Mathematics and War

16Mathematics has for centuries been stimulated, financed and credited by military purposes. Some mathematical thoughts and mathematical technology have also been vital in war. During World War II mathematical work by the Anti-Hitler coalition was part of an aspiration to serve humanity andnot help destroy it. At present, it is not an easy task to view the bellicose potentials of mathematics in a proper perspective.The book presents historical evidence and recent changes in the interaction between mathematics and the military. It discusses the new mathematically enhanced development of military technology which seems to have changed the very character of modern warfare.04From the contents:Military Work in Mathematics, 1914-1945.- The Brains Behind the Enigma Code Breaking Before World War II.- On the Defence Work of A.N. Kolmogorov.- Improbable Warriors: Mathematicians Grace Hopper and Mina Rees in World War II.- New Mathematical Disciplines and Research in the Wake of World War II.- Mathematics and War in Japan.- The Discovery of the Maximum Principle in Control Theory.- Mickey Flies the Stealth: War and Entertainment.- War Cannot Be Calculated.- Warfare Can Be Calculated.- Duels of Systems and Forces.- On Facts and Fiction of "Information Warfare".- Less or More Exposed Non-Combatants and Civilian Objects Under the Conditions of "Modern Warfare".- Niels Bohr's Political Crusade During World War II.- The Military Use of Alan Turing.- The Mathematician K. Ogura and the "Greater East Asia War".- Working Within the System.- Military Research and Moral Responsibility.- Mathematical Thinking and the Law of War.- Calculated Security? Mathematical Mod04elling of Conflict and Cooperation.13"The relationship between mathematics and war dates back to ancient times- recall the stories about Archimedes' war inventions, or the use of amthematics in the design of fortifications, sea navigation and ballistics. However, the dieas involved did not go far beyond elementary geometry and calculus. The book Mathematics and War focuses on the 20th century when the situation changed rapidly. The cooperation between mathematicians and engineers led to the discoevery of modern aerodynamics, cryptography, atomic bomb or digital computers. Of course we are refering to mathematics as a broader discipline encompassing mathematically supported technology (e.g. computer science), too. The volume consists of articles that have been presented at the International Meeting on Mathematics and War held in Sweden, 2002. Among the authors there are mathematicians, army officers as well as philosophers; each describes the relation of mathematics and war from a different perspective. The topics dis13cussed can be roughly divided into three categories: 1. The role of mathematicians in war research. 2. The moral responsibility of scientists engaged in war. 3. Mathematical models of war. Most of the material presented in related to the events of both world wars; however, it includes examples from Napoleonic wars as well as from more recent history such as the Vietnam war or the war in Yugoslavia. Readers might appreciate the article devoted to breaking the Enigma code which contains some notes on relations between Poland, France and Czechoslovakia during the Nazi occupation." (Mathematica Bohemica)