Blackett's War

by BUDIANSKY, STEPHEN

• ISBN13: 9780307595966
• ISBN10: 030759596X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-02-19
• Publisher: Knopf

Summary

The exciting, little-known story of the small group of British and American scientists who, during the years of 1941 to 1943 and almost entirely without military experience, revolutionized the way wars are waged and won. Here are the civilian intellectuals -- the kind that many military men viewed with contempt--who helped to change the nature of twentieth-century warfare. Foremost among them was Patrick Blackett, British physicist, ex-naval officer, future Nobel winner, ardent socialist, who, though little remembered today, did more to win the war against Nazi Germany than almost anyone else. Budiansky makes clear how, as director of the World War II anti-submarine effort for Britain's air force and navy, Blackett founded a new science of operational research. We see how, using little more than simple mathematics and probability theory--and a steadfast belief in the utility of science--Blackett and his colleagues demonstrated to disbelieving military brass ways in which they could save the faltering campaign against the U-boat. Employing their unconventional insights, the Allies went on to win essential victories against Hitler's Germany, in one of the great untold stories of the Second World War.