The whole story is a bit more complicated and–believe it or not–starts with acoustic mirrors.īoth the British and the Germans had RADAR. Without RADAR, the British couldn’t defend their entire airspace with the number of planes available. One well-known story is that the Battle of Britain was won by the timely development of RADAR.
World War II was a time of a lot of technical innovations that changed combat. One example of this is the advent of RADAR during the second world war, and the recognition of how it was different from previous airplane detection methods like acoustic mirrors. Recognizing the changes in real time can be the difference between success and failure. Big companies that used to provide dial up Internet access are all but gone or–at least–transformed beyond recognition. It used to be common for people to use travel agents. It looks like widespread acceptance of bank cards has all but killed off the paper check, for example. It is harder to see that while it is happening. Even though there are still people who make horseshoes, it’s obvious today’s need is a shadow of the demand found prior to the automobile. There used to be a huge industry revolving around harvesting and shipping ice from cold climates to other locations. I’ll get back to the acoustic mirrors, but first, consider how changes in technology can sometimes change how we do things in a fundamental way. The story of these devices runs through World War II and is an object lesson in how new technology requires new ways of thinking about things. Just a science curiosity, right? Maybe today, but not always. The limestone installations (see right) are concave and focus sound like a parabolic mirror will focus light. If you stand or sit near one of the vessels, you can hear a whisper from someone near the other vessel. created two acoustic mirrors 70 feet apart, pointing at each other. The one at Houston’s Discovery Green park is called the listening vessels. A lot of science museums and parks feature something called an acoustic mirror.
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