Churchill and the scientists: Thinking outside the box

No military conflict has ever generated more incredible ideas, more technical advances, and more scientific leaps than the Second World War. In the cauldron of ideas that bubbled away between 1939 and 1945, new inventions ranged from jet engines to roll-on roll-off ferries, from flying wings to floating tanks, from miniature radios to guided missiles. Prime Minister Winston Churchill immersed himself in the work of his engineers and inventors, his soldiers, sailors, and airmen, imprinting his own personality on the machines that were created in his name. He called this the ‘Wizard War’, and the scientists who contributed so many new and original ideas were often affecti