Science and Technology
The 1940's saw great technological and scientific advances. There was a great push for technological ingenuity due to the Second World War. Technological advances were made in ships, planes, tanks, guns, medicine, communications and much more. World War II definitely brought about the greatest military since World War I. Not only were there military advances, but there were also other scientific achievements. These are included in the examples below.
Beginning in 1939 and going well into the 1940s, the Manhattan Project worked to find a way to make an atomic bomb. Two famous scientists involved were Enrico Fermi and Albert Einstein. Part of the tests were performed underneath the University of Chicago in a squash court. The project succeeded. The first atomic bomb was tested in New Mexico on July 16, 1945.
On October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager was the first pilot to break the sound barrier. He was in a U.S. Air Force F-15 jet flying over the Mojave Desert.
The basic idea of cellular phones began in 1947. Crude mobile phones were created, but not sold widely. They did not become popular until a few decades later.
In 1947, a team of New Jersey scientists (John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain) invent the transistor, winning them a Nobel Prize in Physics. A transistor is a semi-conductor capable of both amplification and refinement of current. This discovery greatly helped the field of electrical science.
Scientist Ralph Alpher made much progress in describing how the Big Bang actually worked in 1948. This theory describes how the universe began. It is stated in the theory that the universe began as one tiny condensed point of matter. It blew up into the universe we live in today. However, the theory was not ever really realistic until Alpher used mathematics to describe parts of the theory.
In 1949, Captain James Gallagher took a crew of 14 men on the first non-stop flight in the plane "Lucky Lady II" around the world.
Beginning in 1939 and going well into the 1940s, the Manhattan Project worked to find a way to make an atomic bomb. Two famous scientists involved were Enrico Fermi and Albert Einstein. Part of the tests were performed underneath the University of Chicago in a squash court. The project succeeded. The first atomic bomb was tested in New Mexico on July 16, 1945.
On October 14, 1947, Chuck Yeager was the first pilot to break the sound barrier. He was in a U.S. Air Force F-15 jet flying over the Mojave Desert.
The basic idea of cellular phones began in 1947. Crude mobile phones were created, but not sold widely. They did not become popular until a few decades later.
In 1947, a team of New Jersey scientists (John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain) invent the transistor, winning them a Nobel Prize in Physics. A transistor is a semi-conductor capable of both amplification and refinement of current. This discovery greatly helped the field of electrical science.
Scientist Ralph Alpher made much progress in describing how the Big Bang actually worked in 1948. This theory describes how the universe began. It is stated in the theory that the universe began as one tiny condensed point of matter. It blew up into the universe we live in today. However, the theory was not ever really realistic until Alpher used mathematics to describe parts of the theory.
In 1949, Captain James Gallagher took a crew of 14 men on the first non-stop flight in the plane "Lucky Lady II" around the world.