The Effect of Science on the Second World War

by G. Hartcup, B. Lovell

Overview

The latest advances in science were fully exploited in the Second World War. They included radar, sonar, improved radio, methods of reducing disease, primitive computers, the new science of operational research and, finally, the atomic bomb, necessarily developed like all wartime technology in a remarkably short time. Such progress would have been impossible without the cooperation of Allied scientists with the military. The Axis powers' failure to recognise this was a major factor in their defeat.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403906434
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	04/15/2003
Edition description:	2003
Pages:	227
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Guy Hartcup is a retired historian living in London and the author of many books.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Organisation of Science for War Radar: Defence and Offence Diverse Applications of Radio and Radar Acoustic and Underwater Warfare The Acquisition of Signals Intelligence Birth of a New Science: Operational Research The Transformation of Military Medicine Unacceptable Weapons: Gas and Bacteria Premature Weapons: The Rocket and the Jet The Ultimate Weapon: The Atomic Bomb Conclusion Sources Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

"Hartcup's penetrating clarity of understanding is matched only by his ability to provide explanations which are easy to take in and, skillfully, he neither confuses nor patronizes the reader. He includes several areas often missed out. This is a most valuable book essential to any proper understanding of the conflict." --W.J.R Gardner, author of Decoding History: The Battle of the Atlantic and Ultra

"The author has gathered a great deal of information, which he presents in a lucid and readable manner...I am impressed by [his] knowledge and ability to carry his reader with him. Anybody interested in the wartime development of these topics will acquire a great deal of information in a painless manner...This book is an excellent description of science at war..." -- Hermann Bondi, The Times Higher Education Supplement

From the Publisher