories. Their objectives remain much the same,

Ic is the physicists who have been thrown most violently off stride, who have left academic pursuits for the making of strange destructive gadgets, who have had to devise new methods for their unanticipated assignments. They have done their part on the devices that made it possible to turn back the enemy. They have worked in combined effort with the physicists of our allics. They have fele within themselves the stir of achievement. They have been part of a great team. Now one asks where they will find objectives worthy of their best,

* * *

There is a growing mountain of research. But there is increased evidence that we are being bogged down today as specialization extends. The investi- gator is staggered by the findings and conclusions of thousands of other work- ers—conclusions which he cannot find time to grasp, much less to remember, as they appear, Yet specialization becomes increasingly necessary for prog-

ress, and the effort to bridge between disciplines is correspondingly super- ficial.

Professionally our methods of transmitting and reviewing the results of research are generations old and by now are totally inadequate for their pur- pose. If the aggregate time spent in writing scholarly works and in reading them could be evaluated, che ratio between these amounts of time might well be startling. Those who conscientiously atcempt to keep abreast of cur- rent thought, even in restricted fields, by close and continuous reading might well shy away from an examination calculated to show how much of the pre- vious month's efforts could be produced on call.

Mendcl’s concept of the laws of genetics was lost to the world for a gen- eration because his publication did not reach the few who were capable of grasping and extending it. This sort of catastrophe is undoubtedly being repeated all about us as truly significant attainments become lost in the mass of the inconsequential.

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, and the means we use for threading through the conse- quent maze to the momentarily important item is the same as was used in the days of square-rigged ships,

But there are signs of a change as new and powerful instrumentalities come into use. Photocells capable of seeing things in a physical sensc, ad- vanced photography which can record what is seen or cven what is not, thermionic tubes capable of controlling potent forces under the guidance of

power than a mosquito uses to vibrate its wings, cathode-ray tubes dering visible an occurrence so brief that by comparison a microsecond a long time, relay combinations which will carry out involved sequences movement more reliably than any human operator and thousaods of SGimes as fast—there are plenty of mechanical aids with which to effect a Mransformation in scientific records.

Machines with interchangeable parts can now be constructed with great mconomy of effort. In spite of much complexity, they perform reliably, Witness the humble typewriter, or the movie cameta, or the automobile. PElectrical conracts have ceased to stick when thoroughly understood. Nore Whe antomacic telephone exchange, which has hundreds of thousands of such Montacts, and yer is reliable. A spider web of metal, sealed in a thin glass Woatainer, a wire heated co brilliant glow—in short, the thermionic tube of Madio scts is made by che hundred million, tossed abour ia packages, plugged Mito sockets—and it works! Its gossamer parts, the precise location and lignment involved in its construction, would have occupied a master crafts- Man of the guild for months; now itis built for yo¢. The world has arrived an age of cheap, complex devices of great reliability, and something is ound to come of it,

A record, if it is to be useful ro science, must be continuously extended, iemusr be stored and, above all, ir must he consulted. Today we make che ecord. conventionally by writing aod photography, followed by printing; fut we also record on film, on wax disks and on magnetic wires. Even if Witerly new recording procedures do not appear, these present ones art cer- lainly in the process of modification and extension.

NEW WAYS TO EXTEND THE RECORD— THE CYCLOPS CAMERA AND DRY PHOTOGRAPHY

Cerainly progress in photography is nor going to stop. Faster matrcrial @nd lenses, more-auromauic cameras, finer-grained sensitive compounds. to low an extension of the minicamera idea are all imminent. Let us project its trend ahead ro a logical, if not inevirable, outcome. The camera hound Othe future wears on his forehead a lump a little large than a walnut, Ie kes a pictore three millimeters square, later to be projected or enlarged. The ens is of universal focus, down vo any distance accommodated by the un- deye, simply because it is of short focal length. There is a built-in phoro- cell on the walourt such as we now have on at least one camera which auro-

matically adjusts exposure for 2 wide range of illumination, There is lm in ithe walour for a hundred exposures and rhe spring for operating its shucter and shifting its film is wound once for all when the film clip is inserted. Ir oduces its results in full color. It may well be stereoscopic and record with fo spaced glass cyes, for striking improvements in stereoscopic technique Sare just around the corner.

