  The development of Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) is sketched from its
earliest beginnings until the formulations of 1949, using the example of the
divergent self-energy of the electron as a quintessential problem of the
1930's-40's. The lack of progress towards solving this problem led researchers
to believe that after the conceptual revolution of quantum mechanics a new
conceptual change was needed. It took a war and a new generation of
algorithmically inclined physicists to pursue the conventional route of
regularization and renormalization that led to the solution in 1947-1949. Some
remarks on contemporary high energy physics are made.
