The integration of scientific knowledge and military power began long                  before the Manhattan Project. In the third century BC, Archimedes was renowned for                  his research in mechanics and mathematics as well as for his design and coordination                  of defensive siegecraft for Syracuse during the Second Punic War. This collection of                  essays examines the emergence during the early modern era of mathematicians,                  chemists, and natural philosophers who, along with military engineers, navigators,                  and artillery officers, followed in the footsteps of Archimedes and synthesized                  scientific theory and military practice. It is the first collaborative scholarly                  assessment of these early military-scientific relationships, which have been long                  neglected by scholars both in the history of science and technology and in military                  history.From a historical perspective, this volume investigates the deep connections                  between two central manifestations of Western power, examining the military context                  of the Scientific Revolution and the scientific context of the Military Revolution.                  Unlike the classic narratives of the Scientific Revolution that focus on the                  theories of, and conflicts between, Aristotelian and Platonic worldviews, this                  volume highlights the emergence of the Archimedean ideal--in which a symbiosis                  exists between the supply of mechanistic science and the demand for military                  capability.From a security-studies perspective, this work presents an in-depth study                  of the central components of military power as well as their dynamic interactions in                  the political, acquisitional, operational, and tactical domains. The essays in this                  volume reveal the intellectual and cultural struggles to enhance the capabilities of                  these components--an exercise in transforming military power that remains relevant                  for today's armed forces.The volume sets the stage by examining the innovation of                  gunpowder weaponry in both the Christian and the Islamic states of the late medieval                  and Renaissance eras. It then explores such topics as the cultural resistance to                  scientific techniques and the relationship between early modern science and naval                  power--particularly the intersecting developments in mathematics and oceanic                  navigation. Other essays address the efforts of early practitioners and theorists of                  chemistry to increase the power and consistency of gunpowder. The final essays                  analyze the application of advanced scientific knowledge and Enlightenment ideals to                  the military engineering and artillery organizations of the eighteenth century. The                  volume concludes by noting the global spread of the Archimedean ideal during the                  nineteenth century as an essential means for resisting Western                  imperialism.

The Heirs of Archimedes: Science and the Art of War through the Age of Enlightenment (Dibner Institute Studies in the History of Science and Technology)

The Heirs of Archimedes: Science and the Art of War through the Age of Enlightenment (Dibner Institute Studies in the History of Science and Technology) PDF

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