The cord which trips its shutter may reach down a man’s sleeve within

tasy reach of bis fingers. A quick squeeze, and the picture is caken. On a pair of ordinary glasses is a square of fine lines ncar the cop of one lens, where it ‘Bour of the way of ordinary vision. When an object appears in that square, itis lined up for its picture. As the scientist of the furure moves about the Waboratory or the ficld, every time he looks at something worthy of the mecord, he trips the shucter and in it gocs, without even an audible click. this all fantastic? The only fantastic thing about ic is the idea of making § many pictures as would result from its use. Will there be dry photography? It is already here in two forms. There have dong been films impregnated with diazo dyes which form a picture without development, so that it is already there as soon as the camera has been op- erated. An exposure to ammonia gas destroys the unexposed dye, and the picture can thea be raken out into the light and examined. The process is mow slow, but someone may speed it up, and ic has no grain difficulties such new keep photographic rescarchers busy.

REDUCING THE WRITTEN RECORD TO MANAGEABLE SIZE—MICROPHOTOGRAPHY

Like dry photography, microphotography still has along way to' go. The Basic scheme of reducing the size of the record, and examining it by projec- tion rather than directly, has possibilities too great to be ignored. The com- Mination of optical projection and photographic reduction is already produc- dng some results in microfilm for scholarly purposes, and the potentialines ar: highly suggestive. Today, wich microfilm, reductions by a linear factor, af 20 can be employed and still produce full clarity when the material is nlarged for examination,

Assume a linear ratio of 100 for future use. Consider film of the same thick- Mess as paper, although thinner film will certainly be usable. Even under these conditions there would be a total factor of 10,000 between the bulk of he ordinary record on books, and its microfilm replica. The Encyclopaedia Britannica could be reduced to the volume of a matchbox, A library of a Million volumes could be compressed into one end of a desk. If the human ce has produced since the inyention of movable type a roral record, in the form of magazines, newspapers, books, tracts, advertising blurbs, correspond-

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Dr. Vannevar Bush is head of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, which morshaled the scientific brains of the U.S, in the service of the war. As such he has performed one of the great- est, though most secret, jobs of the war, as important jn its sphere os that of the Army chief of staff. Under his direction 6,000 scientists worked on such projects as the development of radar and the atomic bomb.

In the July issue of the Atlantic Monthly Dr, Bush published an article in which he set a great task for men of science in the peace- time world. Man has piled up o staggering body of knowledge— so staggering, in fact, thet men of learning have greot difficulty in finding and using the parts they wont. It is the task of science, Dr, Bush says, to make this store of knowledge more available, to aid the human memory. Says the Atlantic, “Like Emerson's famous address of 1837 on ‘The American Scholar,’ this paper by Dr. Bush calls for a new relationship between thinking man and the sum of

- our knowledge.”

LIFE is indebted to the editors of the Atlantic Monthly for permis- sion to bring a condensed version of this important article fo its larger audience.

WHAT DR. BUSH FORESEES Cyclops Camera Wor on forehead, it would photograph anything you see and want to record. Film would be developed at once by dry photography. Microfilm tt could reduce Encyclopaedia Britannica to volume of a match- box. Material cost: 5¢. Thus o whole library could be kept in a desk. Vocoder Amachine which could type when talked to. But you might have to talk a special phonetic language to this mechanical supersecretary. Thinking machine A development of the mathematical calculator. Give it premises and it would pass out conclusions, all in accordance with logic. Memex An aid to memory. Like the brain, Memex would file material by os- sociction. Press a key and it would run through @ “trail” of facts.

Do you believe

in spanking a child?

WHEN HE THROWS A TANTKUM?,.. A yood walloping woo't help, if the tantrum is caused by fright! If your child shows signs of fear when you try to give him a laxative —be carefal! It may be that the medicine tastes bad or that it upsecs him afterwards, You'll have to admit, yourself, chat

SOME LAXATIVES ARE TOO STRONG!

WHEN He SULKS?... Before you reach

for the hair-brush, remember that

sulking is often a child’s.way of avoid-

nething unpleasant —like the

xuuVe Some parents give

their children, Unfortunately, some of

these supposedly mild medicines may

upset a child, without giving the re- fief that’s needed, The fact is thas

SOME LAXATIVES ARE

treat the youngsters to E

y need a laxative. Children really enjoy taking Ex-Lax, because it wstes su good... just like fine chocolate! And mothers like the way Ex-Lax acts — cifective, bur, oh so gentle! Not too strong, fot too mild...

EX-LAX 1S THE HAPPY MEDIUM!

