| Description |
xii, 226 pages, 31 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Contents |
Introduction -- Changes in the nature of war from the mid-19th century -- Smokeless powder and ballistite -- Importance of chemical industry and munitions -- State-sponsored science -- 1. Prelude to Armageddon, 1900-14 -- New forms of high explosive -- Fire control for the new warships -- Beginning of continuous wave wireless telegraphy -- Aeronautical research -- 2. Mobilising and organising the scientists -- Britain. The Royal Society War Committee -- Formation of the Board of Invention Research, Munitions Invention Department and Air Inventions Committee -- French scientific organisation -- Formation of Naval Consulting Board and National Research Council in the United States of America -- Russian and Italian scientific organisation -- Central Powers reliance on industry -- 3. "Science moves, but slowly slowly" -- Scientific liaison between Britain and France -- British liaison with Italy and Russia -- Liaison of European allies and the United States -- American need for operational experience -- 4. "The monstrous thunder of the guns" -- Expansion of chemical research for munitions in Britain -- Shell fillings : TNT and Amatol -- Defects in armour-piercing shell -- Propellants : RDB, Acetone -- French munition making -- German nitrogen fixation -- Fuse development by British and French -- Mechanical fuses -- 5. Breaking the deadlock -- New weapons for trench warfare : grenades and trench mortars -- Sound ranging -- Wireless in static warfare -- Earth currents -- The Fullerphone -- Acoustic instruments in mining operations -- Development of the tank by the Allies -- The German response -- Movement of supplies : tracked vehicles and aerial ropeways -- 6. "The ghastly dew" -- Beginning of chemical warfare -- Discharge of chlorine by cylinder : German and Allied attempts -- Use of projectors, mortars and shell -- Phosgene -- Respirators -- Mustard gas -- Chemical warfare on the Eastern and Italian Fronts -- Gas casualties -- 7. Failure and success at sea -- British fire control failure -- Stability of gun platforms -- Torpedo propulsion -- Direction finding : use in naval intelligence -- Wireless communication between ships -- Submarine detection : hydrophones -- Offensive measures against submarines -- Development of echo-ranging -- Underwater protection of warships -- Paravanes -- 8. "Tumult in the clouds" -- Aircraft armament : synchronised machine-guns -- Machine-gun sights -- Bomb sights -- Continuous wave sets for aircraft -- Valve development -- Introduction of wireless telephony -- Rotary engines -- Incendiary weapons against airships -- Control of anti-aircraft guns -- Sound location of aircraft : early warning -- Inventions for the future : helicopters and pilotless aircraft -- 9. The unseen enemy -- British shortages of anaesthetics and drugs -- Treatment of wounds : new antiseptics -- Wound and surgical shock -- Enteric fevers -- Dysentery -- Cause of typhus -- Gas casualties -- Trench warfare diseases : nephritis and trench fever -- Malaria and bilharziasis -- Oxygen masks for airmen -- 10. Aspects of wartime industrial research -- British deficiencies in optical glass -- New process for annealing -- X-ray tubes -- Allied experiments in nitrogen fixation -- Conclusion -- Respective value of "inventions" and development of existing techniques -- Relations between scientists and "users" -- Conflict between "short term" and "long term" aspects of research -- Post-war developments -- Effect on World War Two |
| Summary |
"The first contact of the British, French and German armies in August 1914 was made by cavalry patrols armed with rifles and lances. Yet within four years the character of war had utterly changed. High explosive shells, poison gas, tanks and aircraft dominated military combat, making the Great War the first major technological war in history. How was this turnabout achieved? Most of the devices originated in the decade before the war - high explosives, wireless telegraphy, underwater acoustics, electrical transmissions for naval gunnery, poison gases, vaccination, even the tank was not original. However, the war acted as a catalyst, mobilising chemists, physicists, mathematicians and engineers to initiate and develop new synthetic materials, the detection of submarines, weapons and equipment for aerial warfare, aerial photography and extensive medical research to provide drugs and treat diseases in the various theatres of war. Industrial research helped the production of optical glass and was applied to other important aspects of the war effort. Guy Hartcup investigates the processes and the people involved in bringing about these brilliant technological developments. He relates well-known inventions like the tank and introduction of chemical warfare with less familiar advances which changed the face of warfare. The scientists with a grasp of military matters and the ability to meet operational schedules became key figures in the war effort. This book is as much about these men - and women - the first "boffins", as an account of the techniques and equipment that they were responsible for developing. This is the first book to provide a comprehensive view of the application of science and technology to military, naval and air operations in the 1914-18 war, demonstrating the crucial role of technology in the practice of modern warfare." -- dustjacket fly-leaf |
| Notes |
Includes index |
| Bibliography |
Bibliography: pages 216-218 |
| Subject |
World War, 1914-1918 -- Science.
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World War, 1914-1918 -- Technology.
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Medical Laboratory Science -- history.
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Science -- history.
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| LC no. |
87026805 |
| ISBN |
0080335918 |
|
9780080335919 |
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