Throughout history warfare has spurred scientific and technological innovations. Conversely, science and technology have always made substantial impacts on the field of war. WWII is no exception.

The article discusses Great Britain's code-breaking operations during World War II at Bletchley Park, home of the Government Code and Cypher School near Eastcote, England. It reports that Bletchley housed the Turing Bombe, an electromechanical device designed by mathematician Alan Turing to decrypt the codes produced by Germany's Enigma cipher machine. The wartime experiences of Ruth Bourne as a British cryptographer are detailed.

The Poles had broken Enigma in 1932, when the encoding machine was undergoing trials with the German Army. But when the Poles broke Enigma, the cipher altered only once every few months.

Ultra, Allied intelligence project that tapped the very highest level of encrypted communications of the German armed forces, as well as those of the Italian and Japanese armed forces, and thus contributed to the Allied victory in World War II.

The Enigma machine, first patented in 1919, was after various improvements adopted by the German Navy in 1926, the Army in 1928, and the Air Force in 1935. It was also used by the Abwehr, the Sicherheitsdienst, the railways, and other government departments.

BOMBE was the name of an electro-mechanical machine, developed during WWII by Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman, whilst working as codebreakers at Bletchley Park. It was used to help breaking the German Enigma codes and was (partly) based on the so-called BOMBA, an earlier machine developed by Polish mathematicians in 1938.

The article describes submarine detection technology during World War II. Britain took the lead in submarine detection during World War I, and by 1923 had deployed sonar systems in operational destroyer units. By 1931, an optimal shape for the underwater sonar housing was determined through experiments in which researchers rode in various-shaped pods under the boats to discover which configuration minimized disruptive noise from the water.

Recounts how Britain used a newfangled system called radar to defend itself against German bombers 50 years ago. Development of Radio Detecting and Ranging (RADAR); Role of Robert Watson Watt and the radar team; Hermann Goring's Luftwaffe strategy; Radar's role in World War II.

During the 1940s, investigators in the United States and Hungary bounced radar waves off the Moon for the first time, while others made the first systematic radar studies of meteors. These experiments constituted the initial exploration of the solar system with radar. In order to understand the beginnings of radar astronomy, we first must examine the origins of radar in radio, the decisive role of ionospheric research, and the rapid development of radar technology triggered by World War II.

penicillin, one of the first and still one of the most widely used antibiotic agents, derived from the Penicillium mold.

In a monthly column for PBS NewsHour, Dr. Howard Markel revisits moments that changed the course of modern medicine on their anniversaries, like the development of penicillin on Sept. 28, 1928. Above: Jean-Claude Fide is treated with penicillin by his mother in 1948.

As the discoverer of penicillin, Howard Florey is conservatively credited with saving 50 million lives since the second world war. Here, Simon Torok takes a look at this extraordinary man and his life work.

Guided missiles were one of Germany’s most important technical achievements during World War II.

Von Braun, Wernher (vôn broun), 1912–77, German-American rocket expert, b. Germany, grad. Berlin Technological Institute (B.S., 1932), Univ. of Berlin (Ph.D., 1934). Devoted to the pursuit of rocketry and spaceflight since his teenage years, von Braun assisted Hermann Oberth after 1930 in early experiments in building and firing small liquid fuel rockets.

Presents information on the use of the V-1 flying bomb by the German forces during air attacks in London, England in World War II. Role of the Fieseler Aircraft Company in the development of the bomb; Reaction of German launching crew to instances when a V-1 failed to leave the ramp; Efforts by Great Britain's Royal Air Force against V-1 attacks.

Jeep, outstanding light vehicle of World War II.

The most effective tank force proved to be the German, composed in 1939 of 3,195 vehicles, including 211 Pz. IVs.

The article discusses the tank productions of various countries during World War II. Topics covered include how understanding a major combatant's approach to tank manufacturing reflects how that country produced other military hardware like warships, trucks and artillery. Also mentioned is the extensive tank industry of the Soviet Union coming into World War II.

The article presents the story behind the production of jeep at the outbreak of World War II. After France surrendered to Germany in June 1940, The Army Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. issued specifications for a lightweight reconnaissance vehicle that could carry men and equipment across rough terrain. Willys-Overland and American Bantam Car Co. were the only car makers that responded to the Army's requests for proposals to make 70 pilot models.

Recalls the jeep, part packhorse, part Swiss Army Knife, the ubiquitous World War II vehicle, with its four-wheel drive, was up to almost anything. Carried out an improbable assortment of missions; Most important contribution to the war; Specifications to be met; Army's field testers; Description of vehicle and functions; Derivation of name; Examples of power, endurance, indestructibility; Legacy remains indelible; New York's Museum of Art saluted it an automotive masterpiece.

We humans need air to live, so we do best around sea level. Airplanes are at their best up high, where the air is thin and smooth. And therein lies the rub: We invented a machine that thrives where we don’t.

Triumph of putting the mightiest of bombers — Boeing's great B-29 Superfortress — into the air against our enemies is, above all, the triumph of the vision, ingenuity, effort, and courage of the American aircraft industry. This article was originally published in the July, 1944, issue of Aviation magazine, vol 43, no 7, pp 110-111, 278-281, 283-285.