As a precaution use only as directed,

THE "HAPPY MEDIUM LAXATIVE

10¢ ond 25¢ at oll drug stores

SUPERSECRETARY OF THE COMING AGE, the machine contemplated here would take dictation, type it automatically and even talk back if the aothor wanted to review what he had just said, Teissomewhat similar to the Voder seen ar New York World's Fair

Like all machines suggested by the diagrams'in this arcicle, ic js not yet iu existence

AS WE MAY THINK connuco

ence, having « volume corresponding toa billion books, rhe whole af- fair assembled and compressed, could be lugged off ina moving van. The material for che microfilm Britannica would cost a nickel, and ic could be mailed anywhere fora cent. What would it cost to print a mil- lion copies? To print a sheet of newspaper, in a large edition, costs a small fraction of a cence, The entire material of the Britannica in re- duced microfilm form would go on a sheet 8)3 by 11 inches. Once it is available, with the photographic reproduction methods of the furure, duplicates in large quantities could probably be turned our fora cent apiece beyond the cost of materials, The preparation -of the original copy? That introduces the next aspect of the subject.

THE AUTHOR NEED NOT WRITE— HE COULD TALK HIS THOUGHTS TO A MACHINE

Will the author of the furure cease writing by hand or cypewriter and calk directly to the record? He does so indirectly, by ralking to a stenographer or a wax cylinder, buc the elemencs are all present if he wishes to have his talk directly produce a typed record. All he needs to do is to take advantage of existing mechanisms and to alter his language.

Ava recent world fair a machine called a Voder was shown. A girl stroked its keys and ic emitted recognizable speech. No human vocal cords entered into the procedure at any point; the keys simply com- bined some electrically produced vibrations and passed these on to a loudspeaker. In the Bell Laboratories there is the converse of this machine, called « Vocoder. The loudspeaker is replaced by a micro- phone, which picks up sound. Speak to ir, and the corresponding keys move. This may be one elemenc of the postulated system,

The other clement is found in the stenotype, that somewhat dis- concerting device encountered usually at public mectings. A girl strokes its keys languidly and looks abour the room and somerimes at the speaker with a disquieting gaze. From it emerges « typed strip which records in a phonetically simplified language a record of what the speaker is supposed to have said. Later this strip is retyped into ordinary language, for in its nascent form iris intelligible only to the initiated, Combine these ewo elements, let the Vocoder run che sceno- type, and the result is a machine which types when talked co.

Our present languages are not ¢specially adapted to this sort of mechanization, it is croc. [tis strange that the inventors of universal languages have not seized upon the idea of producing one which better fitted the rechnique for transmitting and recording speech. Mechanization may yet force the issue, especially in the scientific i whereupon scicotific jargon would become still less intelligible to the layman.

One can now picture a furure inyestigacor in his laboracory. His hands are free and he is nor anchored, As he moves about and ob- serves, he photographs and comments. Time is automatically recorded to tie che two records together, If he goes into che field, he may be

CONTINUED ON PAGE 116

Millia means the highest st Lilac, Pine, Lavender, Winte:

/ . Le me nus

UEST

All-purpose DEODORANT

A most effective powder, for body odors, for foot comfort.

Fifteen minutes to ber date? No time to shower—she ll be late, Smart girl—she knows a pleasant trick, A Mifflin Rub! She'll feel fresh quick?

All men and women honorably discharged from the armed forces will wear this emblem, IT STANDS FOR HONORABLE SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY.

See eeeereesseseseceeeee

. Io

116

URAC

( 4

’ 4

\ (

S ~ \ BS z aS ~~ \ N S SS SS SS S N

WOOF td.

9 Uh

VPA of,

SO, UYirk. Miantreal Gena

SUE. “

Uf lean Ulf obhir lim

ACAMS Wi

_ Mew

A Cn

Nile

Mnilet

MYNME Ki

AS WE MAY THINK. conrnueo

connected by radio to his recorder. As he ponders over his notes in the evening, he again calks his commencs into the record. His cyped record, as well as his photogtaphs, may both be in miniature, so that he projects chem for examination

SIMPLE REPETITIVE THOUGHT COULD BE DONE BY MACHINE, FOLLOWING LAWS OF LOGIC

Much needs to occur, however, between the collection of data and observations, the extraction of paralle! material from the exist- ing record, and the final insertion of new macerial into the gener- al body of the common record, For mature thoughr there is no me- chanical substicuce. But creative thoughr and essentially repetitive thought are very different things, For the latter there ate, and may be, powerful mechanical aids.

Adding a column of figures is a repetitive thoughe process, and it was long ago properly relegated to the machine, Truc, the machine is sometimes conteolled by a keyboard, and thought of a sort enters in reading the figures and poking the corresponding keys, bur evea this is avoidable. Machines. have been made which will read typed figures by photacells and then depress the corresponding keys; these are combinations of phorocells for scanning the typey electric cir- cuits for sorting the consequence variations, and relay circuits for interpreting the resule into the action of solenoids to pull the keys down.

