[edwest]

As someone who specializes in German science and technology, a single book such as this can only scratch the surface. Who came up with a process to replace natural saltpeter with a substitute? If not for Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, World War I would have ended sooner.

The fourth largest company in the world when Hitler came to power was I.G. Farben. Get a copy of Treason's Peace by Howard Watson Ambruster (1947) and IG Farben by Richard Sasuly (1947). The German atomic project (actually, three projects) required a chemical company. The Americans chose DuPont de Nemours and the Germans certainly knew about Plutonium and that it needed to be separated by chemical means for use as an explosive - see Spying on the Bomb by Jeffrey T. Richelson (2006).

Who brought Hitler to power? A handful of fanatics? Who paid for the materials for the war?

See The Paperclip Conspiracy by Tom Bower, page 161. A warning was issued by the Joint Intelligence (Sub-) Committee: "In the field of atomic research for example, we estimate that German assistance has cut substantially, probably by several years, the time needed for the USSR to achieve practical results."



Ed