Throwing fire : projectile technology through history / Alfred W. Crosby.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Crosby, Alfred W.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Projectiles--History.

Projectiles.

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 206 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Summary:

A history of hard, accurate throwing and the manipulation of fire as unique human capabilities.

Contents:

Who, Why, and How 1

1. The Pliocene: Something New Is Afoot 7

The First Acceleration: Hominids Become a Keystone Species and Their Own Worst Enemies 15

2. The Pliocene and Pleistocene: "You Are What You Throw" 16

3. The Pleistocene and Holocene: "Cooking the Earth" 40

4. The Upper Paleolithic: "Humans and Other Catastrophes" 50

5. From Weapon Craftsmanship to Weapon Technology 70

The Second Acceleration: Gunpowder 93

6. The Chinese Elixir 95

7. Gunpowder as a Centripetal Force 107

8. Brown Bess to Big Bertha 130

The Third Acceleration: Into Extraterrestrial and Subatomic Space 147

9. The V-2 and the Bomb 149

10. The Longest Throws 173

The Fourth Acceleration 191.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0521791588

OCLC:

48177398