Author: Jerrold R. Zacharias? Abigail Johnson? S. Paul Johnson? Theodore Maiman? Anonymous?
Technology: Laser? Nuclear Energy? Electronic Computer? Meteorological Satellite? Artificial Intelligence? Bitcoin? Blockchain?
Question for Quote Investigator: When the first laser was built it received high praise, but the applications of the invention were unclear. A clever phrase described the situation:
(1) A solution in search of a problem
(2) A solution looking for a problem
Ultimately, many applications emerged. For example, lasers transmit data down optical fibers, and laser diodes read the data recorded on optical disks.
The phrase above has been applied to nuclear energy, computers, AI, bitcoin, and other technological developments. Would you please explore when this phrase emerged? Also, which technology originally inspired the coinage of this phrase?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest strong match found by QI appeared in March 1951 within the “Journal of the Electrochemical Society”. Jerrold R. Zacharias published a review of a book which discussed the economics of nuclear power. The title of the review contained the phrase under examination:1
Nuclear Power — a solution in search of a problem
This title reflected Zacharias’s contention that the authors of the book had failed to find an economically advantageous use for nuclear power. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:
If this work were called “Economic Aspects of Cheap Heat,” it would be rightly named and beyond reproach. It seems to a nuclear physicist to be a fine work on industrial engineering, but it does not find the problem for which nuclear power is the solution.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In April 1951 “Aeronautical Engineering Review” published an editorial by S. Paul Johnson which employed the phrase when describing an electronic computer:2
MADDIDA, a compact portable electronic computer designed by Northrop for the U.S. Navy, has recently been acquired by the Stevens Experimental Tank … This is a thoroughly legitimate Solution-in-search-of-a-Problem concept.
Johnson also discussed a committee which had been created to address a problem which had become unimportant. Johnson believed that the committee should disband:
In current “Washingtonese” the Committee’s Frame of Reference had collapsed. Wisely, it agreed to disband. As one of its members suggested, it had become a Solution looking for a Problem.
Johnson also offered general advice aimed at engineers:
Engineers in particular must avoid the Solution-looking-for-a-Problem hazard. At the present time, the aggregate of real problems for which solutions must be found is mountainous, and the supply of men competent to attack them is small indeed.
In 1959 “The Charlotte Observer” newspaper of North Carolina printed an article about two state senators who opposed a piece of legislation. The phrase was applied to the legislation:3
“It reminds me,” he said, “of a solution looking for a problem.” Sens. Yow and Frink were afraid the amendment might adversely affect the state’s ports.
In 1963 the “Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society” published an article by Morris Tepper with the following title:4
Instrument Issue: A Solution in Search of a Problem
Tepper discussed the inspiration for the title of his article:
At a recent visit to the National Center for Atmospheric Research, I heard a senior research meteorologist refer to the Meteorological Satellite Program as “a solution in search of a problem.” …
What, then, did he mean by “a solution in search of a problem?”
I believe he meant that from the research meteorologist’s point of view, the data output from meteorological satellites was not immediately adaptable to the current stated problems being investigated by the research meteorologist.
In March 1964 the Associated Press news service released an article about physicist Theodore Maiman who built the first working laser. Maiman employed the phrase:5
Right now lasers are so new that Maiman calls them “a solution looking for a problem.”
In April 1964 the “Philadelphia Daily News” of Pennsylvania published an editorial discussing nuclear power and desalination, the process of extracting fresh water from seawater:6
The task force members point out that enormous amounts of energy are needed to remove the salt from water through the flash distillation process. That’s where nuclear power comes in.
As one task force member put it, “nuclear energy is a solution in search of a problem.” The search seems to be over, for our metropolitan areas continue to grow at a rate far outstripping the easily available supplies of fresh water.
In 1965 “The Philadelphia Inquirer” of Pennsylvania discussed the laser and its uncertain potential:7
First produced in 1960, the laser beam seemed to hold a stunning potential for technology. Yet pending its application to the practical solution of problems, it has been called “a solution in search of a problem.”
