Dennis D. McDonald (ddmcd@ddmcd.com)consults from Alexandria Virginia. His services include writing & research, proposal development, and project management.
Did Kelly Johnson and the people at Lockheed, the CIA, and the U.S. Air Force realize they were developing a “platform” whose utility would extend over decades? Probably not. Aeronautical history of the time is littered with failed jets and engines designs. Survivors are few and the U-2 stands out.
Perhaps the best that we can say is that there was a lot of experimentation but the means of organizing and controlling technology did not advance as rapidly as the technologies themselves.
As I’ve always enjoyed detailed stories about challenging engineering and construction projects (atomic bomb, hydroge bomb, skyscrapers, the Brooklyn Bridge, etc.) this book fit my interests like a glove. I just wish we could send McCullough back in time to tell us how the Pyramids were really built!
I’ve always been fascinated by “big science” projects and how they were managed. Often there’s a confluence of private and public sector, academia, and military; the nuclear arms race as presented here is certainly not an exception.
Blackett’s War is an uneven but very interesting account of how basic science and engineering techniques, now called “operations research” or “operational research,” were applied to solving military problems during World War II.
This is a popular history about three “giants” of electrification — Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla. Along the way we learn a lot about the commercialization of electricity in late 19th century America and the role that large corporations played in the spread of this technology. We also see how important patents — and patent protection — were in enabling a few powerful individuals to control the spread of the new technology.
I’m about half way through. Right now, the initial construction of the Chrysler Building is being described, as well as all the intrigues — business and architectural — surrounding the race to build “the highest building.”
Yikes, this is a scary book. I had either never known or had forgotten about the awfulness of the times when huge proportions of our GNP were devoted to developing strategic weapons and the means to deliver them.