The Heirs of Archimedes: Science and the Art of War through the Age of Enlightenment (Dibner Institute Studies in the History of Science and Technology)

409 Pages·2005·6.26 MB·English

by  Brett D. Steele

THE HEIRS OF ARCHIMEDES
Dibner Institute Studies in the History of Science and Technology
Jed Z.Buchwald,general editor
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Agatha C.Hughes and Thomas P.Hughes,editors
The Heirs of Archimedes:Science and the Art of War through the Age of the Enlightenment
Brett D.Steele and Tamera Dorland,editors
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THE HEIRS OF ARCHIMEDES
Science and the Art of War through the Age of Enlightenment
Brett D.Steele and Tamera Dorland,editors
The MIT Press
Cambridge,Massachusetts
London,England
© 2005 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The heirs ofArchimedes :science and the art of war through the Age of Enlightenment /
Brett D.Steele and Tamera Dorland,editors.
p. cm.— (Dibner Institute studies in the history of science and technology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0-262-19516-X (alk.paper)
1.Military art and science—Europe—History. 2.Science—History. 3.Technology—
History. I.Steele,Brett D. II.Dorland,Tamera. III.Series.
U43.E95H45 2005
623'.094—dc22 2004055164
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS VII
INTRODUCTION 1
Brett D.Steele and Tamera Dorland
I THE GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT OF GUNPOWDER
WEAPONRY
1 FACING THE NEW TECHNOLOGY: GUNPOWDER DEFENSES
IN MILITARY ARCHITECTURE BEFORE THE TRACE
ITALIENNE, 1350–1500 37
Kelly DeVries
2 THE FRENCH RELUCTANCE TO ADOPT FIREARMS
TECHNOLOGY IN THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD 73
Frederic J.Baumgartner
3 GUNPOWDER AND THE CHANGING MILITARY ORDER:THE
ISLAMIC GUNPOWDER EMPIRES, CA. 1450–CA. 1650 87
Barton C.Hacker
4 BEHIND THE TURKISH WAR MACHINE: GUNPOWDER
TECHNOLOGY AND WAR INDUSTRY IN THE OTTOMAN
EMPIRE, 1450–1700 101
Gábor Ágoston
II NAVAL INNOVATIONS: HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
5 THE MARY ROSE:A TALE OF TWO CENTURIES 137
Alexzandra Hildred
Contents vi
6 MATHEMATICS AND EMPIRE:THE MILITARY IMPULSE AND
THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION 181
Lesley B.Cormack
7 HARRIOT AND DEE ON EXPLORATION AND
MATHEMATICS: DID SCIENTIFIC IMAGERY MAKE FOR NEW
SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE? 205
Amir Alexander
8 CHARTING THE GLOBE AND TRACKING THE HEAVENS:
NAVIGATION AND THE SCIENCES IN THE EARLY MODERN
ERA 221
Michael S.Mahoney
III GUNPOWDER PRODUCTION: THE REFINEMENT OF
WASTE
9 “THE ART AND MYSTERY OF MAKING GUNPOWDER”:THE
ENGLISH EXPERIENCE IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND
EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES 233
Brenda J.Buchanan
10 CHEMISTRY IN THE WAR MACHINE: SALTPETER
PRODUCTION IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SWEDEN 275
Thomas Kaiserfeld
11 CHEMISTRY IN THE ARSENAL: STATE REGULATION AND
SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY OF GUNPOWDER IN
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND AND FRANCE 293
Seymour H.Mauskopf
IV MILITARY ENGINEERING AND ARTILLERY
12 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH FORTIFICATION THEORY
AFTER VAUBAN:THE CASE OF MONTALEMBERT 333
Janis Langins
13 MILITARY “PROGRESS”AND NEWTONIAN SCIENCE IN THE
AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT 361
Brett D.Steele
ABOUT THE AUTHORS 391
INDEX 395
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to thank Geoffrey Symcox, Peter Reill, UCLA’s Center for
Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Studies,and the Clark Library for
organizing the conference Science and Warfare in the Old Regime (1998),and
Bert Hall and the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology
for organizing the conference Colonels and Quartermasters (1999).The con-
tributors to this volume first presented their work at these conferences.We
also wish to express appreciation to Jeremy Black,Mary Henninger-Voss,
Thomas Arnold,and John Guilmartin for contributing to the success of the
conferences.
This volume depended on the Dibner Institute’s postdoctoral fellowship
and on a research grant from the National Science Foundation’s Program of
Societal Dimensions of Engineering,Science,andTechnology.Appreciation
also goes to RANDproject managers Jefferson Marquis and Thomas Szayna
for their stimulating questions,and to the GAOand ANSER’s Homeland
Security Institute for their flexibility during the last stage of this project.
Finally,this volume owes much to Edwin T.Layton Jr.of the University of
Minnesota for his mentorship,friendship,and encouragement to take risks.
This volume is dedicated to the memory of Gail Elizabeth Steele
(1934–1970), an inspiring teacher and a loving mother.

THE HEIRS OF ARCHIMEDES