One of the most infamous innovations in the world was the Atom bomb. It killed millions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and even left harmful radiation. Although this bomb still stands as the most haunting of the inventions of the war, few know that it is not the only one. World war II gave the world many more heinous as well as creative inventions that altered the world and the lives of generations to come. Here are some of them :
- Flu Vaccines – The influenza pandemic hit the US during World War I and made it difficult for the administration to keep their focus on any one thing. This is what motivated the authorities in The USA to come up with a way to stop it. The American Army joined hands with Thomas Francis, Jr., MD and Jonas Salk, MD who served as the leading researchers on the project that came up with the vaccine. They employed a technique in which fertilised chicken eggs were used in the process which is something that is still used to make vaccines for any flu. The first flu vaccine was approved for use in 1945 but was only supposed to be administered to military personnel.
- Penicillin – Penicillin is an antibiotic that causes the blood to clot in case of a fatal injury. It helps prevent excessive loss of blood and can save a life if administered at the right time. Penicillin was invented accidentally by a scientist named Alexander Fleming in 1928. The US needed Penicillin to use during the war to help save the lives of their soldiers but its use and manufacturing were not at such a large scale. This encouraged the US war department to start mass-producing and using penicillin as a treatment. Because of this urgent requirement of penicillin in cases of emergency, civilians got their hands on this life-saving drug soon too. Apart from that, the USA produced about 2.3 million doses for the allied forces as well.
Dr. Alexander Fleming, bacteriologist who discovered penicillin in 1928, works in his laboratory in London. (Photo by Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images) - Jet planes – Hans von Ohain from Germany was the first person to have designed and put in the patent for a jet engine for aeroplanes. Germany even did test runs for the aircraft in the year 1939, just two days before they were supposed to invade Poland. The credit for the first jet engine often goes to the British engineer Frank Whittle because the British Air Force finally developed the planes based on the designs that Frank Whittle had come up with nearly a decade ago. They did test runs of these designs on May 15, 1941, and that’s when the world got its first jet plane that used the power of jet for propulsion. They used a lot more fuel than the previous aircraft did but jet planes were much faster and had a great impact on the war because of their capabilities.
First jet engine, Picture credit: Getty Images - Synthetic rubber – Natural rubber was obtained in the south of the Pacific and was blocked by the Axis powers. This posed a problem for the allies and they had to create substitutes for natural rubber which led them to create synthetic rubber for the purposes that they required it for. The rubber was called Neoprene and was first formulated in the year 1931. It was extremely useful since it was used in every other military machine. Apart from that too, rubber was used in the tiers of trucks and other vehicles used for transportation of goods, soldiers and other kinds of manpower etc.
- Plasma transfusion – Along with advancements in the field of technology, this period brought a lot of growth in terms of medicine as well. All the allied countries were losing life and health because of fatal injuries. The method of using blood plasma had been formulated before and research studies had been going on but it was only during World War II that a surgeon named Charles Drew standardised the way to formulate and use blood plasma for medicinal purposes and treatment of people. Under the program “Plasma for Britain” they even started a nationwide campaign to collect to be able to extract the plasma to send to Britain. On the battlefield, it was transported in glass jars and used on many soldiers with life-threatening injuries.
- Computers – Many had been working on the development of computers well before World War II had begun. But, the rapid advancement of such technology was required from both sides and all scientists increased their efforts for the same. That is how the war was responsible for the creation of a machine that is the closest to the computers we see and know today. One such device was known as the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) and was designed to perform heavy calculations for military purposes. Computers were not as compact as we see them today, the ENIAC was up to 40 cabinets big and took up 1500 square feet. It also was 9 feet in height and cost $400,000. Soon after the war, it was offered for civilian use in the year 1946 expecting that it would revolutionize the way mathematics for big numbers is performed.
Picture Credit: Getty Images - A radar – A radar is a device that uses radio waves to determine the distance, size and speed of an object. The first time radar was designed was in Britain by a scientist named Robert Watson-Watt. Radar is extremely useful during combat which is why it was designed during World War II by an American engineer named Percy Spencer. Radar helped greatly in the war because it helped to identify if any enemy ships or planes were approaching them and from what direction. Experts even say that the use of radar helped the Allies win the war more than the atom bomb itself.
- Microwave – It was discovered that an active radar set could produce heat. This radar technology was improved upon to produce short microwaves that could be used to warm food or other things. The invention of radar is the one that opened avenues for scientists and engineers to come up with a prototype for microwaves to use in households. Putting this wartime technology to use, microwaves were manufactured and became very popular in the 1980s and 1990s.
