World War II Impacts

Technologies created during WWII to ensure victory found new applications as commercial items became staples of the American household in the years after the war's end. For example, considering military technology that had commercial significance after WWII, it is hard to overlook the cavity magnetron, a compact, hand-size device (Puiu). This technology aided World War II's victory and fundamentally altered how Americans cooked and enjoyed the food. The device's name, the cavity magnetron, may not be as well-known as what it produces: microwaves (Puiu). During WWII, the capacity to create reduced, or micro, wavelengths using a cavity magnetron advanced on pre-war radar systems, resulting in higher precision across longer distances. Radar technology was so important during World War II that some historians believe it assisted the Allies in achieving greater victory than any other technology item (Burton). After the war, cavity magnetron was used in new settings away from war crafts and aircraft carriers, becoming a popular fixture in American households.

Well after the war, Percy Spencer, an American engineer and specialist in radar configuration who helped create radar for battle, looked for methods to commercialize the innovation. According to popular belief, Spencer took notice when a candy bar in his pack melted while standing next to a radar setup (Burton). Spencer began experimenting with various foods, which paved the way for domestic microwave manufacture. Commercial microwaves were more available in the 1970s and 1980s, transforming how Americans cooked meals in ways that have persisted to this day (Puiu). Microwaves are become a standard component of the American household of the twenty-first century because of how simple it is to heat meals in them.

Furthermore, one of the most adverse times in humanity's civilization was World War II. However, from a technological standpoint, the years leading up to and following the war were among the most productive in the field's history (Burton). From launchers to rocket technologies, which are still very significant instruments today, completely fresh technologies would develop. The existence of space projects today, for instance, is questionable without the contributions of German engineers like Wernher von Braun. He ultimately played a significant role in the advancement of rocketry in Nazi Germany and, afterward, the U.S.A. Although neither the V-1 nor its successor, the V-2, were the miraculous weapons that helped the Germans win the war, the Soviet Union and the United States employed innovation in the initial phases of the space industry (Burton). Practically speaking, German V-2 rockets used during World War II prefigured intercontinental ballistic weapons used during the Cold War. They also made it possible to launch rockets beyond the planet's stratosphere and perhaps to the moon. Therefore, it is reasonable to claim that the German V-2 rocket from World War II was a technical forerunner of the enormous Saturn launchers used in NASA's moon mission (Burton). The fundamental working principle of the rockets was the use of massive amounts of liquid fuels that were combined and detonated to provide incredible thrust (Standard). The V-2 was a missile system and a terrifying instrument, but the considerably more potent multi-stage Saturn was a space flight vehicle designed for peaceful research. This was their most significant distinction. The German V-1 and V-2 launchers also pioneered the path for problem-solving techniques in scientific research. The engineering, administrative, and commercial skills of von Braun, who also created the V-2, were advantageous to Saturn (Standard). Von Braun became the principal designer of the launchers that carried humans to the moon thanks to post-war study and advancement that drew on significant American assets.

Work Cited

Burton , Kristen. “The scientific and technological advances of World War II: The National WWII museum: New Orleans.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, The National World War II Museum, 31 July 2020, https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/scientific-and-technological-advances-world-war-ii.

Puiu, Tibi. “How the microwave oven was made from WWII Radar Tech.” ZME Science, 3 Sept. 2018, https://www.zmescience.com/science/physics/microwave-oven-from-ww2/.

Standard, the Military. “Themilitarystandard - US ICBM's.” Rocketry during World War II, http://www.themilitarystandard.com/missile/rocketryww2.php.