The Physics of War
Read The Physics of War Online
Authors: Barry Parker
ALSO BY BARRY PARKER
Einstein's Brainchild
Quantum Legacy
Einstein: The Passions of a Scientist
Albert Einstein's Vision
Published 2014 by Prometheus Books
The Physics of War: From Arrows to Atoms
. Copyright © 2014 by Barry Parker. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Interior artwork by Lori Scoffield Beer
Cover image © 2013 Media Bakery and BIGSTOCK
Jacket design by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger
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ISBN 978-1-61614-803-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-61614-804-1 (ebook)
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CHAPTER 2: EARLY WARS AND THE BEGINNING OF PHYSICS
Greeks and the Beginning of Physics
CHAPTER 3: BASIC PHYSICS OF EARLY WEAPONS
Physics of Other Early Weapons
CHAPTER 4: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE EARLY ENGLISH-FRENCH WARS
Origin and Physics of the Longbow
CHAPTER 5: GUNPOWDER AND CANNONS: THE DISCOVERIES THAT CHANGED THE ART OF WAR AND THE WORLD
The Basilica and the Siege of Constantinople
Cannons in the English-Scottish Wars
Charles VIII and Victory over Naples
CHAPTER 6: THREE MEN AHEAD OF THEIR TIME: DA VINCI, TARTAGLIA, AND GALILEO
Leonardo's Military Inventions
Leonardo's Attitude toward War
CHAPTER 7: FROM EARLY GUNS TO TOTAL DESTRUCTION AND DISCOVERY
A New Era of Discovery: Isaac Newton
CHAPTER 8: THE IMPACT OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
James Watt and the Steam Engine
Physics and the Industrial Revolution
CHAPTER 9: NAPOLEON'S WEAPONS AND NEW BREAKTHROUGHS IN PHYSICS
Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval
CHAPTER 10: THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
Development of the Percussion Cap
A Revolution in Rifles and Cannons
CHAPTER 11: WHERE DOES THE BULLET GO? BALLISTICS OF RIFLE BULLETS AND CANNON SHELLS
Transitional Ballistics and the Sonic Boom
CHAPTER 12: HEY, LOOKâ¦IT FLIES! AERODYNAMICS AND THE FIRST AIRPLANES
Discoveries That Led to the Airplane
The Physical, More Exact Explanation of Lift
Steering and Maneuvering the Airplane
CHAPTER 13: THE MACHINE GUN WARâWORLD WAR I
Development of the Machine Gun
The War at Sea and the Menace beneath the Sea
The Final HorrorâPoisonous Gas
CHAPTER 14: THE INVISIBLE RAYS: THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF RADIO AND RADAR IN WAR
The Production and Detection of Electromagnetic Waves
CHAPTER 15: SONAR AND THE SUBMARINE
CHAPTER 16: THE GREAT WAR: WORLD WAR II
The Battle of France, and Dunkirk
The Continuing Manhattan Project
Decision to Use the Bomb on Japan
CHAPTER 18: THE HYDROGEN BOMB, INTERCONTINENTAL MISSILES, LASERS, AND THE FUTURE
Development of the Hydrogen Bomb
I mentioned to a friend that I was writing a book on the physics of war. “What does physics have to do with war?” he asked. “Oh, you mean the atomic bomb,” he added. And indeed most people know that physics had something to do with the atomic bomb. But in reality it has made many contributions other than the atomic bomb, and not all of them have led to the creation of offensive weapons that have caused damage and grief. It has also been helpful for defense, and one of the best examples of this was the invention of radar just before World War II. It allowed the British to track incoming German planes and take action to defend themselves. The invention of radar no doubt saved thousands of lives during the Battle of Britain. The discovery of x-rays by Röntgen has also played a large role in war, and there's no doubt that it has saved lives.
And it's not just modern weapons that have been based on the principles of physics. Even though they knew little physics, early civilizations, such as the Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks and Romans, used physics in devising their weapons. Indeed, all through history physics has played an important role in the development of weapons.
As the basic principles of physics were discovered by such people as Galileo, Newton, Huygens, Einstein, and others, it became a science that was solidly based on a firm foundation. At the same time, however, it became more complex and more difficult for the layperson to understand. But it is important that people other than scientists understand, at least to some degree, what is going on in the world of science, and I'm hoping that the present book will help in this respect. I would like to also mention that although physics has been used extensively in war, it has been found to have many applications for the betterment of humankind.
In as many places as possible I've tried to use a story format to make the book more readable and interesting. I've used a few formulas; I hope they don't scare you. I've added them for anyone that is particularly interested in the details of the physics behind the weapons. You can ignore them without losing much.
Finally, I would like to thank my artist, Lori Beer, for an excellent job on the diagrams. I'm sure they will be helpful to most people.