Download or read book A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder written by James Riddick Partington and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For nearly 600 years, from battles of the early 14th century to the dropping of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima, firearms derived from gunpowder and other chemicals defined the frightful extent of war. In this classic work, first published in 1960, distinguished historian James Riddick Partington provides a worldwide survey of the evolution of incendiary devices, Greek fire, and gunpowder. 21 illustrations.
Download or read book A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder written by James R. Partington and published by . This book was released on 1960 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Om udviklingen af krudt gennem 600 år fra 1346 og til 1945, men med vægt på forskningsresultater vedrørende middelalderen og de ældre stadier i udviklingen. Mange oplysninger om bøger om krudtfremstilling fra antikken og til middelalderen, om bøgernes forfattere og ofte med ordrette latinske citater fra bøgerne.
Download or read book A History of Medicine Byzantine and Islamic medicine written by Plinio Prioreschi and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Throwing Fire written by Alfred W. Crosby and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002-04-08 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historian Alfred W. Crosby looks at hard, accurate throwing and the manipulation of fire as unique human capabilities. Humans began throwing rocks in prehistory and then progressed to javelins, atlatls, bows and arrows. We learned to make fire by friction and used it to cook, drive game, burn out rivals, and alter landscapes. In historic times we invented catapults, trebuchets, and such flammable liquids as Greek Fire. About 1,000 years ago we invented gunpowder, which accelerated the rise of empires and the advance of European imperialism. In the 20th century, gunpowder weaponry enabled us to wage the most destructive wars of all time, peaking at the end of World War II with the V-2 and atomic bomb. Today, we have turned our projectile talents to space travel which may make it possible for our species to migrate to other bodies of our solar system and even other star systems.
Download or read book Greek Fire and Its Contribution to Byzantine Might written by Konstantinos Karatolios and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2013-12-30 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The wonder of the thousand-year Byzantine Empire could not have been achieved without its armed forces, allowing it to maintain its power in the face of constant challenges from external enemies that differed significantly in their nature. In this context, what had been inherited from the Romans was just as important as the adoption of new weapons and tactics in battle. "Greek fire" was used throughout the course of the Byzantine Empire and granted resounding victories to its navy. This terrifying weapon was legendary, yet almost all we know about it and its use is clouded by the vagueness of contemporary accounts. This work attempts to answer a number of questions concerning Greek Fire: What was the formula? How effective was it? Who was its true inventor ? How was it used in battles on land and at sea? This book aims not only to provide an overview of the current state of research that can be easily read by non-specialists, but also to contribute to the study of the subject.
Download or read book The History and Chronology of Gunpowder and Gunpowder Weapons c 1000 to 1850 written by Henry Pratap Phillips and published by Notion Press. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gunpowder has been considered as one of the most important discoveries made by man after the wheel. Interestingly, the origin of gunpowder is still shrouded in uncertainty. Nobody can definitely say who actually invented gunpowder and when. Common belief has it that gunpowder was invented in China and then came to India via the Silk Route. Studies done by the author show that gunpowder was actually invented in India went to China via the trade routes, from where it was showcased to World. With gunpowder, came the development of weapons, which changed the course of wars and changed the very course of history. An analysis of various weapons, their development and chronology has been systematically discussed. It covers the time period from 1000 AD to 1850 AD. The end period, 1850 AD, has been chosen as the cutoff date since percussion weapons came into vogue after that period and are well-documented in history. The start date, 1000 AD, is chosen on purpose to give a small margin to encompass any aberrations in discovery of gunpowder. The author sincerely hoped that this work would form a platform from which other studies/ research could be conducted by future arms historians.
Download or read book Gunpowder written by Jack Kelly and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2009-04-27 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Chinese alchemists fashioned the first manmade explosion sometime during the tenth century, no one could have foreseen its full revolutionary potential. Invented to frighten evil spirits rather than fuel guns or bombs-neither of which had been thought of yet-their simple mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal went on to make the modern world possible. As word of its explosive properties spread from Asia to Europe, from pyrotechnics to battleships, it paved the way for Western exploration, hastened the end of feudalism and the rise of the nation state, and greased the wheels of the Industrial Revolution. With dramatic immediacy, novelist and journalist Jack Kelly conveys both the distant time in which the "devil's distillate" rose to conquer the world, and brings to rousing life the eclectic cast of characters who played a role in its epic story, including Michelangelo, Edward III, Vasco da Gama, Cortez, Guy Fawkes, Alfred Nobel, and E.I. DuPont. A must-read for history fans and military buffs alike, Gunpowder brings together a rich terrain of cultures and technological innovations with authoritative research and swashbuckling style.
