a pretty compelling short read.
Arthur C. Clarke short story "Superiority"
https://www.baen.com/Chapters/1439133476/1439133476___5.htm
Nice read, thanks. Always liked Clarke's stuff. As I was reading I kept thinking of Hitler and his "super" weapons.
I have not read that tale in decades. Thanks for the reminder Star. IRC, it's from his book of short stories Expeditions from Earth.
Another great ACC short story collection is Tales from the White Hart. It includes, among other stories, "The Defenestration of Ermintrude Inch".
There are some interesting contrasts between Hitler's superweapons and the superweapons of the Atlantic Allies.
The Atlantic Allies certainly had more money to throw around, in terms of R&D and in terms of weapons production. At the end of the day, the Allies' superweapons (the B-29 and the Atomic Bomb) both proved decisive in the Pacific theater but made little difference in the Atlantic theater.
There is an argument to be made that incremental improvements in RADAR served as a more effective superweapon against Nazi Germany than anything else the Allies produced. It revolutionized the defence of Great Britain in the early years of the war and it hounded the German Navy throughout the war (the U-boats being the only effective weapon of the Kriegsmarine throughout WW2).
It had modest implications for the ground war against the Germans. Of course, by the time the Allies landed, the primary thing that differentiated them from the Germans was the quantity and quality of their Air Forces.
All of which is to say: The battle between theoretical scientists and engineers has been ongoing since the two professional paths diverged. The truth lies somewhere in the middle, but neglecting either side is sufficient to doom yourself to irrelevance in any meaningful technological race.
When technologies change, it happens in discontinuous jumps. Exactly when and where the discontinuity happens is often only visible with the benefit of hindsight.