The quality of a professional that distinguishes him from a tradesman is his formal knowledge, which includes an understanding of the background and origins of his business. A chemist should know about Robert Boyle, Antoine Lavoisier, John Dalton, Amadeo Avogadro, Henry Louis Le-Chatelier, and many, many, more. A medical doctor should know about Hippocrates, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Louis Pasteur, Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, Joseph Lister, and more. If for no other reason, those who made contributions to the science must never be forgotten, for to forget them is to dishonor them, and to dishonor the roots of the science is to discredit the profession. Science is a characteristic of a highly developed civilization and intellect; its growth and maintenance relies upon perpetual regard for the past. In most cases, the founders of science were geniuses who made incredible discoveries with only primitive knowledge; we owe them eternal gratitude, for there are very few of us, if any at all, who could achieve what they have achieved. It is the responsibility of every member of a profession to keep his or her memory and respect alive. Although most think of radar as a precipitate of World War II, its beginnings are traceable to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a brief period of unparalleled discovery, ingenuity, and invention in the history of man. And although the US government was the major entity responsible for the development of modern microwave radar as we know it today, this credit is due to the imposition of urgency of World War II, and to the gift of the multicavity magnetron by the British government in 1940.

Chapter Contents:

• The Basic Physical Science
• Propagation of Electrical Waves
• Inventions in Early Radio Communications
• Radiolocation
• Pulsed Radar
• The Cathode Ray Tube
• Radar Developments from 1930 through 1940
• Microwave Radar and 'The Greatest Shipment'
• The Pearl Harbor Surprise Attack
• The Reflex Klystron
• The Explosion of Radar Science in World War II
• Electronic Countermeasures and Aircraft Identification
• The Landing Radar
• The Berlin Airlift
• GCA and Civilian Air Traffic Control
• Other Air Traffic Control Radars
• Ground-Controlled Intercept (GCI) Radar Systems
• Air Route Surveillance Radar (ARSR)
• The Joint-Use ARSR Program
• Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE)
• Review Questions
• Answers to Review Questions

Inspec keywords: history; magnetrons; radar

Other keywords: Hippocrates; British government; Robert Boyle; Amadeo Avogadro; microwave radar; Anton van Leeuwenhoek; Henry Louis Le-Chatelier; Joseph Lister; multicavity magnetron; Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis; US government; Louis Pasteur; Antoine Lavoisier; radar rich history; John Dalton

Subjects: Microwave tubes; Other general electrical engineering topics; Radar equipment, systems and applications