100 Military Inventions that Changed the World

Book excerpt: Nothing ensures the rapid development of new technology like the involvement of the military. From the trebuchet and the cannon to the tank and the ballistic missile, military research programmes have produced the most devastating weapons imaginable, but military masterminds are responsible for a number of surprises along the way as well. Radar, walkie-talkies and the jet engine are more obvious examples of military inventions that are now in everyday use around the world, but there are plenty of items with which all of us come into contact on a daily basis that have been developed from military technology. Rod Green describes how the microwave oven in your kitchen, the sat-nav in your car or the Internet that you use every day all owe their existence to the military as he takes us on a highly entertaining voyage of discovery through the world of military inventions ancient and modern.