This article is a reminiscence of the author's career in information s
cience, with emphasis on the temper of the times rather than specific
technical or theoretical developments. The author reviews his transiti
on from mathematics to computer programming to information retrieval;
various projects he was involved with, such as the SAGE air defense sy
stem, a demonstration of information retrieval for the Department of S
tate, several projects for intelligence agencies; and IIDA, an early u
ser interface for database searchers; plus teaching, writing, and edit
ing experiences.