According to Francis Bacon, the famous sixteenth century philosopher, gunpowder was one and only(a) of the three discoveries that revolutionized the whole world (Needham, 1985, p. 1). The chronology of events following the discovery seems to score validity to such a claim. The invention had far ambit ramifications that transcended the to a greater extent obvious military revolution. Indeed, the business of warfare was on the whole transformed by the advent of gunpowder. The coming of the gunpowder succession spelled an end to the era of using only brute humans or animal strength in matters of warfare. Weapons employing purely biologic sources of power could now be replaced with deadlier instruments harnessing forces derived by chemical reactions. This effected a fundamental change in the way flock thought about war. Human prowess was now not the only factor in battle; technology became an meaty part of any major armed conflict. Besides the more apparent military changes, there were more subtle, but not any less important, non-military spin-offs of the invention; the arrival of gunpowder caused rum social and cultural upheavals that were to leave a permanent post on humankind.
Admittedly, the speed with which these changes materialized was quite slow initially; the footing being the inefficiency of the earliest firearms. Similar to the controversy regarding the origins of gunpowder, the emergence of the primitive guns is a matter of debate. It was earlier concluded that the Chinese invented the huo chhian, or the fire-lance, around A.D. 1130. This weapon was powered by a diversity approximating modern day gunpowder and had a cylindrical physical body; for these reasons the fire-lance might well be regarded as the prototype of a gun. Once the explosive mixture was ignited, the weapon would spew forrard its ammunition, usually pottery fragments or stone pellets, in a scattered burst. The fire-lance probably saw extensive use in the frequent Mongol invasions into China (Needham,...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay
If you want to get a full essay, wisit our page: write my essay .
No comments:
Post a Comment