Download or read book Gunpowder and Ammunition Their Origin and Progress written by Henry William Lovett Hime and published by . This book was released on 1904 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Story of N written by Hugh S. Gorman and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-24 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Story of N, Hugh S. Gorman analyzes the notion of sustainability from a fresh perspective—the integration of human activities with the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen—and provides a supportive alternative to studying sustainability through the lens of climate change and the cycling of carbon. It is the first book to examine the social processes by which industrial societies learned to bypass a fundamental ecological limit and, later, began addressing the resulting concerns by establishing limits of their own The book is organized into three parts. Part I, “The Knowledge of Nature,” explores the emergence of the nitrogen cycle before humans arrived on the scene and the changes that occurred as stationary agricultural societies took root. Part II, “Learning to Bypass an Ecological Limit,” examines the role of science and market capitalism in accelerating the pace of innovation, eventually allowing humans to bypass the activity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Part III, “Learning to Establish Human-Defined Limits,” covers the twentieth-century response to the nitrogen-related concerns that emerged as more nitrogenous compounds flowed into the environment. A concluding chapter, “The Challenge of Sustainability,” places the entire story in the context of constructing an ecological economy in which innovations that contribute to sustainable practices are rewarded.
Download or read book Journal of Medieval Military History written by John France and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2015-10-15 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Highlights the range and richness of scholarship on medieval warfare, military institutions, and cultures of conflict that characterize the field. History 95 (2010)
Download or read book A History of the Laws of War Volume 2 written by Alexander Gillespie and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-10-07 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique new work of reference traces the origins of the modern laws of warfare from the earliest times to the present day. Relying on written records from as far back as 2400 BCE, and using sources ranging from the Bible to Security Council Resolutions, the author pieces together the history of a subject which is almost as old as civilisation itself. The author shows that as long as humanity has been waging wars it has also been trying to find ways of legitimising different forms of combatants and ascribing rules to them, protecting civilians who are either inadvertently or intentionally caught up between them, and controlling the use of particular classes of weapons that may be used in times of conflict. Thus it is that this work is divided into three substantial parts: Volume 1 on the laws affecting combatants and captives; Volume 2 on civilians; and Volume 3 on the law of arms control. This second book on civilians examines four different topics. The first topic deals with the targetting of civilians in times of war. This discussion is one which has been largely governed by the developments of technologies which have allowed projectiles to be discharged over ever greater areas, and attempts to prevent their indiscriminate utilisation have struggled to keep pace. The second topic concerns the destruction of the natural environment, with particular regard to the utilisation of starvation as a method of warfare, and unlike the first topic, this one has rarely changed over thousands of years, although contemporary practices are beginning to represent a clear break from tradition. The third topic is concerned with the long-standing problems of civilians under the occupation of opposing military forces, where the practices of genocide, collective punishments and/or reprisals, and rape have occurred. The final topic in this volume is about the theft or destruction of the property of the enemy, in terms of either pillage or the intentional devastation of the cultural property of the opposition. As a work of reference this set of three books is unrivalled, and will be of immense benefit to scholars and practitioners researching and advising on the laws of warfare. It also tells a story which throws fascinating new light on the history of international law and on the history of warfare itself.
Download or read book Ancrene Wisse written by Robert Hasenfratz and published by Medieval Institute Publications. This book was released on 2001-03-01 with total page 702 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ancrene Wisse or the Anchoresses Guide (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 402), written sometime roughly between 1225 and 1240, represents a revision of an earlier work, usually called the Ancrene Riwle or Anchorites' Rule, a book of religious instruction for three lay women of noble birth.
