\ oe of the past seem by contrast with the atomic bomb to have been minor steps in a many-sided evolutionary process, This process never permitted any one invention in itself to subvert or even to threaten for long the previously existing equilibrium of military force, Any startling innovation either of offense or defense provoked some kind of answer in good time, but the answer was rarely more than a qualified one and the end result was usually a profound and sometimes a politically significant change in the methods of waging war, With the introduction, however, of an explosive agent which is several miliion times more potent on a pound for pound basis than the most powerful explosives previously known, we have a change of quite another character, The factor of increase of destructive efficiency is so great that there arises at once the strong presumption that the experience of the past concerningeventual adjustment might just as well be throvm out the window, Far from being some- thing which merely "adds to the complexities of field commanders," as one American military authority put it, the atomic bomb seems so far to overshadow any military invention of the past as to rencer comparison ridiculous, | Ge ; oe " oN, III, The atomic bomb not only places an extraordinary’ military premium upon the development of new types of carriers but also greatly extends the destructive range of existing carriers, World War II saw the development and use by the Germans of rockets capable of 220 miles range and carrying approximately one ton each of TNT, London, these rockets completely baffled the defense, Used against But for single—blow weapons which were generally inaccurate at long distances even with radio control, they were extremely expensive, It is doubtful whether the sum of economic li, For a discussion of developing naval technology over the last hundred years and its political significance see Bernard Brodie, Sea Power in the Machine Age, Princeton, N.J., 2nd. ed. 1913. ae