All this complication is nceded because of the clumsy way in which we have learned to write figures. If we recorded them posi- tionally, simply by the configuration of a set of dots on a card, the automatic reading mechanism would become comparatively simple. In fact, if the dots are holes, we have the punched-card machine long ago produced by Hollorith for the purposes of the census, and sow used chroughour business. Some types of complex businesses could hardly operate without these machines.

Adding is only onc operation, To perform arithmetical computa- tion involves also subtraction, multiplication and division, and in addition some method for temporary storage of results, removal from storage for further manipulation and recording of final results by printing. Machines for these purposes are now of two types: keybourd machines for accounting and the like, manually controlled for the insertion of data, and usually auromatically controlled as far as the sequence of operations is concerned; and panched-card machines in which sepacate operations are usually delegated to a series of machines and*the cards then transferred bodily from one to another. Boch forms ate very uscful, but as far as complex ce purations are concerned, both are still in embryo.

Rapid clectrical counting appeared.soon after che physicists found it desicable ro cowgr cosmic rays. For their own purposes the physi- cists promptly constructed thermionic-tube equipment capable of counting electrical impulses ar the rate of 100,000 a second. The advanced arithmetical machines of the future will be electrical in nature and chey will perform at too rimes present speeds or more,

Moreover, they will be far more versacile than presente commerctal machiaes, so that they may readily be adapted for a wide varicty of operations. They will be controlled by a control card or film, they will select theit owo data and manipulate ir in accordance with the instructions thus inserced, they will perform complex arithmetical computations at exceedingly high speeds and they will record re- sulrs in such form as to be readily available for distribution or for later further manipulation. Such machines will haye cnormous apperices. One of them will take inseructions and data from a whole roomful of girls armed with simple keyboard punches and will deliver sheccs of computed results every few minuces. There will always be plenty of things to compute in the detailed affairs of tnillions of people doiog complicated chings.

Tr is a far cry from the abacus, with its beads scrung on parallel wires, to the modern keyboard accounring machine. It will be an equal step to the arichmetical machine of the furure, Bur even-this new machine will not take rhe scientist where he needs to go, Relief must he secured from laborious detailed manipulation of higher mathematics as well, if the users of it are co free their brains for something more than repetitive detailed transformations in accord- ance with established rules. A mathematician is nor a man who can readily manipulate figures; often he cannot. He is nor cyen a man who can readily perform the transformations of equacons by the use of calculus. He is primarily an individual who is skilled in the use of symbolic logic on a high plane, and especially he is a man of intut- tive judgment in the choice of the manipulative processes he employs.

All else he should be able co curn over to his mechanism, just as confidently as he turns over che propelling of his car co che inericate mechanism under the hood, Only then will mathematics. be prac-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 118

H AIRWAYS Sir Walter Raleigh helped build an empire, but his hairway wouldn't rate today. The modern way for men is the "JERIS-WAY." To have easy tocomb, well- groomed hair, free from loose dandruff, massage your scalp daily with

JELIS

HAIR TONIC corrects loose dandiufh

FREE to A AUTO

owners £E

19 PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS that will help you to get

we better gas mileage oe longer tire life

pw better performance we lower upkeep costs Get a FREE COPY from

any General Motors dealer or use the coupon below

\AuTOmon)Le

USER'S BUIDE

withururtions wumgestinns

State year model a

ye pelnt

‘pleors priot

"=" CUSTOMER RESEARCH DEPT., ROOM {705 "=" GENERAL MOTORS, DETROIT 2, MICH.

Please send FREE COPY of new edition practical suggestions on wortime operation.

Automobile User's Guide” —containing 196

snnanseneneceesennces

Miss

acerris

118

GREATEST

/ f long- lead

PENCIL _

) =.

ALWAYS SHARP!

wre

PENCILS LEADS ERASERS

eu + ATL AGTA, BF

Lira

THINKING MACHINES would solve pot only the most difficult mathematical problems auld be fed by punched tape to the electronic device in the racks ar rear. Results, accomp

the time it takes man, would be recorded on dials at top and botro

bur every problems of logical thought. Mathematical problems

hed in a fraction of

ootrol board.

AS WE MAY THINK consmueo

tically effective io bringing the growing kouwledge of atamistics to the useful solution of the advanced problems of chemistry, merallur- gy and biology. For this reason there will come more machines to handle advanced mathematics for the scientist. Some of them will be sufficiently bizarre to suit the most fastidious connoisseur of the present artifacts of civilization.

