Instrumental In War: Science, Research, And Instruments Betweeen Knowledge And The World

Steven A. Walton

ISBN 10: 9004142819 / ISBN 13: 9789004142817

Published by Brill Academic Pub, 2005

About this Item

illustrated edition. 414 pages. 9.75x6.75x1.50 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # __9004142819

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Instrumental In War: Science, Research, And Instruments Betweeen Knowledge And The World
• Publisher: Brill Academic Pub
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9004142819
• ISBN 13: 9789004142817
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.91 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

Scientific research and instrumentation are crucial for military action today but they have not always been so. This collection investigates 500 years of the relationship between warfare, research, and instruments – both physical and intellectual – to understand this interaction. With U.S., English and French examples, contributors provide examples from army and naval history to show how governments and individuals made warfare scientific, developing instruments, stations, and organizations that furthered the cause. Some developments directly aided war efforts; others were parts of ‘normal science’ in peacetime; and others were relatively ineffective in directly bringing about military change. These developmental histories shed light on the origins of modern scientific warfare.

Contributors: Steven A. Walton; William A. Lynch; Jamel Ostwald; Seymour H. Mauskopf ; James R. Fleming; Gerard P. Scharfenberger; William M. McBride; David Alan Grier; Sebastien Soubiran; Kenton Kroker; Deborah J. Warner; Peter Galison.

About the Author

Steven A. Walton, Ph.D. (1999), Toronto, teaches Science, Technology, and Society at Penn State University. Working on the intersection of military technology and scientific understanding, he currently is working on renaissance gunnery, nineteenth-century American ordnance manufacture, and post-Civil War torpedo research.