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War: History, Ethics, Psychology, & Technology: Technology

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Machines at War—Siege Towers and Rams

Focus on the ancient world's most technologically intensive form of warfare--the siege--which provided a powerful stimulus for the development of large-scale machines such as siege towers and rams. Analyze several famous sieges, including the Roman attack on Jotapata during the Jewish War.

Source: Kanopy

Machines at War—Evolution of the Catapult

Trace the evolution of the catapult, which overcomes the inherent human physiological limitations associated with the bow and arrow. From hand-operated crossbows, catapults progressed to giant artillery pieces able to shoot enormous arrows and hurl heavy projectiles. Revisit a type of catapult called the palintone from episode 1, and watch it in action.

Source: Kanopy

Crossbows East and West

To study the way people have used technology to secure and maintain political power, journey east to China and examine the role of the crossbow in the Warring States Era. As the world's first machine with interchangeable parts, the crossbow is a marvel of engineering that shaped the political history of China for centuries.

Source: Kanopy

Perspectives

The Perfect Weapon

SOON TO BE AN HBO® DOCUMENTARY FROM AWARD-WINNING DIRECTOR JOHN MAGGIO * "An important--and deeply sobering--new book about cyberwarfare" (Nicholas Kristof, New York Times) The Perfect Weapon is the startling inside story of how the rise of cyberweapons transformed geopolitics like nothing since the invention of the atomic bomb. Cheap to acquire, easy to deny, and usable for a variety of malicious purposes, cyber is now the weapon of choice for democracies, dictators, and terrorists. Two presidents--Bush and Obama--drew first blood with Operation Olympic Games, which used malicious code to blow up Iran's nuclear centrifuges, and yet America proved remarkably unprepared when its own weapons were stolen from its arsenal and, during President Trump's first year, turned back on the United States and its allies. And if Obama would begin his presidency by helping to launch the new era of cyberwar, he would end it struggling unsuccessfully to defend against Russia's broad attack on the 2016 US election.  Moving from the White House Situation Room to the dens of Chinese government hackers to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger reveals a world coming face-to-face with the perils of technological revolution, where everyone is a target. "Timely and bracing . . . With the deep knowledge and bright clarity that have long characterized his work, Sanger recounts the cunning and dangerous development of cyberspace into the global battlefield of the 21st century." --Washington Post

Technology Security and National Power

In Technology Security and National Power, Stephen D. Bryen shows how the United States has squandered its technological leadership through unwise policies. Starting from biblical times, he shows how technology has either increased national power or led to military and political catastrophe. He goes on to show how the US has eroded its technological advantages, endangering its own security. The scope ofTechnology Security and National Power extends across 3,000 years of history, from an induced plague in Athens to chemical weapons at Ypres to an atomic bomb on Hiroshima to the nuclear balance of terror. It describes new weapons systems and stealth jets, cyber attacks on national infrastructure, the looting of America's Defense secrets, and much more. The core thesis is supported by unique insight and new documentation that reaches into today's conflicted world. More than a litany of recent failures and historical errors, this book is a wake-up call for political actors and government officials who seem unable to understand the threat. Technology Security and National Power proposes that the United States can again become a winner in today's globalized environment.

Britain's War Machine

The familiar image of the British in the Second World War is that of the plucky underdog taking on German might. David Edgerton's bold, compelling new history shows the conflict in a new light, with Britain as a very wealthy country, formidable in arms, ruthless in pursuit of its interests, and in command of a global production system. Rather than belittled by a Nazi behemoth, Britain arguably had the world's most advanced mechanized forces. It had not only a great empire, but allies large and small.Edgerton shows that Britain fought on many fronts and its many home fronts kept it exceptionally well supplied with weapons, food and oil, allowing it to mobilize to an extraordinary extent. It created and deployed a vast empire of machines, from the humble tramp steamer to the battleship, from the rifle to the tank, made in colossal factories the world over. Scientists and engineers invented new weapons, encouraged by a government and prime minister enthusiastic about the latest technologies. The British, indeed Churchillian, vision of war and modernity was challenged by repeated defeat at the hands of less well-equipped enemies. Yet the end result was a vindication of this vision. Like the United States, a powerful Britain won a cheap victory, while others paid a great price.Putting resources, machines and experts at the heart of a global rather than merely imperial story, Britain's War Machine demolishes timeworn myths about wartime Britain and gives us a groundbreaking and often unsettling picture of a great power in action.