Download or read book Improvised Explosive Devices written by James Revill and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-07-15 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book begins with an account of the evolution of improvised explosive devices using a number of micro case studies to explore how and why actors have initiated IED campaigns; how new and old technologies and expertise have been exploited and how ethical barriers to IED development and deployment have been dealt with. It proceeds to bring the evidence from the case studies together to identify themes and trends in IED development, before looking at what can realistically be done to mitigate the threat of IEDs in the new wars of the twenty first century. The book suggests that the advance and availability of a combination of technological factors, in conjunction with changes in the nature of contemporary conflicts, have led to the emergence of IEDs as the paradigmatic weapons of new wars. However their prevalence in contemporary and future conflicts is not inevitable, but rather depends on the willingness of multiple sets of actors at different levels to build a web of preventative measures to mitigate – if not eradicate – IED development and deployment.
Download or read book Greek Fire Poison Arrows and Scorpion Bombs written by Adrienne Mayor and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-12-30 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A comprehensive look at WMD's antecedents, from flamethrowers of the Peloponnesian War to plague-bearing booby traps.... Rich and entertaining." -Newsweek Featuring a new introduction by the author. Flamethrowers, poison gases, incendiary bombs, the large-scale spreading of disease... are these terrifying agents and implements of warfare modern inventions? Not by a long shot. Weapons of biological and chemical warfare have been in use for thousands of years, and Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs, Adrienne Mayor's fascinating exploration of the origins of biological and unethical warfare draws extraordinary connections between the mythical worlds of Hercules and the Trojan War, the accounts of Herodotus and Thucydides, and modern methods of war and terrorism. Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs will catapult readers into the dark and fascinating realm of ancient war and mythic treachery-and their devastating consequences.
Download or read book Gunpowder Explosives and the State written by Brenda J. Buchanan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-12-05 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gunpowder studies are still in their infancy despite the long-standing civil and military importance of this explosive since its discovery in China in the mid-ninth century AD. In this second volume by contributors who meet regularly at symposia of the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC), the research is again rooted in the investigation of the technology of explosives manufacture, but the fact that the chapters range in scope from the Old World to the New, from sources of raw materials in south-east Asia to the complications of manufacture in the West, shows that the story is more than the simple one of how an intriguing product was made. This volume is the first to develop the implications of the subject, not just in the sense of relating it to changing military technologies, but in that of seeing the securing of gunpowder supplies as fundamental to the power of the state and imperial pretensions.The search for saltpetre, for example, an essential ingredient of gunpowder, became a powerful engine of sea-going European trade from the early seventeenth century. Smaller states like Venice were unable to form these distant connections, and so to sustain a gunpowder army. Stronger states like France and Britain were able to do so, and became even more powerful as the demand for improved explosives fostered national strengths - leading to a development of the sciences, especially chemistry, in the former case, and of manufacturing techniques in the latter.
Download or read book Gunpowder Technology in the Fifteenth Century written by Axel Müller and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2024-01-16 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first full edition and English translation of the RA I.34 Firework Book. Produced from the early fifteenth century onwards, Firework Books are, broadly speaking, manuals on how to use gunpowder, witnessing a major development in warfare. Surviving in a corpus of some 65, each text has different content and components, but core elements are present throughout. An important example is a manuscript in the collection of the Royal Armouries (RA I.34), written in Early New High German, and (unlike many other manuscripts) still in what appears to be its original format and binding; it also, unusually, contains a number of illustrations. This volume provides the first full edition and English translation of the material, with a detailed analysis of its content and context. It positions the Firework Books at a crucial stage in the development of gunpowder artillery, offering an unparalleled insight into fifteenth-century gunpowder technology at a critical juncture of military and technological change at the end of the Middle Ages.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition written by Graham Speake and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-01-31 with total page 1941 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hellenism is the living culture of the Greek-speaking peoples and has a continuing history of more than 3,500 years. The Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition contains approximately 900 entries devoted to people, places, periods, events, and themes, examining every aspect of that culture from the Bronze Age to the present day. The focus throughout is on the Greeks themselves, and the continuities within their own cultural tradition. Language and religion are perhaps the most obvious vehicles of continuity; but there have been many others--law, taxation, gardens, music, magic, education, shipping, and countless other elements have all played their part in maintaining this unique culture. Today, Greek arts have blossomed again; Greece has taken its place in the European Union; Greeks control a substantial proportion of the world's merchant marine; and Greek communities in the United States, Australia, and South Africa have carried the Hellenic tradition throughout the world. This is the first reference work to embrace all aspects of that tradition in every period of its existence.
