The Effect of Science on the Second World War

Although scientists were involved on a limited scale in the First World War, advances made in science and technology between the wars made them indispensable from 1939 to 1945. This was recognized by the Allies but not by the Germans or their partners, who had neglected scientific innovations, hoping to exploit their enemy's unpreparedness by a blitzkrieg. Consequently the Allies, with superior radar, radio, anti-submarine weapons, computerized cryptanalysis, operational research to improve the quality of equipment, and ability to invent an atomic bomb, put them ahead of the Germans. Not only were physicists required but chemists and bacteriologists, had chemical and biological weapons been used; medical scientists reduced the prevalence of disease in theatres of war and mitigated the effect of wounds. Other innovations like rockets and jet propulsion, intended to turn the tide for the Germans, came too late to be effective.

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

About the Author :
GUY HARTCUP served in the British and Indian Armies 1939-45 after which he took an Honours Degree at Cambridge in 1947. From 1948-60 we worked as an Historian in the Air Historical Branch of the Air Ministry. He then became an English editor with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna from 1961-2. After returning to England the author was an Assistant Historian in the Cabinet Office Historical Section and, finally, was Historian in the Treasury from 1965-76. His books include Code Name Mulberry: the Planning, Building and Operation of the Normandy Harbours; Camouflage: a History of Concealment and Deception in War; Cockroft and the Atom (with T. E. Allibone); The War in Invention: Scientific Developments, 1914-18; The Silent Revolution: Development of Conventional Weapons, 1945-85; Operational Research in the RAF; and The Challenge of War: Scientific and Engineering Contributions to World War Two.

Review :
'The Second World War involved many complex factors, not all understood equally. One of the most difficult is science as the very word tends to deter many readers. Hartcup's penetrating clarity of understanding is matched only by his ability to provide explanations which are easy to take in and, skilfully, he neither confuses nor patronises 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 'If you thought the science of the second world war began and ended with the atom bomb, you'd be wrong...Hartcup's concise survey, from radar and computerised cryptoanalysis to the atomic bomb, provides an excellent introduction to relations between the boffins and the men in khaki.' - The Guardian '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