User:Fabien Labeyrie/The Shock Of The Old

The Shock Of The Old: Technology and Global History since 1900

This book by David Edgerton deals with History of technology, questioning the necessity of always going further. The following notes resumes the ideas contained in the chapter called WAR.

1. An erroneous idea about military technologies

We have this idea the military relies on civilian industries. It is often said the atomic bomb has been created thanks to academic sciences. If we go to the great national science and industry museums of the world [...], we will find aircraft, radar and atomic bombs, but as applications to war of civilian sciences and technologies, no rifles, tanks or artillery. It suggests great war innovations originates from the civilian domain, helping war to be quicker and more human, however it's not true. Most of the great inventions have been created during war time, where the government gave huge budgets to scientists, focusing the research on what they thought could help then win the battle. It was gas warfare in the First World War, radar and atomic weapons in the Second.