Summary of Alex Abella's Soldiers of Reason

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 Henry H. Arnold was a true believer in the power of the Air Force. He was one of only nine people ever to earn the rank of five-star general, and the only one with that rank in the Air Force. He had pushed for an Air Force independent of the Army, and he never wavered in his conviction of the usefulness of maximum destructive power in combat.

#2 Arnold was a fanatical swimmer, and he pushed for the Air Force to be independent of the Army. He hired a test pilot named Franklin R. Collbohm to help him establish a new kind of scientific community, and the two men flew to California to meet with Douglas Aircraft boss Donald Douglas.

#3 The Air Force was formed in 1946, and it was led by General Curtis LeMay. He was a cold warrior who wanted to develop new weapons, and he was the ideal candidate to lead the organization.

#4 The US government contracted out its scientific research to private companies, so that they could create new weapons faster and cheaper.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Sep 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798350029697

IRB Media

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Insights on Alex Abella's Soldiers of Reason

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The American New Order was beginning to crack apart after the war. The country had harnessed the power of its industries and scientists, but now they wanted to make money and do research. Few wanted to put up with the military’s restrictions and low pay.

#2

The idea of having a group of independent scientists consulting for the military was proposed by Theodore von Kármán, Arnold’s chief scientific adviser, in 1945. It was called Toward New Horizons.

#3

The birth of Project RAND was marked by a meeting in Hamilton Air Force Base, California, in March 1946. The organization was created to develop new weapons, and its charter was clear: Project RAND is a continuing program of scientific study and research on the broad subject of air warfare with the object of recommending to the Air Force preferred methods, techniques, and instrumentalities for this purpose.

#4

The United States had demobilized its armed forces after World War II, and new weapons, such as the atomic bomb, were seen as cheaper and more efficient than keeping large numbers of soldiers stationed abroad. The government contracted out its scientific research development to private firms.

#5

The founding fathers of RAND were Arnold and his group, but LeMay was its godfather. He was a legendary pilot in the Army Air Corps, and he led squads of B-17s to South America to display their range and effectiveness in national defense.

#6

The success of the B-29 project, though, would later prove horrifying to many people around the world, for the payloads were incendiary bombs designed to inflict the greatest amount of damage to the civilian population of Japan.

#7

The first comprehensive satellite feasibility assessment was written by four employees of RAND, with the help of consultants, in 1947. It was prophetic in advocating the use of multiple-stage rockets, specifying maximum desired acceleration rates, and recommending studies on alcohol–liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen–liquid oxygen as propellants.

#8

John von Neumann was hired by Collbohm to help develop a theory of war. He was paid $200 a month, the average monthly salary at the time. He had a penchant for things that went very fast in