Weapons Grade

by Hambling, David

• ISBN13: 9780786715619
• ISBN10: 0786715618
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-03-21
• Publisher: Da Capo Pr

Summary

David Hambling tells the fascinating story of human ingenuity and the complex world it has createda world at once safer and yet more perilous than ever. Throughout history, war and the threat of war have driven innovation and accelerated the uptake of new technologyfrom the nomadic warriors who introduced the stirrup and the kebab to the world, to the British Navy's funding of Marconi's newfangled radio. Since 1945 the relationship between military needs and modern business has grown ever closer, especially in the United States. With the skills of a master storyteller, Hambling traces the history of this relationship in the modern era and shows how precision eye surgery emerged out of the military quest for a "death ray," how transistors and silicon chips initially helped build better bombs, and exactly why the 747 has such a distinctive shape. Hambling explores the current cutting edge of modern military research as he seeks to identify the technologies that will transform our lives in the decades to come. If history does repeat itself, Weapons Grade is much more than the story of how we got to where we are; it is the story of where we are going, for better or worse.

Table of Contents

Rocket science : V-2 to E4	p. 21
Air raids to airliners	p. 47
Computing : codebreaking to netsurfing	p. 77
Death rays to DVDs	p. 106
Ultimate power	p. 127
Flights of fancy	p. 153
UFOs and secret technology	p. 179
The next computing revolution	p. 204
Non-lethal death rays	p. 225
Vortex rings	p. 245
Mach 10 airliners and space tourism	p. 257
Information warfare	p. 278
Catching new waves	p. 299
Robots in the air	p. 313
Tools for terrorists	p. 332
Nanotechnology : the future is small	p. 351
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