An Old Wives' Tale (and a bit of History)

I have worn glasses since I was 12. My eyesight was probably less than 20/20 for some years before that. My mother told me that eating carrots would improve my vision and even enhance my ability to see at night. When I questioned this theory, she would say that you never saw a rabbit wearing glasses. This of course is an old wives' tale or what we now call an Urban Legend.

Like most of these tales, there is a basis in reality. In the days before we understood about nutrition and vitamins, people who were severely deficient in vitamin A would suffer debilitating symptoms including impaired vision. Eating carrots which are rich in vitamin A quickly restored their vision. A legend was born. Eating carrots or any other dietary measure can not enhance vision, but people are prone to believe such myths and superstitions. In fact, since vitamin A is not water soluble, a diet too rich in vitamin A can cause the same debilitating effects. The only thing that can enhance one's vision is technology. From corrective lenses to laser treatment, we need some help from science to overcome this problem.

OK, enough with the science lesson. Here's the cool part!

In the early days of World War II, before America entered the war, England and France were soundly defeated by Germany in The Battle of France. As the Germans planned their assault on Great Britain, they employed a strategy that has been used since air warfare was invented. They would bomb the hell out of them! They called it Blitzkreig. This had two objectives. The first was to weaken their manufacturing capabilites and impair their infrastructure. The second was to wear down their will to fight.

The bombing missions were highly successful. Despite the valiant efforts of the British fighter pilots, they were unable to stop the slow moving bombers because the raids were conducted at night under the cover of darkness. Pilots from all over the world, most notably, The US and Canada, volunteered to relieve their British comrades. Nightly, great cities in England were in flames. After several months, the German's first objective was achieved. However, the resolve of the British to defend their homeland was undeterred.

All hope was nearly lost but almost suddenly, the German bombers began falling from the sky at the hands of the tenacious British fighter pilots in unbelievable numbers! Not only were they unable to reach England, but they were being shot down shortly after they left their bases in France! The world was astounded. The British had found the answer. It was carrots! They showed newsreel footage of the British pilots eating stacks of raw carrots while preparing for missions. This enabled them to see the German bombers at night. They told the world that the old wive's tale was responsible for the complete turnaround and the victory in The Battle of Britain. The bombing missions stopped and there are rumours that German pilots were falling ill to vitamin A overload.

The truth, as we later learned, is that The British invented RADAR!!!!!

DD