The Invention That Changed the World: The Story of Radar from War to Peace by Robert Buderi lands on the shelves of my shop.
London: Little, Brown & Company, 1997, Hardback in dust wrapper.
Illustrated by way of: Black & White Photographs; Diagrams;
From the cover: The Invention That Changed the World is the compelling story of the colourful band of brilliant scientists who created the microwave radar systems that not only helped win World War II, but set off an explosion of scientific achievements and technological advances that have transformed our daily lives.
In September 1940 a team of British scientists arrived in Washington. They brought with them Britains most closely guarded technological secrets, including the cavity magnetron, a revolutionary new source of microwave energy.
The magnetrons arrival triggered the dramatic mobilization of Americas top scientists, who enlisted in the war within the war to convert the invention into a potent military weapon. Developed in secret, microwave radars eventually helped destroy Japanese warships in the Pacific, brought down Nazi buzz bombs over England, and enabled Allied bombers to see through cloud cover over, Germany and Japan. Although the atomic bomb ended World War II, in many ways radar won it.
Capturing all the drama and excitement of the race to develop radar, Robert Buderi then follows the postwar careers of the radar scientists as they applied the knowledge gained from their wartime work in many different fields. Among their many achievements, radar veterans were instrumental in creating the field of radio astronomy and discovering nuclear magnetic resonance, the transistor, and the maser, breakthroughs that led to Nobel Prizes. In the continuing push to develop early warning systems during the Cold War, others helped create the basis for digital computer memories. In countless ways radar and its spin-offs have changed our world forever.
Very Good+ in Very Good+ Dust Wrapper.
Black boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 575 pages. Index. Bibliography. 9½” x 6¼”.
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