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Is there a good book I can read about all of this cold-war era tech? I find it endlessly fascinating the number of programs and technology advancements that hap

by 23B1 5y ago

Is there a good book I can read about all of this cold-war era tech? I find it endlessly fascinating the number of programs and technology advancements that happened during this period.

toss1 5y ago
I don't have a good book to recommend offhand, but wandering a bit offotpic here, I know someone who worked on a military orbital program in the late '70 that was transmitting data from orbit at 800MB/s. Some congressmen had not heard of this technology and were working to fund a completely different (iirc, civilian) program intending to develop essentially the same capabilities. They had to go give a few TS briefings to the congressmen to dissuade them from writing the redundant funding into the next defense spending bill.
dundarious 5y ago
Not a book, and not Cold War, but I think this talk does a good job outlining just how much of the silicon revolution came directly from WW2 military research. It also does a decent job of explaining how technologically advanced the aerial part of that war really was. https://youtu.be/ZTC_RxWN_xo https://youtu.be/ZTC_RxWN_xo
- 23B1 5y ago
  Thank you.
patrick0d 5y ago
There's a book called "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich about the making of different spy planes. There's some mentions in the book about satellites and what existed at the time how projects were carried out.
- panda88888 5y ago
  Skunk Works is a great read. Highly recommend it for people interested in the defense technology.
ChuckMcM 5y ago
You may (or may not :-) find it surprising that there is a vibrant ecosystem of research and development on both defensive and offensive systems on going to this day. The IEEE used to give a talk about "Black Silicon Valley" which was not about people of color and their contributions (although that would be an awesome talk too) but about the origins of the technology focus in Silicon Valley with regard to radio and RADAR development starting in WW2 and continuing on to this day. When I first moved to Sunnyvale my neighbor worked at Lockheed and all he could tell me was that he worked with electricity :-). He said he hoped that some of the stuff he had worked on was disclosed in the future so that he could tell is kids and/or grand kids about it. Having gone to school in LA where, at the time, ALL of the EE jobs were in the Defense sector, I specifically moved up to the Bay Area to work on cool stuff I could actually talk about with others[1]. One thing of note is that ageism is MUCH less of an issue in jobs that require security clearances. So a number of engineers who are suddenly perceived as "too old" to contribute to the latest hot startup find themselves recruited by the Raytheons and General Dynamics type companies that recognize their skills are valuable. [1] As an new college grad [NCG] I was not yet aware of the myriad ways in which employers would use non-disclosure agreements to thwart such conversations.
- dylan604 5y ago
  >the origins of the technology focus in Silicon Valley it's sad to me that most SV focus now is about how to sell more stuff to people whether that's through direct advertising or creating "social" platforms where people get to "influence" you into buying something or paying for something
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hodgesrm 5y ago
Check out the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos if you live near Silicon Valley. It has some amazing military tech from the 50s and 60s. Some of the aircraft have to be seen to be believed.

by 23B1 5y ago

Is there a good book I can read about all of this cold-war era tech? I find it endlessly fascinating the number of programs and technology advancements that happened during this period.

toss1 5y ago

I don't have a good book to recommend offhand, but wandering a bit offotpic here, I know someone who worked on a military orbital program in the late '70 that was transmitting data from orbit at 800MB/s. Some congressmen had not heard of this technology and were working to fund a completely different (iirc, civilian) program intending to develop essentially the same capabilities. They had to go give a few TS briefings to the congressmen to dissuade them from writing the redundant funding into the next defense spending bill.

dundarious 5y ago

Not a book, and not Cold War, but I think this talk does a good job outlining just how much of the silicon revolution came directly from WW2 military research. It also does a decent job of explaining how technologically advanced the aerial part of that war really was. https://youtu.be/ZTC_RxWN_xo https://youtu.be/ZTC_RxWN_xo

23B1 5y ago
Thank you.

patrick0d 5y ago

There's a book called "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich about the making of different spy planes. There's some mentions in the book about satellites and what existed at the time how projects were carried out.

panda88888 5y ago
Skunk Works is a great read. Highly recommend it for people interested in the defense technology.

ChuckMcM 5y ago

You may (or may not :-) find it surprising that there is a vibrant ecosystem of research and development on both defensive and offensive systems on going to this day. The IEEE used to give a talk about "Black Silicon Valley" which was not about people of color and their contributions (although that would be an awesome talk too) but about the origins of the technology focus in Silicon Valley with regard to radio and RADAR development starting in WW2 and continuing on to this day. When I first moved to Sunnyvale my neighbor worked at Lockheed and all he could tell me was that he worked with electricity :-). He said he hoped that some of the stuff he had worked on was disclosed in the future so that he could tell is kids and/or grand kids about it. Having gone to school in LA where, at the time, ALL of the EE jobs were in the Defense sector, I specifically moved up to the Bay Area to work on cool stuff I could actually talk about with others[1]. One thing of note is that ageism is MUCH less of an issue in jobs that require security clearances. So a number of engineers who are suddenly perceived as "too old" to contribute to the latest hot startup find themselves recruited by the Raytheons and General Dynamics type companies that recognize their skills are valuable. [1] As an new college grad [NCG] I was not yet aware of the myriad ways in which employers would use non-disclosure agreements to thwart such conversations.

dylan604 5y ago
>the origins of the technology focus in Silicon Valley it's sad to me that most SV focus now is about how to sell more stuff to people whether that's through direct advertising or creating "social" platforms where people get to "influence" you into buying something or paying for something
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

hodgesrm 5y ago

Check out the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos if you live near Silicon Valley. It has some amazing military tech from the 50s and 60s. Some of the aircraft have to be seen to be believed.