The scientist, however, is not the only person who manipulates data and examines the world abour him by the use of logical proc- esses, although he sometimes preserves this appearance by adopting into the fold anyone who becomes logical, much in the manner in which a British labor leader is clevated to knighthood, Whenever logical processes of thought aré employed—that is, whenever thought for a time runs along an accepred groove—there is an Oppor- tuniry for the machine, Formal logic used to be a keen instrument in the hands of the teacher in his trying of students’ souls. Ir is readily possible to construct a machine which will manipulate premises in accordance with formal logic simply by the clever use of relay cir- cuits, Put a set of premises into such a device and turn the crank and it will readily pass out conclusion after conclusion, all in accord- ance with logical law. We may some day click off arguments with the same assurance that we now enter sales on a cash register. Burt the machine of logic will not look like a cash register, even of the streamlined model.

HOW TO CONSULT THE RECORD—MACHINES EXAMINE THE FILES AND SELECT RELATED ITEMS

So much for the manipulation of ideas and their insertion into the record, Thus far we scem ro be worse off than before—for we can enormously extend the record; yer even in its present bulk we can hardly consult ic. This is a much larger matter than merely the ex- traction of data for the purposes of scientific rescafch; it involves the entire process by which man profits by his inheritance of acquired knowledge, The prime action of use is selection, and here we are halting indeed. There may be millions of fine thoughts, and che account of the experience an which they are based, all encased with in stone walls of acceptable architecrural form; but if the scholar can get at only one a week by diligent search, his syntheses are not likely to keep up with the current scene.

In a narrow sense something has already been done mechanically on selection. The personnel officer of a factory drops a stack of a few thousand employe cards into a selecting machine, sets a cade in accordance with an established convention and produces in a short time a lise of all the employes who live in Trenton and know Span- ish, Even such devices are mach too slow when it comes, for exam- ple, to matching a set of fingerprints with one of five million on file. Selection devices of this sort will soon be speeded up from their pres- ent rate of reviewing data at a few hundred a minute. By the use of photocells and microfilm they will survey items at the tate of a thousand a second and will prine our duplicates of hose selected

CONTINUED OW PAGE t2t

Precision made—streamline de- sign for years and years of safe, trouble-free riding by America’s largest maker. Insist on the Schwinn label—it's your guaran- tee of the world’s finest bicycle.

SEND FOR THIS FREE !

COLORFUL FOLDER |

| een

ARNOLD,SCHWINN & COMPANY 1744 N. KILDARE AVE..CHICAGO 39, TLL.

Shows Hollywood stars riding their Schwinn-Built Bicy- cles. It's FREE —just send your name and address today to

BUY WAR BONDS

Many Imitations BUT

None Quite Like U-ALL-NO

AFTER DINNER

MINT

ALSO OTHER FLAVORS

Pure CANE Sugor plus Notural MINT for Flavor Neo Artificial Flavoring

ality Remains the Finest

THOS. DB. RICHARDSON CO., Philadelptia 34, US. A

You'll recognize superior quality immediately when you examine a Sterling Hall Pipe, Im perfect design, handsome grain. beautiful bn- ii and its smart lines iaseantly stasnp iy ws a tte luxe product. And you'll make ne miscike in assuming that a pipe mate with such eure tan be depended upon co give ¥ears of Renu. lnc smoking pleasure.

Sterling Hall cam be had ac the beer shops in a wide ninge of handsome medete widh of withour am inlaid seer band. Individoally boxed. $3.40.

silver

elarcraft, tnc,, 347 Fifth Avenue, New York 16, N. 7.

AS WE MAY THINK consmueo

This process is simple selection: ir proceeds by examining in turn every one of a large sct of irems and by picking out those which have certain specified characteristics. There '¢ another form of selection bese illustrated by the wutomaric telephone exchange. You dial a number and the machine selects and connects just one of a million possible stations. Ie does nor run over them all. Ir pays attention only to a class given by a first digit, chen only to a subclass of this given by the second digit, and so on; and thus proceeds rapidly and almost unerringly co the selected station. Ir requires a few seconds to make the selection, although the process could be speeded up if in- creased speed were economically warranted ;

THE HUMAN BRAIN FILES BY ASSOCIATION—THE MEMEX COULD DO THIS MECHANICALLY

The real heart of the matter of selection, however, gocs deeper thao a lag in the adoption of mechanisms by libraries, or a lack of developinent of devices for their ase. Our inepeitude in getting at the record 15 largely caused by the artifictality of the systems of index- ing, When daca of any sort are placed in storage, they are filed alpha- betically or numerically and informarion is found (when it is) by tracing it down from subclass ro subclass. It cao be in only once place, unless duplicates are used; one has to have rules as co which path will locate it, and che rules are cumbersome. Haying found one item, moreover, One has to emerge from rhe systeni and re-<cnter on 2 new path,

