The Invention That Changed the World: How a Small Group of Radar Pioneers Won the Second World War and Launched a Technical Revolution Paperback – March 23, 1998

Radar is much more than just "We got radar" and that's it. There were many many steps, improvements, problems, etc. to go from bare radar to workable and then superior radar. Plus the enemy's countermeasures. The top scientists -- and when you get to America, all those Nobelists -- worked furiously to develop the different radar types for ground-to-airplane, airplane-to-surface, airplane-to-water (Uboats), airplane-to-airplane: they all had different requirements. For example, they needed to invent/develop the magnetron for enough power. Another example, the tremendous American industry leaped ahead of the Brits except didn't get better results, what was the problem? It turned out our crystals were at fault, not pure enough. It took a while to solve, but finally Aha! It's a technical book that a smart person like me can more or less understand what they're doing and get excited about it even though a short time later I can give only a vague outline of what the problems and solutions were. So you don't have to be a scientist to follow along, but it's intense enough to make you wish you were. An exciting story of science at war, because the war enters into the picture too. Great book. I'm reading it through a second time, hoping to remember more.

Yes, it is true that this book gets into technical detail. However, when you're dealing with a topic like radar, if you avoid the technical detail, it's like eating a rice cake - great fiber, no flavor whatever! This book covers a great gap in WWII history; instead of dealing with the "flash-bang" of popular aircraft or warships, it deals with truly foundational matter like "weapons SYSTEMS", systems like radar aimed anti-aircraft cannon and periscope-finding airborne radar systems in long-range depth-charge-equipped bombers. It is truly worth your time, and the "technical detail" is not beyond any interest reader willing to go beyond the book itself. This is one of the truly worthwhile books on WWII.

The effort put in researching the material for this book must have been huge. Furthermore, since several of the events described were happening in parallel in separate and distant countries it was not easy to provide a clear chronology.The book is quite big and dense and contains little historical and technological gems that make it really worthy to buy and read. It could have been a 5 stars masterpiece.There are however 3 points in my opinion that prevents this book to really be perfect:- The history of radar development spans several countries and lab and events should be presented in an easy way. Instead a lot of times the author get lost in small details so it is very difficult to get the whole picture. I had the impression the Mr Buderi was more concerned about showing a fluent writing style ( in several occasion i got lost in complicated sentences and had to go back and read paragraphs again to understand them correctly ) instead of presenting a more simple path.- The subject is complex and includes several scientific fields. In several occasion the author just takes to much for granted and describes difficult concepts very briefly, hiding them in long descriptions and focusing more on his writing style and shady military acronyms . This really doesn't help if you're not an expert on electromagnetism and quantum mechanics.- Simple drawings could have been of terrific help in understanding how equipments described were working. This was not a big effort to include for someone like Mr Buderi who had the will to collect such a huge amount of datas and interviews for his book.

This book is a wonderful reference for me for several reasons:1.The development of the magnetron was a major achievement by scientists in my field of expertise. I spent 15 years of my life designing other microwave devices. Two of these, called IMPATT oscillators, are now sitting on the surface of Mars (part of the Viking Project).2.My second career, lasting 30 years, involved describing technical achievements by others. Isadore Isaac Rabi led the development of the magneton. He also encouraged others to write a series of books called the Rad Lab series. These were references I used during my early career. They were a key part of the huge advances in electronics after WWII.3.At this stage in my career I want to understand more about the ways that engineers and entrepreneurs relate to each other.Other books that provide different insights are:1."Crystal Fire", by Michael Riordan2."The Man Behind the Microchip", by Leslie Berlin3."The Idea Factory", by Jon Gertner

There were many kinds of radar used in WWII, both by the Allies and by Germany--not just locating aircraft during the blitz. The development of many other radar usages is covered in the book with sufficient depth and in mostly understandable language for the non-technical reader. The most fascinating use of radar, in my opinion, was the proximity fuse that "told" the anti-aircraft shells when to detonate. Imagine putting a battery powered radar in the nose of a shell in 1942 technology.

This book is a replacement copy for me. It's about the discovery and growth of radar and microwaves.The early part of radar history took place at the Mitre corporation's laboratories in the Boston area.That's where I worked as an electrical engineer. So, I'm biased about it's history.Anyone who's interested in history, especially WWII will enjoy this book.As the author says, "The atomic bomb ended WWII. Radar won it"

I had read many books on radar from this period but there were always loose ends. After reading books by Watson-Watt, Wilkins, Bowen, Rowe, Lovell, Chisolm, Rawnsley and Price, it was good to have a book that covered the beginnings in the US during the war and what was really interesting after, in the application of the technology in so many other areas leading to many Nobel Prizes. In reading the other books it was not clear what happened after the Tizard mission and the characters involved for instance Taffy Bowen. I also liked the level of detail on the technical side that gave enough information on the science behind what was going on without going too far. The book gives a good bookend to the story and the many personalities involved with their continuing careers as they are no longer with us. As the book was written in the mid 90s the author was able to interview surviving members from that time. You will also see the foundations of the world today with digital computing, programming, signal processing, radio astronomy and radio frequency code modulation. The technology behind MRI scanners, masers and lasers came after the war ended. There is even a chapter on the Magellan mission to Venus where it's surface was scanned by radar. All controlled millions of miles away from Earth with the considerable amount of data returned. The other thing with the Magellan mission was the recovery when things went wrong, which they did from the start.

A really well written, interesting book a must for anyone that wishes to find the source of many of today's technologiesCopy well used, delivered promptly thanks

Great item, quick delivery, no problems

The American view of the relationship with British scientists.

Excellent.. Highly recommend..