Pieces of the Action

Vannevar Bush, the director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II, offers a candid and often controversial account of his role in mobilizing American science for the war effort. This memoir details the high-stakes coordination between government agencies and academic institutions, navigating the complex politics of funding, secrecy, and the development of technologies ranging from radar to the atomic bomb. Bush writes with the directness of a senior administrator and the foresight of a technologist, reflecting on the responsibilities that accompany the power to direct large-scale scientific inquiry.

Description adapted from Open Library bibliographic data ↗.