The human mind docs not work chat way. Ir operates by associa- tion. With one item in its grasp, it snaps instantly to the next that is Suggested by the association of thoughrs, in accordance with some intricate web of rails carried by the cells of the brain, It has other characteristics, of course; trails that are not freqoently followed are prone ro fade, items are not fully permanent, memory is transitory. Yet the speed of action, the intricacy af trails, the detail of mental pictures, is awe-inspicing beyond all else in nature

Maa cannot hoge fully to duplicate chis mental process artificially, but he certaialy oughr to be able ro learn from it. In minor ways he may cven improve, for his records have relative perinanency. The firscidea, however, to be drawn from the analogy concerns sclection, Selection by association, rather than by indexing, may yer be mech- anized. One cannoc hope thus to equal che speed and flexibilicy with which the mind follows an associative trail, but it should be pos- sible to beat che mind decisively in rcgard ro the permanence and clarity of the items resurrected from storage.

Consider a farure device for individual use, which is a sort of mech- anized private file and library. It nceds a namc, and to coin one at random, ‘‘memex"’ will do. A memex is a device in which an indi vidual stores al] bis books, records and communications, and which is mechantzed so that it may be consulted with excecding specd and Aexibility, Ic is an colarged intimate supplement to his memory.

It consists of a desk, and while it can presumably he operated from a distance, it is primarily the piece of furniture ac which he works, On the top are slanting cranslucent screens on which materia) can be projected for convenient reading. Thete is a keyboard and sets of burtons and levers. Otherwise it looks like an ordinary desk.

In onc end is the stored material, The maccer of bulk is well taken care of by improved microfilm. Only a small part of the interior of the memex is devoted to storage, the rest to mechanism. Yee if the user inserted 5,000 pages of material a day ic would take him hun- dreds of years co fill the repository, so he can be profligate and enter material freely.

Most of the memex contents are purchased on microfilm ready for insertion. Books of all sorts, pictures, current periodicals, news- papers are thus obtained and dropped into place. Business corre- spondence takes the same path. And there is provision for direct en- tty. On the top of the memex is a transparent platen, On this arc placed longhand notes, photographs, memoranda, all sorts of things, When one is in place, the depression of a lever causes it co be photo- graphed onto the next blank space in a section of the memex film, dry photography being employed

There is, of course, provision for consultation of the record by the usual scheme of indexing. If the uscr wishes w consulr a certain book, he taps its code on the keyboard aod che ucle page of the book promptly appears before him projected onto one of his view- ing positions. Moreover, he has supplemental levers, On deflecting one of these levers ro the nght he runs through che book before him, cath page in turn being projected at a speed which just allows a rec- ognizing glance ac each. If he deflects ir further to the right, he steps through the book tem pages at a time; still further, 100 pages ata time, Deflection ro the lef gives him the same control backwards.

A special button cransfers him immediately co the first page of the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 1

A SPECIAL PREPARATION FOR SHAVING

FOR THE 1 MAN IN 7 WHO SHAVES DAILY

It Needs No Brush Not Greasy or Sticky

Modern life now demands at least 1 man in 7 shave erery day—and men in service must get clean shaves, too. Yet daily shaving often causes razor scrape, irritation,

To help men solve this problem, we perfected Glider—a rich, sooth- ing cream. It’s like “vanishing cream” —not greasy or sticky.

SMOOTHS DOWN SKIN

You first wash your face thoroughly with hot water and soap to remove grit and the oil from the skin Uhat collects on whiskers every 24 hours. Then spread on r quickly and easily with your fingers. Never a brush. Instantly Glider smooths down the flaky top layer of your skin, It enables the razor's sharp edge to glide over your skin, cutting your whiskers close and clean with- out seraping or irritating the sin.

ESPECIALLY FOR THE | MAN IN 7 WHO SHAVES DAILY

‘or men who must shave every day —doctors, lawyers, businessmen, service men—Glider is invaluable. it eliminates the dangers frequent, shaving may have for the tender face and leaves your skin smoother, cleaner. Glider has been developed by The J. B. Williams Co., who have been making fine shaving preparations for over 100 years.

SEND FOR GUEST-SIZE TUBE

If you want to try Glider right away, gel a regular tube from your dealer, If you can wait a few days, we'll send a generous Guest-Size tube for a dime. It is enongh for three weeks and is very handy for traveling-

On this lest we rest our case entirely —for we are postive that Glider will give you more shaving cornfort than anything youve used.

Seni your came and addovas with tencents to The J. B. Williams Co., Dept. WG-16, Glastonbury, Conn., U.S, A. (Canada: Ville La Safle, Que.) Offer good in U.S. A. and Canada only,

12)

ae ee

Here's Relief From

“HOKE ST

THROAT!

