| In no particular order:
1. Penicillin and other anti-biotics
2. UHF FM radio
3. Radar, in particular microwave radar. By the by, the Japanese beat the British to inventing it....
4. Nuclear power / weapons
5. Metallurgy. The advances in this field were tremendous during the war. Tungsten carbide (prewar it was marginally in use), alloy and stainless steels, aluminum alloys, titanium etc.
6. Plastics. This was almost a new field in 1939 with few in use. Use was widespread by 1945 and was quickly replacing wood in most applications.
7. Gas turbines (jet engines)
8. Operations research and industrial engineering. New fields that brought science to the application of war and industry. The introduction of the "Mil-Spec" and rigorous quality control had massive ramifications in reliability and production of war materials.
9. Room temperature storable rations. From C rations to M&M's to the canned potato or Spam this made an enormous impact on health and well being of troops and civilian populations.
10. Layered clothing designed for combat and outdoor living.
Note, with the exception of nuclear weapons not one thing on this list is a weapon. This is because the weapons of WW 2, like most throughout history, were evolutionary not revolutionary in nature. |