His work to
create a relationship between the government and the scientific establishment
during World War II changed the way scientific research is carried on in the
U.S. and fostered the environment in which the Internet was later
created. He died before the creation of the World Wide Web, yet many
consider him to be the Godfather of our wired age often making reference
to his 1945 essay, "As We May Think."
In his article, Vannevar Bush described a theoretical machine called a
"memex," which was
to enhance human memory by allowing the user to store and retrieve documents
linked by associations.This associative linking was very similar to what is
known today as hypertext.
Indeed, Ted Nelson who later did pioneering work with hypertext credited
Bush as his main influence . Others, such as J.C.R. Licklider and Douglas
Englebart have also paid homage to Bush.