This volume continues the story of teh National Research Council begun by Physics at the National Research Council of Canada (also written by Middleton) and Biological Sciences at the National Research Council of Canada (by N.T. Gridgeman). Technical enough to interest the scientifically informed reader, yet comprehensible to the general reader, this history of the development of radar in Canada by the N.R.C. in the years of the Second World War explains what radar is and how it functions, and briefly describes at the problems which led to the development of new equipment—such as the need to detect mortar bombs and the danger of airborne attacks on Canadian coasts. The author describes how personality clashes, tensions between co-operating organizations, and difficulty administrative puzzles were overcome, allowing scientific expertise to triumph in the speedy and valuable development of new radar devices, an important contribution by Canada to the war effort.
The volume is well organized and includes illustrations. Documentation from government sources, use of quotations from correspondence and interviews, personal reminiscences of the author, and informed opinion and interpretation combine to make the volume easy and information reading.

W.E. Knowles Middleton was associated with the National Research Council from 1946 until 1963. He is the author of The History of the Barometer, The Experimenters: A Study of the Accademia del Cimento, Physics at the National Research Council of Canada, 1929-1952 (WLU Press, 1979), Lorenzo Magalotti at the Court of Charles II (WLU Press, 1980), and Radar Development in Canada: The Radio Branch of the National Research Council 1939-1946 (WLU Press, 1981). He has received honorary degrees from Boston University and McGill University.

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