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

by Robert Buderi

Book Overview

From Simon & Schuster, The Invention That Changed the World explores how a small group of radar pioneers won the second World War and launched a technical revolution. The technology that was created... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684810212
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 1.8" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent history, a bit light on the technology

In spite of its shortcomings as a technical book, which it is not, this is an excellent read, for the engineer as well as the historian. I enjoyed it and have reread it a couple of times. Towards the end it is a bit weak as the maser and microwave excitement pales alongside the war accomplishements, on both sides of the pond. I was dissapointed to visit MIT and find the Rad Lab building gone, but alas, time marches on. Read it and enjoy!

Required reading for prospective engineers

A superb piece of work. Anyone contemplating a career in physics or engineering should read this book. If Buderi's descriptions of the technical chase don't thrill and inspire you, strongly consider directing your efforts elsewhere.

I was There!

After all these years (1942-1998) I see at last an account of the work we did at Sydney University Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Radiophysics Lab! I was a Navy 2nd Class Radarman assigned to develop electronic countermeasures items (electronic warfare). This book tells it like it was! It rang so true to me that I was carried back once again to my three years on that assignment under Gen Douglas MacArthur, as a member of the ECM group. If you want to know what we did, and many others around the world in this super-secret assignment, Buderi has captured it beautifully. No one person or group "won" the war, but the part played by those involved in radar most certainly changed its course toward the eventual outcome so little appreciated today. --wboyd@netdex.com

An excellent book

An excellent book that combines the flavor of war with vivid and accessible technological descriptions. Buderi is to be congratulated on an outstanding accomplishment. I always knew the story of MIT's famous radiation laboratory would make great reading and now Buderi has come along to do the job.

An engrossing non-technical overview of radar development

Before I read this book, I (like most technically minded people) knew of Los Alamos and the development of the atomic bomb, and had a vague impression that MIT was working on radar during this same time. What I *didn't* know was that radar development was an equally urgent crash program, with a similarly brilliant scientific staff (11 future Nobel prizes), and lots more practical applications. Furthermore, compared to Los Alamos, they faced and overcame many additional challenges - among them starting mass production of brand new technology, and convincing the military to change their doctrines based on new technical capabilities. Like Rhodes's "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", the story is told in chronological order, mixing the human and technical aspects and conveying the urgency and suspense of a desperate wartime situation. Unlike Rhodes's book, it follows the people and technology further, showing how the (then young) scientists went on to fame and fortune, and how the technology has changed our daily life. The book is engrossing even for non-specialists - my wife (a chiropractor) picked it up to see what I found so fascinating, and I couldn't get it back!