Science and the Third Reich by Adrian Weale

by Adrian Weale

By the time the Nazi interlude in German history came to a close, almost everything in the country had been destroyed. But, despite the millions of refugees and wrecked homes, and the dereliction of German industry, it was all rebuilt surprisingly quickly. Germany once more became a leading technological nation. German artists and writers emerged from hiding and resumed their work. But one thing was never repaired. When the Nazis took over Germany, German science was the best in the world. Despite all efforts to revive it, it has never recovered. This book looks at the often dubious work German scientists undertook during the Nazi era, especially in the fields of biology, medicine, aeronautics and nuclear physics, and chronicles the ultimate decline and death of German science

Hardcover

First published February 23, 2001

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

By the time the Nazi interlude in German history came to a close, almost everything in the country had been destroyed. But, despite the millions of refugees and wrecked homes, and the dereliction of German industry, it was all rebuilt surprisingly quickly. Germany once more became a leading technological nation. German artists and writers emerged from hiding and resumed their work. But one thing was never repaired. When the Nazis took over Germany, German science was the best in the world. Despite all efforts to revive it, it has never recovered. This book looks at the often dubious work German scientists undertook during the Nazi era, especially in the fields of biology, medicine, aeronautics and nuclear physics, and chronicles the ultimate decline and death of German science.

That is a pretty good summation of what Mr. Weale looks at - he is not always a scintillating writer but then the tale he has to tell is depressing, not just because of the awful things that were done. But it is far better to read about the perversion of real science into real monsters then the tosh about Nazi antarctic bases or other claptrap.