In 1966 an article in the “Journal of the Royal Society of Arts” discussed high-speed communication using the laser:8
Thus we now have techniques for handling information, or messages, on scales beyond imagination—most people to-day think of computers in this respect. Again, a device called a ‘laser‘ may be made which, if only in principle, is capable of handling so many messages at once that there are not yet enough people wanting to talk. It has been called: ‘A solution looking for a problem’.
In 1987 a newsletter published by the Digital Equipment Computer Users’ Society (DECUS) applied the phrase to artificial intelligence:9
AI’s role in the mainstream computing environment has been constrained by a variety of factors, including inflated user expectations and the need for specialized AI hardware, software and developers. In addition, AI has long been regarded as a solution in search of a problem—the best known AI “success stories” involve arcane problems such as medical diagnosis and computer configuration.
In 2017 a newspaper in Springfield, Massachusetts printed a quotation from Abigail Johnson of Fidelity Investments who applied the phrase to bitcoin:10
“Too often we see bitcoin and blockchain technologies as solutions in search of a problem. We don’t just need these systems to be technically better than the alternatives — we need them to be more user-friendly.”
In conclusion, the phrase was first applied to nuclear energy in March 1951 by Jerrold R. Zacharias. Shortly afterward, in April 1951 the phrase was applied to an electronic computer by S. Paul Johnson. During subsequent years other technologies were mentioned including meteorological satellites, lasers, artificial intelligence, and bitcoin.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to the anonymous person whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
Image Notes: Picture of an exhibit at the ArtScience Museum of Singapore from Robynne O at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
- 1951 March, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Volume 98, Issue 3, Technical Notes and Reviews, Book Reviews, Nuclear Power—a solution in search of a problem by Jerrold R. Zacharias, (Book Review of Economic Aspects of Atomic Power by Sam H. Schurr and Jacob Marschak), Quote Page 44C, IOP Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol, England. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1951 April, Aeronautical Engineering Review, Volume 10, Number 4, Editorial: First Things First by S. P. J. (Technical advisor S. Paul Johnson), Quote Page 22 and 23, Aeronautical Sciences Inc., New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1959 June 19, The Charlotte Observer, Property Tax Bill Gets OK by Kays Gary (The Observer Bureau), Section B, Quote Page 1, Column 4, Charlotte, North Carolina. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1963 September, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Volume 44, Number 9, Instrument Issue: A Solution in Search of a Problem by Morris Tepper, Start Page 543, Quote Page 543, American Meteorological Society, Boston, Massachusetts. (JSTOR) link ↩︎
- 1964 March 20, Alexandria Daily Town Talk, ‘Laser’ Becomes a Miracle Tool in Hands of Able Young Scientist by Ralph Dighton (Associated Press), Quote Page 26, Column 2, Alexandria, Louisiana. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1964 April 3, Philadelphia Daily News, Nuclear Power Could Warm Jersey Waters, Quote Page 33, Column 1, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1965 October 17, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Section 7: Today’s World, Laser Beams Record Image Without Lens by Gary Brooten (The Inquirer Staff), Quote Page 8, Column 1, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1966 February, Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Volume 114, Number 5115, World Communication: Three Cantor Lectures by Colin Cherry (Professor of Telecommunication, Imperial College of Science and Technology), Lecture 2: The Communication Explosion, Start Page 172, Quote Page 174, RSA The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, London, England. (JSTOR) link ↩︎
- 1987 April, The Newsletter of the DECUS Artificial Intelligence SIG. Volume 3, Number 3, AI Gets Commercial by Terry C. Shannon, Quote Page AI-1, Digital Equipment Computer Society, Marlboro, Massachusetts. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2017 June 5, The Republican, Fidelity’s Abby Johnson a blockchain, bitcoin believer by Greg Ryan (Boston Business Journal), Quote Page D7, Column 2, Springfield, Massachusetts. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