Chase away that “smoky taste” between smokes, Tuck a taste-refreshing Luden’s into your mouth, Clean, cool menthol clears it for the next smoke, steps up your smoking pleasure,

1 1UDEN’S NEW “noney-ticorice COUGH DROPS!

Here’ new flavor in cough relief by the makers of Luden’s Menthol Cough Drops. Both are medicated, Both 5S¢.

UNDERWEAR

for men and boys

OTIS—known for generations for longer wear and extra comfort.

BUY WAR BONDS mane wa

OTIS UNDERWEAR

57 Worth $1., New York 13,N.Y, ols OTIS HOSIERY

A POCKET MEMORY SYSTEM Pertorated

Coupons - each memo separate tear out when attended to Refills

rywhere. Fine

leathers. $1 to 10 WRITE tor D

Re names Catalog

Dept LA

ROBINSON Westfield Movs REMINDERS

MEMEX in the form of a desk would instantly bring files and material on any subject

to the operator's fingertips. Slanting translucent viewing screens magnify supermicro~ film filed by code numbers. Ac left is a mechanism which automatically photographs

longhand notes, pictures and letters, then files them in the desk for

AS WE MAY THINK conrmuco

index. Any given book of his library can thus be called up and con- sulted with far greater facilicy than if it were raken from a shelf. As he has several projection positions, he can leave one item in position while he calls up another. He can add marginal notes and comments, taking advantage of one possible type of dry photography, and it could even be arranged so that he can do this by a stylus scheme, such as is now employed in the telaucograph seen in railroad waiting rooms, just as though he had the physical page before him.

uture reference,

BUILDING “TRAILS” OF THOUGHT ON THE MEMEX— UNLIKE MEMORY, THEY WOULD NEVER FADE

All this is conventional, except for the projection forward of pres- ent-day mechanisms and gadgetry. It affords an immediate step, however, to associative indexing, the basic idea of which is a pro- vision whereby any item may be caused at will co select another im- mediately and automatically, This is the essential feature of the mem- ex. The process of tying two items together is the important thing.

When the user is building a trail, he names it, inserts the name in his code book and taps it out on his keyboard. Before him are the two items to be joined, projected onto adjacent viewing positions. At the bottom of cach there are a number of blank code spaces and a pointer is sct co indicate one of these on cach item, The user taps a single key and the items are permanently joined. In each code space appears the code word. Out of view, but also in the code space, is inserted a set of dots for photocell viewing; and on cach item these dots by their positions designate the index number of the other item.

Thereafter, at any time, when onc of these items is in view, the other can be instantly recalled merely by tapping a button below the corresponding code space. Morcover, when numerous items have been thus joined together to form a trail, they can be reviewed in turn, rapidly or.slowly, by deflecting a lever like that used for curn- ing the pages of a book. It is exactly as though the physical icems had been gathered together from widely separated sources and bound together to form a new book. It is more than this, for any item can be joined into numerous trails.

The owner of the memex, let us 5 is interested in the origin and propertics of the bow and arrow. Specifically he is scudying why the short Turkish bpw was apparently superior to the English long bow in the skirmishes of the Crusades. He has dozens of possibly perti- nent books and articles in his memex. First he runs through an encyclopedia, finds an interesting but sketchy article, leaves it pro- jected. Next, in a history, he finds another pertinent item and tics the two together. Thus he goes, building a trail of many items. Occasionally he inserts a comment of his own, cither linking it into the main trail or joining it by a side trail co a particular item. When it becomes evident that the elastic properties of available materials had a great deal to do with the bow, he branches off on a side trail which takes him through textbooks on clasticity and tables of physical constants. He inserts a page of longhand analysis of his own. Thus he builds a crail of his interest through the maze of materials available to him,

And his trails do not fade. Several years later, his talk with a friend curns to the queer ways in which a people resist innovations, even of vital interest. He has an example in the fact chat the our-

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Depend on Paris to put the stretch back in your garters

Here are All Elastic Paris Garters the same fine quality you insist on—mony new patterns and colors that you prefer, Wear garters for style—wear Paris for comfort. You will find them at fine stores every

where at 55c and $1.00.

@ Also weor smart Porls Belts $1 to $7 and All Elastic Free-Swing Suspenders $1.50 to $3.50. A. Stein & Compony Chicogo, New York, Los Angeles.

