I’d heard of this classic essay by Vannevar Bush (who was apparently unrelated to the later presidents) a few times but never read it until recently. Written in 1945, it summarizes some of the ways in which science helped win World War II (without getting specific about radar or much else, however) and what it will do in the future.
VB seems to predict the desktop computer, a Windows-like operating system (graphical user interface) and Google-type search engines: "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." Even digital photography gets a hint or two. It’s long, at twenty-two pages, and the sexism of the day is jarring, but it’s still worth the effort.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 