Evening star., 1945-08-16
The Story of Rudor

II the human spirit is chilled ana
frightened a bit by the awesome
and apocalyptic epic Of the atomic
bomb, 1t will tind measure OF genu-
Inc satisfaction and relief in the
story of radar. Here. too. was one
Of the wars great secrets, but today,
as revealed at last by the War and
Navy Departments and the ONCE OF
Scientific Research and Develop
ment, 1t stands in the open as an
achievement In which no evil-po-
tential or otherwise-is implicit.
It has been a weapon of war. of
course. but in and OF itself 1t has
not been destructive. Taking its
name from the phrase radio detec-
tion and ranging" it has worked It's
wonders In the field of electronics.
A device made up, in varying forms,
of transmitter and receiver, between
which pulses" and their echoes"
travel back and forth at the speed
of light. it has made possible such
things as these: CD the defeat of
the Luftwaffe in the Battle OF Brit
ain; ca magically automatic and ac-
curate antiaircraft fire: 80 the mas
sacre of U-boats in the Atlantic;
(4 our tremendous strategical and
tactical bombing offensives: 90
miracles of navigation at sea and
in the sky: and Co revolutionary
improvements in our naval opera
tions against the Axis.
The official story-written in su-
perbly clear and understandable
language. despite the highly techni-
cal character of the subject-must
be read In full to be appreciated.
There are so many fascinating facets
to it that it does not lend itself to
adequate summary. Neither night
nor day exists in radar's world. 1t
sees over great distances in the dark
as well as in the light. and through
the densest fog no less than through
the clear atmosphere. AS developed
by British and American genius,
through governmental, industrial
and university channels, 1t has been
something that the defeated Axis
countries could never quite match
fact that accounts in no small
degree for our victory.
In both its defensive and offensive
role. radar's function may be de-
scribed, in an oversimplified way,
as follows: It sends out an enor-
mously powerful pulse; the pulse"
hits some object-a ship. a plane.
building-and echoes" are sent
back millionths of q second later
to the receiver: the object then is
exposed to immediate attack. For
example. this "eye" of an American
naval task force, in the black of
night, sights an enemy task force
ten or more miles away; it gets the
range; the guns automatically swing
to position: the first salvo hurtles
through the dark: the "eye's" oper-
ator watches" the shells on their
course, sees an indication of their
splashes. reads OF a range correc-
ton. and the guns boom again, this
time squarely hitting their mark,
and the enemy war vessel sinks out
Of sight on the radar screen. As the
onicial story puts 1t. "The ship has
been discovered. identified. tracked,
fired upon, and sunk without a man
seeing 1t usually"
This is but one of the many
wonders now revealed about radar,
and what makes the story all the
more remarkable, and even thrilling,
is the speed with which the triumph
was achieved-from virtually moth
ing but an abstract idea seven years
ago to the present great reality.
It's immediate peacetime Importance
will be to make air and sea naviga-
tion foolproof. regardless of night
or weather. Further, it means these
things: that individual radio COM
munication now has been made
practical: that we can have excel
lent television sets in our homes
just as soon as manufacturers get
busy turning them out; and that q
great new American enterprise is in
being-the electronic enterprise,
comparable in size to the prewar
automobile industry.
Here, surely, the mind of man has
devised something completely bene-
fetal in character-a wondrous tri-
umph of genius pooled in q mighty,
cooperative endeavor to advance the
frontiers of human knowledge for
the betterment of the life of the
world everywhere.
MiIkind