The Invention That Changed the World: How a Small Group of Radar Pioneers Won the Second World War and Launched a Technological Revolution

In "a technological thriller better than Tom Clancy's best" (Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Price-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb), Robert Buderi chronicles the previously untold story of one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of this century -- radar. From the radar systems that enabled Allied forces in World War II to hunt down U-boats and "see" at night to such postwar achievements as the emergence of radio astronomy and the discovery of the transistor and nuclear magnetic resonance, the work at MIT's Radiation Lab has had a tremendous impact on our lives. In this remarkable book, Robert Buderi presents in-depth, completely accessible descriptions of these triumphs and technological advances and introduces the show more brilliant band of scientists, many of them Nobel Prize-winners, who carried out this revolution. show less

Cavity Magnatron explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUsS5KUMLvw
In 1940 a team of British Scientists arrived in Washington, bearing Britain's most closely guarded technological secrets, including the cavity magnetron, a revolutionary new source of microwave energy. Its arrival triggered the most dramatic mobilisation of science in history, as America's top scientists enlisted to convert the invention into a potent military weapon. Microwave radars eventually helped destroy Japanese warships, Nazi buzz bombs and enabled Allied bombers to 'see' through cloud cover. After the war the work of radar veterans continues to affect our lives p controlling air traffic helping to forecast the weather and providing physicians with powerful show more diagnostic tools. Brimming with telling anecdotes and suprising revelations, this book brings to life the exciting, largely untold story of the scientist who not only created a winning weapon but also changed our world for ever. show less