1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910813458503321

Titolo

Instrumental in War : Science, Research, and Instruments Between Knowledge and the World / / edited by Steven Walton

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Leiden; ; Boston : , : BRILL, , 2005

ISBN

1-280-86767-1

9786610867677

1-4294-5277-3

90-474-0703-2

1-4337-0683-0

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (440 p.)

Collana

History of Warfare ; ; 28

Disciplina

355/.07

Soggetti

Military art and science - Technological innovations

Military research - History

Scientific apparatus and instruments - History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- Volume Contributions -- List of Contributors -- Introduction, Steven A. Walton -- Chapter One, Mathematical Instruments and the Creation of the Military Gentleman, Steven A. Walton -- Chapter Two, Surveying and the Cromwellian Reconquest of Ireland, William A. Lynch -- Chapter Three, Like Clockwork? Clausewitzian Friction and the Scientific Siege in the Age of Vauban, Jamel Ostwald -- Chapter Four, Calorimeters and Crushers: The Development of Instruments for Measuring the Behavior of Military Powder, Seymour H. Mauskopf -- Chapter Five, Telegraphing the Weather: Military Meteorology, Strategy, and 'Homeland Security' on the American Frontier in the 1870s, James R. Fleming -- Chapter Six, Remnants of Testing at the Sandy Hook Proving Grounds, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, Gerard P. Scharfenberger -- Chapter Seven, From Measuring Progress to Technological Innovation: The Prewar Annapolis Engineering Experiment Station, William M. McBride -- Chapter Eight, Dr. Veblen at Aberdeen: Mathematics, Military Applications and Mass Production, David Alan Grier -- Chapter Nine, National Naval



Laboratories and the Development of Fire Control Gyrocompasses in Interwar Britain and France, Sebastien Soubiran -- Chapter Ten, Washouts: Electroencephalography, epilepsy & emotions in the selection of American aviators during the Second World War, Kenton Kroker -- Chapter Eleven, A Matter of Gravity: Military Support for Gravimetry during the Cold War, Deborah J. Warner -- Chapter Twelve, Physics Between War and Peace, Peter Galison -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

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.