[Milsurplus] British First

[David Edsall]

Hi Ray and the group,

There is a tendency to use the word "invented" rather loosely - remember Al
Gore's claim to have invented the internet.  I think it fair to say that the
British were the first to deploy a radar controlled air defense system
(Chain Home) and it worked.  Perhaps we should say that radar was not so
much invented as it was developed simultaneously in several countries,
notably the UK, the US and Germany, all of whom used it to good effect in WW
II.
I have a short history of the development of a CW radar in the Soviet Union
in the 1930s which is a fascinating account of what it was like to work
within the limitations of the Soviet electronics industry, e.g., they had to
fabricate their own tubes at the lab where this system was developed.
Unfortunately, there was no mention of pulse radar systems development in
the USSR.
I have an encyclopedic account of the world wide development of radar in
Polish - we translated the book for a government dept. about 20 years ago.
Still a good reference.
Does anyone know of newer references to radar development in other
countries?
73,
David Edsall, W1TDD

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ray Fantini" <RAFANTINI at salisbury.edu>
To: <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 5:12 PM
Subject: [Milsurplus] British First


> In respect to the claim that the British invented radar. This is simply
> not true.  <snip>