Weapons Grade: How Modern Warfare Gave Birth to Our High-Tech World [Paperback]

David Hambling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2006

Understanding how business is likely to evolve in the coming years is itself a multi-million dollar business. Plenty of gurus, academics and snake-oil salesmen will tell you all about the future — for a price. What all of these experts often overlook is that the future is already here. Chances are, the products and services we will buy and sell tomorrow are available — to a very limited clientele — at a top-secret research institute near you. Throughout human history war and the threat of war have driven innovation and accelerated the uptake of new technology — from the nomadic warriors who introduced the stirrup and the kebab to the world, to the British Navy's funding of Marconi's new-fangled radio. And since 1945 the relationship between military needs and modern business has grown ever closer, especially in the United States. David Hambling traces the history of this relationship in the modern era and shows how precision eye surgery emerged out of the military quest for a ‘death ray,' how transistors and silicon chips first helped build better bombs, and exactly why the 747 has such a distinctive shape.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Hambling surveys technologies developed by military research that ultimately found civilian applications, tracing this war/peace crossover effect from World War II to the present. A British defense journalist, Hambling keeps the data about particular weapons to a level manageable by general readers, who will learn the physical principles of a weapon, and its route into the civilian world. Aerospace technology is the preeminent WWII spin-off and, for better or worse, traceable to Nazi-sponsored research. Hambling's coverage of the German jets and rockets emphasizes their teething problems and military effectiveness. Occasionally widening his commentary to analyze the worth of huge expenditures on military research, Hambling also lightens matters with jaunts into common items (microwave ovens, cell phones, T-shirts, sunglasses) seeded by the global conflict. Although Hambling hesitates to predict what contemporary military R & D will reap for future consumers, he does probe the perimeter of this mostly secret research on items that sound like something out of science fiction, such as vortex rings and pulsed energy weapons. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

David Hambling is a freelance writer and author living in South London. He writes for New Scientist magazine and the science section of the Guardian newspaper among others, specialising in topics relating to military technology. He also explores the wilder side of science in a monthly column in Fortean Times magazine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 414 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786717696
• ISBN-13: 978-0786717699
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,559,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Anyone can understand this book, December 28, 2010

By 

Dalton C. Rocha (Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Weapons Grade: How Modern Warfare Gave Birth to Our High-Tech World (Hardcover)

I read this good book, here in Brazil. This book has many great things:
1-Page 10 > Military research is mainly American.
2-Page 19 > Boeing depends of Pentagon.
3-Page 75 > Civil aviation came from military research.
4-Page 77 > Computers came from military money and will.
5-Page 152 > Atoms for peace was mainly a failure.
6-Page 211 > Articial inteligence is military.
7-Page 376 > USA is leader in military affairs, experience and reasearch.
In many places of this book, we can see many amazing things. The chapter 9 of this book is the best thing that I ever read, about non-lethal weapons. Anyone can understand this book.
This book has some failures:
1-Page 7. This book claims that United States Army Aviation Branch doesn't operates airplanes. In fact it uses airplanes, such as Beechcraft C-12 Huron(airplane), General Atomics MQ-1C Grey Eagle (UAV),etc.
2-Page 69. This book claims that wristwatches came from 1917 in the United States. In fact, the Brazilian Alberto Santos Dumont(1873-1932) really made a wristwatch in 1907 and it became fashion in this year. Even before, the Queen Victoria (1819-1901) used a crude wristwatch sometimes.
3-Page 73. This book claims that Boeing 707 was the first successful jet airliner. In fact the Soviet or Russian Tupolev Tu-104 was the first successful jet airliner, in the world. In fact the Tu-104 was the sole jetliner operating in the world between 1956 and 1958.
4-Page 84. This book claims that Enigma Machine used ten gears. In fact, any Enigma Machine had more than five rotors or gears.
5-Page 226. This book claims that in 1991, Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007) was the mayor of Moscow. In fact, in 1991, he was the the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999 rulling Russia. In fact, Boris Yeltsin never was the mayor of Moscow.
These few failures are small mistakes in a mainly very good book. Four stars for it. Please, I read the paperback ediction of this good book. Perhaps this ediction has another number for each part of the text. Please, this book is for anyone.

2.0 out of 5 stars A Shallow Look At Technology, November 16, 2011

By 

C. Wyndham (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Weapons Grade: How Modern Warfare Gave Birth to Our High-Tech World (Hardcover)

I purchased this book for $1.00 at a discount store, and I think I paid just about the right amount for it. This book is tangible proof that anyone can write a 400-page book by skimming Wikipedia articles and summarizing them in your own words. Nearly every topic is covered so broadly and on such a general level that, unless you have no knowledge whatsoever of technology, you will probably find this book to be mostly tedious. I say "mostly" because there *are* a few interesting sections.

The book contains an annoying number of minor factual errors, especially in the discussions on aviation technology, but for the layperson who wants an easy read without straining his/her brain too much, I suppose this book could be a good purchase.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hambling explains technology so the layperson understands, April 17, 2008

By 

Harriet M. Elliottt "social activist" (Venezuela) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Weapons Grade: How Modern Warfare Gave Birth to Our High-Tech World (Paperback)

Many books about advanced technology are hard to read. Not this one. I found parts of his book actually gripping, such as when he explained that the technology for the stealth bomber was hidden for 9 or 11 years just by making all the personnel on the run-way lay down so they could not see the plane!