Machines As the Measure of Men

Over the past five centuries, advances in Western understanding of and control over the material world have strongly influenced European responses to non-Western peoples and cultures. In Machines as the Measure of Men, Michael Adas explores the ways in which European perceptions of their scientific and technological superiority shaped their interactions with people overseas. Adopting a broad, comparative perspective, he analyzes European responses to the cultures of sub-Saharan Africa, India, and China, cultures that they judged to represent lower levels of material mastery and social organization. Beginning with the early decades of overseas expansion in the sixteenth century, Adas traces the impact of scientific and technological advances on European attitudes toward Asians and Africans and on their policies for dealing with colonized societies. He concentrates on British and French thinking in the nineteenth century, when, he maintains, scientific and technological measures of human worth played a critical role in shaping arguments for the notion of racial supremacy and the "civilizing mission" ideology which were used to justify Europe's domination of the globe. Finally, he examines the reasons why many Europeans grew dissatisfied with and even rejected this gauge of human worth after World War I, and explains why it has remained important to Americans. Showing how the scientific and industrial revolutions contributed to the development of European imperialist ideologies, Machines as the Measure of Men highlights the cultural factors that have nurtured disdain for non-Western accomplishments and value systems. It also indicates how these attitudes, in shaping policies that restricted the diffusion of scientific knowledge, have perpetuated themselves, and contributed significantly to chronic underdevelopment throughout the developing world. Adas's far-reaching and provocative book will be compelling reading for all who are concerned about the history of Western imperialism and its legacies.

United States Submarines

Working in conjunction with Sonalysts, Inc. and the Naval Submarine League, Levin Associates presents the story of America's undersea operations as it has never before been told. The Navy purchased its first submarine, Holland VI, in 1900 for 160,000 dollars. Since that time, and through many advances necessitated by the challenges of World War II and the Cold War, the submarine has become a 300-foot-long, 30-foot-wide and tall vessel, filled with some of the world's most sophisticated technology. More important than the machines themselves are the courageous, highly skilled, all-volunteer personnel who serve in the Submarine Force. In each submarine, over 100 crew members work and live together for months at a time to defend their country and protect US interests around the world. Now, a century after its founding, the spirit and essence of the United States Submarine Force is celebrated for the first time in a definitive, magnificently illustrated, large-format book published with the Naval Submarine League.Written by an outstanding team, including historians, authors, and experts associated with the Navy, as well as several distinguished active and retired Submarine officers, United States Submarines has over 350 pages of riveting and informative text and stories of the submarine experience. Essays on submarine history and today's submariners focus not only on the subs, torpedoes, and related technologies, but especially on the people that make it all work. The thoughtful incorporation of full-colour and vintage photography, portraits, recruiting posters, and historically inspired paintings complements the text, while adding the excitement that only spectacular illustrations can bring to a book. United States Submarines enables the history of America's submariners to be cherished permanently in a handsome package that every submariner and Navy personnel will be proud to own and -- with its unique medallion-inlaid cover -- to display.This book will be read again and again by past and present submariners, their families and friends, and the countless others that have been inspired by the exploits of the United States Submarine Force and the mysteries and excitement of undersea warfare.

Big Red

The Trident submarine is one of the most remarkable feats of engineering in human history - a metal tube powered by a nuclear reactor, breathtakingly silent, yet strong enough to resist intense pressure. This book takes readers inside the vessels.

Monitor

"Monitor is the fascinating saga of arguably the most famous ship in American history, of the events leading up to and following the battle, and of the people who made them happen." "John Ericsson had had an idea for a mobile ironclad as far back as 1826, and refined it during the thirty-five years it took for someone to commission him. The English and the French, in turn, had declined his vision, and his clever mind had focused on other inventions that were more readily accepted. Nonetheless, his "subaquatic system of naval warfare" remained close to his heart, and finally, in the summer of 1861, it became a historical necessity." "Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles was desperate for an answer to the Merrimac, which everyone knew the Confederates were armoring, and turned to venture capitalist Cornelius Bushnell for advice. Bushnell was led to Ericsson, recognized his genius, and used all his persuasive powers to gain Ericsson, whom the navy mistrusted deeply, the chance to build his ship. Her assembly at breakneck speed was a miracle of engineering teamwork. Her timely arrival in Hampton Roads, stand-off with the Merrimac, and ultimate demise eight months later became the stuff of legend. Her impact was revolutionary: Filled with more than forty patentable inventions, the Monitor made every other navy on earth obsolete the moment she opened fire."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

A War of Chemicals and Engineers

This episode discusses how the war dictated the need for new battle strategies and tactics; new weapon technology and new medical practices to deal with the obstacles and situations never previously experienced in warfare by the combatants. The implementation of gas warfare and tanks were some of the results of these circumstances.

Source: Kanopy

Machines at Sea—Ancient Ships

Spurred by their dependence on maritime trade, the ancient Greeks became masters of nautical engineering. Follow the development of their ship design and sailing techniques, which were adopted by the Romans and paved the way for the great age of exploration in the 15th century.

Source: Kanopy

Gunpowder, Cannons, and Guns

The story of invention is often the story of cultural contact. Witness the origins of gunpowder in ancient China and trace its movement into Europe. Then, shift your attention to the development of gunpowder weapons and consider how cannons, rifles, and handguns changed the face of warfare as well as the world's political and social structures.

Source: Kanopy