V2 rocket in the British War museum like the ones used against England by the Nazis in World War 2.
It's common knowledge that after the Second world war many of the scientists who had worked for Germany came to the United States. Wernher von Braun is probably the most famous of the "Nazi rocket scientists". He was instrumental in laying the foundation for our space programs. This brings up an interesting question.
Is war a necessary boost for technological advancement? While history shows that during wartime significant technological adavces are made, is there a better way?
In my humble opinion the answer is a definitive YES, there is a better way.
During the 60's, because of the race with the Soviets to get to the moon, enormous advances were made. We were in competition with them because of the "cold war" but we were not in a "hot war" with them. So why was so much energy and money put toward that goal? The reason is simple, President Kennedy had successfully marshaled the collective will of our country.
Collective will is something ubiquitous in wartime. Why not in peacetime? Technological advance is why we are not still living in caves, so why should we not muster our collective will on a continual basis for such advancement?
Maybe it's human nature that makes such a thing easy to say and hard to do. It's such a waste though. Think of how far we might have come.