You con trust Poris—o dependable trode mork that hes stood the test of time,

PARIS

GARTERS

NO METAL CAN TOUCH YOU

123

* *

124

THE StPOLL deedet 2268

The mony men who weor Porto-Ped Shoes prefer them for their out- standing features — smart styling, selected leathers and expert crafts- manship, PLUS the extra value of genuine foot comfort that's built right in, If you're tired of tired feet — get Porto-Peds, with the pat- ented, resilient air cushion and flex- ible Arch Lift that will keep your feet feeling fresh hours longer. For style plus true foot comfort, see your Porto- Ped dealer — or write us for his name.

PORTAGE SHOE MFG, COMPANY

Milwoukee 1, Wisconsin Division of Weyenberg Show Mig. Co

Absorbs thocks, jort Keeps you loot-tresh

AS WE MAY THINK conrinueo

ranged Europeans still failed to adopt the Turkish bow. In fact, he has a trail on it. A touch brings up the code book. Tapping a few keys projects the head of the trail. A lever runs through it at will, Stopping at interesting items, going off on side excursions. Ic is an interesting trail, pertinent to the discussion. So he sets a reproducer in action, photographs the whole crail our and passes ir to his friend for insertion in his own memex, there to be linked into the more general trail.

Wholly new forms of encyclopedias will appear, ready-made with a mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the memex and there amplified, The lawyer has at his touch the associated opinions and decisions of his whole expenence and of the experience of friends and authoritics. The patent attorney has on call the millions of issued patents, with familiar trails to every point of his client's interest, The physician, puzzled by a pa- tient’s reactions, strikes the crail established in studying an carlicr similar case, and runs rapidly through analogous case historics, with side references to the classics for the pertinent anatomy and histal- ogy. The chemise, struggling with the synthesis of an organic com- pound, has all the chemical literature before him in his laboratory, with trails following che analogics of compounds, and side trails ro their physical and chemical behavior.

The historian, with avast chronological account of a people, paral- Jels it with a skip trail which stops only on the salient items, and can follow at any time contemporary trails which lead him all over civilization at a particular epoch. There is a new profession of trail blazers, those who find delighe in the rask of establishing useful trails through the enormous mass of the common record, The in- heritance from the master becomes not only his additions to the world's record bur, for his disciples, the entire scaffolding by which they were crected. °

Thas science may implement the ways in which man produces, stores and consules the record of the race, It might be striking to outline the instrumenralities of the future more spectacularly, rather than to stick closely to methods and elements now known and undergoing rapid deyclapment, as has been done here. Technical difficulties of all sorts have been ignored, certainly, bur also ignored are means. as yet unknown which may come any day to accelerate technical progress as violently as did the advent of the thermionic tube,

Man has built a civilization so complex that he needs to mechan- ize his records more fully if he is to push his experiment to its logical conclusion and not merely become bogged down part way there by overtaxing his Jimited memory. The applications of science have built him a well-sopplied house and are teaching him to live health- ily therein. They have enabled him to throw masses of people against one another with cruel weapons, They may yet allow him truly ro encompass the great record and to grow in the wisdom of face experience, He may perish in conflict before he learns to wield thar record for his trac good. Yet, in the application of science to the needs and desires of man, it would scem to be a singularly un- fortunate stage at which to terminate the process or to lose hope as to the outcome.

MEMEX IN USE is shown here. On one transparent screen the operator of the future writes notes and commentary dealing with reference material which is projected on che screen at left. Insertion of the proper code symbols at the bottom of right-hand screen

will tic the new

ei to the earlier one after notes arc photographed on supermicrofilm.

“Honest, Boss, we like”

Puppy hearts. ..and big- dog pulses, too.,.beat fast- er when they see Milk- Bone Biscuit coming their way in the morning! It's . so crunchy and chewy Miteaay, that it's like a real bone tan Ly to your dog! Good clean i exercise for teeth and gums be- sides!

Remember... feeding your dog Milk-Bone makes your work light- er...your dog happier!

Milk-Bone foods ,.. made espe- cially for dogs...are sold at your dealer's.

Milk-Bone contains nutrients your dog needs: Vitamins A, 8), &, Dand E..Meot Meal..Fish Liver Oil... Whole Wheat Flour,. Minerals, , Milk

NATIONAL BISCUIT COMPANY

DENTIST OFFERS YOU SAFE WAY TO ERASE

if your teeth are discolored from

smoking—leam these new facts:

1 You probably brush your teeth fess thon 1 minute.

2 Most dentifrices foam up and disperse—lose their brightening action—in even less time.

3 lodent No. 2 has a clinging action that may double the time you polish your leeth—compact texture clings to each bristle to make o gentle smudge eraser.

See how it helps reveal the notural

sparkle of your teeth. It's made by

0 dentist. Get lodent No. 2 today. 1

IODENT

Toon Paste or Powder