By the first decade of the twentieth century, Germany was the Mecca of science and technology in the world. However, by the beginning of the First World War, Germany began to display some of the features that would blight the conduct of ideal science through the rest of the century. After Hitler came into power in 1933, science and technology were quickly pressed into service by racist, xenophobic idealologies. From 1939 to the war’s end, scientists working under military control began research on nuclear chain reaction with the prospect of arming Hitler with an atomic bomb. By 1943, few areas of German science, technology, and industry had not been experimentation and mass killing. How German scientists behaved in the era spanning the beginning of the First War and the end of the Second raises many questions, disturbing and relevant to this day, about how scientists act under pressure of social and political circumstances and events. In pondering the moral and political predicament of the unregulated pursuit of scientific progress, Hitler’s Scientists today prompts uncomfortable parallels with the past.
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"Picked this up at the Smithsonian, after seeing quite a few German planes from WWII. Very readable, though it felt as though his thesis got a little more lost than I'd like. The parts where he stood up and took a stand on, for instance, Heisenberg's culpability, were quite rich and well-crafted." — Olivia (4 out of 5 stars)
"Picked this up at the Smithsonian, after seeing quite a few German planes from WWII. Very readable, though it felt as though his thesis got a little more lost than I'd like. The parts where he stood up and took a stand on, for instance, Heisenberg's culpability, were quite rich and well-crafted."
“A comprehensive, well-documented and, above all, thoughtful account of the scientists who served Hitler—or, at least, Germany—during the Third Reich.”
“A timely study of the world’s first great scientific-military-industrial complex.”
“Disturbing and important.”
" Interesting, but too scattered in organization to be effective as an audiobook. "
" La ciencia no es neutra "
" I only read about 1/2 of this book ( up to page 215 or so ? ). Kinda lost interest in it, but maybe I'll pick it up again at a later date .... "
" Interesting, well written, and well resourced. The book is not just about the scientists and politicians who shaped warfare during WW1 and WW2, but it also clearly explains the science and the political backdrop. "
" Silly title. Great book about the philosophical and moral implications of science "
" An excellent book which demonstrates - one more time - that the very evil of Germany's goals is what caused Germany to lose WWII. The most gifted scientists by and large left Germany, and the remaining ones had weird agendas and limited resources. "
" An interesting look at the scientists that work for Hitler during World War II and their creativity under very difficult circumstances. "
" A fascinating study of scientists and scientific persuits leading up to and during WWII. Covers both the true science and how science became corrupted as the course of the war continued. "
Simon Prebble, a British-born performer, is a stage and television actor and veteran narrator of some three hundred audiobooks. As one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices, he has received thirty-seven Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie in 2010. He lives in New York.
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