What war-time innovation has gifted the world...

Reading over the discoveries listed it is obvious that the title of this topic should be:

How discoveries or innovations are applied to war time use.

Example:

Penicillin was "discovered" at least as early as 1929. A way of mass producing it was not found until 1943. It became available to allied forces in mass quantities prior to D-Day.

The accelerated development of the Atomic bomb could be attributed to war. Nuclear power plants could be considered a beneficial development of this war time innovation.

Most of the items brought up on this topic are things that were known before wars and just applied to warfare for the benefit of the military.
 
That is true. I actually found that finding inventions first invented BY the military and applied to civilian use later much harder to find.
 
I can't be arsed at this point.
You were not being "arsed", your point was a lot closer to true than the guy who thought the machinegun was an "innovation that has gifted the world".

It is tough to find things invented during wars to be used in warfare that have really advanced humanity.
 
TCP/IP Protocol -Devoloped by the DOD during the Cold War as a non-interruptable method of data communication.
 
Aircraft carriers:) 4.5 acres of sovereign United States that can be placed withing striking or aid distance of anywhere in the world
 
I've thought of parachutes, but it seems more like a civilian development that was quickly adopted by the military than vice versa.

Field Rations (Combat Rations).
Used to feed soldiers on the move, now used in a variety of ways for anyone who may not be near a kitchen for a while.
I would really like to know who first invented them!

Before Field Rations, the invention of the canning system for food revolutionized food storage, and is credited with being one of THE major factors in Napoleon's success.
 
Well, i tried to think out of the box and came up with some "unconventional" inventions :shock:

paved roads, road networks - romans created first advanced road networks to help military logistics

GDP - WW2, needed to estimate industrial capacity and countries abilities to prouce weapons

democracy - in ancient greece hoplite formations were able to beat cavalry, so upper class nobles could not rule middle class anymore --> prequisite for development of democracy

WW2, public became aware of drugs like pervitine, amfetamine and
opiates... :/

Horse domestication and horseback riding, 4500 - 2000 BC - for waging war and transportation.

combined fork and spoon, Spork!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Luha.jpg :D
 
What would have happened with out the Radios for passing on messages and organising the whole battlefiled. Then there was morse code which had been going for some years and lasted right up into the 1980's, this was used a great feal during both World Wars and had major impact on many a battle.
 
Well, i tried to think out of the box and came up with some "unconventional" inventions :shock:

paved roads, road networks - romans created first advanced road networks to help military logistics

GDP - WW2, needed to estimate industrial capacity and countries abilities to prouce weapons

democracy - in ancient greece hoplite formations were able to beat cavalry, so upper class nobles could not rule middle class anymore --> prequisite for development of democracy

WW2, public became aware of drugs like pervitine, amfetamine and
opiates... :/

Horse domestication and horseback riding, 4500 - 2000 BC - for waging war and transportation.

combined fork and spoon, Spork!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Luha.jpg :D



+1 for the SPORK !!! LOL :D


Gunpowder anyone ???
 
Gunpowder, invented by some Chinese scientists looking for a way to make gold. What they didn't realize that they've created a whole new field of warfare that changed history forever.
 
Aircraft carriers 4.5 acres of sovereign United States that can be placed withing striking or aid distance of anywhere in the world
The aircraft carrier was invented between WW-1 and WW-2. As part of an arms limitation conference (the Washington Conference) between the major naval powers, all battleships and battle-cruisers under construction were to be converted to a ship that was considered 'defensive'!
One invention which originally went back to 1926, was the F.E.T. transistor.... in theory. It was a 'lab toy' until a significant development in 1949, an "field effect transistor" (FET). Integrated circuits were invented in the early 1960s but, it would have remained a lab toy because of the extremely high price. The Cold War is what funded the ICs.
By the time I gotten into I.C. drafting in the mid-1960s. Back then a simple decade counter or a four bit binary counter from Texas Instruments cost over $220 apiece in quantities of 500+! NASA and the US Military were the only customers because these items were so expensive. These two customers developed many of the state of the art circuits and aided in the crucial processing of the ICs. Without the military and NASA, we would probably have in 2010, state of the art products such as, four function calculators, digital clocks, etc. No computers or video games... not yet!

Also, the field of "combat medicine" as we know it today, with "triage", the doctor's and nurses washing their hands before touching a patient, insisting on clean water, etc. all were part of Sara Barton's efforts as a nurse during the US Civil War! Later Sara Barton founded the Red Cross organization.
 
There are rather few true innovations in war. Military types tend to be very conservative in terms of new technology. An example of this is how the US big shots at Pearl Harbor ignored the radar signals that warned of imminent attack.

What has happened in war, many many times, is a very rapid development of a concept.

Emergency medical procedures always seem to get a boost in War. WWII saw the rapid development of Sulfa drugs and Antibiotics. They were both around before the war, but developed with major funding and research during the war.

I won't care to argue when the first "paramedic" was around, but it took two World Wars, Korea and Viet Nam, from the US point of view, to create a "first responder" different from a doctor or nurse. Nursing also made big strides during war. Many other medical procedures were created or developed.

Of course, War also works the other way. Flying boats became utilitarian in WWI, but after the proliferation of airstrips and airfields, were not needed much after WWII. Some of the first passenger aircraft were flying boats.

Living in Fl. I have a "hurricane kit," supplies to have on hand if a hurricane hits. Most of my stuff is military surplus: Food designed for long-term storage, communications, heat, light and other things, the whole concept of an emergency kit is probably military as well.
 
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