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Inventions and developments and war

14th July 2017

By: Terry Mackenzie-hoy

     

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We all know that Charles H Duell was the commissioner of the US patent office in 1899. His most famous attributed utterance is that “everything that can be invented has been invented”.

In point of fact, he said nothing of the kind. The myth of him saying this is very unfortunate because it suggests that somebody who was the commissioner of the US patent office in 1899 would be so colossally arrogant as to say such a thing. Of all people, he would be the very one to never say anything so stupid.

I have been thinking about inventions lately, particularly the influence of warfare on inventions. Every time there is a war of any significance, there are a lot of inventions that come out of the war that, ultimately, are beneficial to mankind. This brings us to the overwhelming question (thank you, Mr Eliot): Is the advancement of mankind dependent on war?

This is one of those propositions whereby, to answer the question, one has to define the word ‘war’ and the term ‘beneficial to mankind’. So, instead of trying to prove or disprove the concept, it is more interesting to just sit back and stare at how war changed things in a short time.

In the US Civil War, the invention of the telegraph and the railroad resulted in widespread use of the two systems, and they grew much faster than they would have in times of peace.

The first motor car designed specifically for motorised travel (as opposed to a motorised carriage), Karl Benz’s Benz Patent Motorwagen, appeared in 1885. Until 1914, the start of World War 1, this vehicle and many others were all on similar themes. By the end of 1918, when the war ended, the motor car, trucks, tanks and so on had changed beyond imagination. Aircraft had developed from fairly lightweight prewar construction to metal-clad monoplanes, one of which, piloted by Charles Lindbergh, was flown solo across the Atlantic Ocean. The World War 1 also produced radio broadcasting in audio and laid the platform for the first television.

With World War 2 on the horizon, there were rapid developments in aircraft, radios, radar and ships, as well as important pharmaceuticals and anaesthetics. By the time the war ended, there had been huge strides in radar, goods handling, medicines and disease control. A chance meeting between a brewer and a chemist resulted in massive increases in the production of antibiotics. Then there was the nuclear bomb, without which we would not have the development of nuclear power stations. In 1946, the first commercial helicopter, the Bell 47, came into service and its development modifications were greatly enhanced by its use in the Korean War, from 1950 to 1953.

After the Korean War came the Vietnam War, from which came not too much of use today, apart from advanced weapon and aviation technology.

From the inventions I have mentioned, I think we can conclude that things develop fast in times of war but not in times of peace. It took us from about 1975 to 1993 to get to Windows III, the fax machine, the cellphone and the smartphone, all of which went from initial thought to full distribution in at least ten years.

In World War 2, the nuclear bomb was developed in three years. Thus, perhaps it is this: wars do not result in an increase in the number of inventions – Apple, Samsung and Microsoft have rolled their stuff out without the assistance of a war. What seems to be the case is that inventions occur all the time but, when they may be useful in winning a war, the price that the items can fetch goes up significantly. The speed at which the items develop and evolve is very rapid and the ‘perfection’ of the item is not 100% but its reliability is – the item is needed quickly and it must work 100%. I am in no hurry to see this thesis tested; I would rather just jog along without the benefit of a war to develop the latest useful widget. Lazy, I know.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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