wrote in message
...
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the death this week of Fred L
Whipple, reportedly the inventor of "Window" (aluminum strips cut to a
length designed to confuse radar).

Indirectly, he probably saved a good number of lives in WWII.

Actually he didn't *invent* 'window/chaff'. His contribution was in the
codesign of
a machine to cut it foil into the right length pieces. IIRC, 'window'
was actually
invented by a team of scientists at the Telecommunications Research
Establishment
in England led by the late Sir Robert Cockburn.
I *think* Whipple was involved in somewhat parallel research in the US,
but don't quote me.

The British had 'window' long before its use was sanctioned due to a
reluctance to tip the Germans
off to what it was and what it did in case they used it against them.
The Germans had 'duppel' and
likewise refrained from using it for the same reasons. Eventually
bomber losses caused Churchill to
over-rule the objections and order it be used. But it *could* have been
used about a year before it
was....

Whipple is far more famous for his work as an astronomer. One of his
most famous contributions was
being the first to put forward the theory that comets were a 'dirty
snowball'. There are a host
of others however. One of the truly great astronomers of the 20th
Century. A great man, sadly missed.

The CO