science · 29 July 1917 · 107 years ago
birth
Born 29 Jul 1917; died 8 Feb 1983 at age 65.
Dr Henry Albert Howard "Harry" Boot was an English physicist, who worked with John Randall developing the cavity magnetron, the microwave-generating device used in radar. This made a major contribution to winning WWII. Earlier magnetrons made in the 1920's gave low power output. By Feb 1940, advances by Randall and Boot in the design of the small-sized cavity magnetron, produced centimeter wavelengths at much higher power, which allowed radar to detect smaller objects. In turn, this more compact equipment with a smaller antenna permitted easy mobile installation of high-resolution radar in aircraft.
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