This study narrates the origin of radar at the Naval Research Laboratory. Radar should be seen as the product not simply of one man or even a group of men but rather as the result of individuals working within the structure of a mission-oriented research-and-development facility. To comprehend how radar was developed, when it was developed, and why, one must follow not just the evolution of technical progress but also the administrative and political decisions that shaped it. One must understand how the talents and motivations of the people who created this new device were related to the particular institutional situation and historical context in which they labored. The account is the story of a modern research-and-development laboratory in action. It discusses one major accomplishment of one institution. But it is also written to contribute to a broader understanding of the history of research and development laboratories in general and of the influence they have had on the course of modern American history. The work of the Naval Research Laboratory on radar is a significant episode in that story.

This book tells the story of the evolution of the Dahlgren Laboratory from a naval proof and test facility into a modern research and development center crucial to the technological evolution of the U.S. Navy. Combining a close analysis of the technical work that led to the improvements in weapons, bombsights, missiles, and the computers that provided their guidance with a close account of changing management styles, this work recounts many previously classified stories.

The extensive interaction between science/technology and the military has become increasingly apparent in the years since the Second World War. New institutional arrangements, new fields of study and research, new patterns of funding and support, new relations with industry, the academy and the state, and new professional roles have marked the sciences and technology; the military transformations have been equally important: new weapons systems of great complexity, new strategies and practices, new reliance on high technologies and advanced sciences, and extensive involvement in the funding of science and technology in the 'civilian' sector. While the literature in the social studies of science and technology has from time to time addressed these issues (especially from the historical perspective), the attention paid to the very extensive interactions and concommitant transformations has not been commensurate with the magnitude of the enterprise or changes undergone. These volumescontribute both reports of new research and stimulating additional study.Volume 12/1 contains Part I: War and the restructuring of physics, and Part II: The military and technological development.Volume 12/2 contains Part III: Transformation of industry and medicine, Part IV: Nuclear weapons and nuclear power, and Part V: R&D: military, industry and the academy.