Weapons Technology
Pre AP English
28 March 2012
From Rocks to Rockets: How Weapon Technology has Changed the World
“Anyone who considers using a weapon of mass destruction against the United States or its allies must first consider the consequences... We would not specify in advance what our response would be, but it would be both overwhelming and devastating,” William Perry. This quote shows that the United States is one of the most feared fighting powers on this planet. It is like this because the United States spends millions of dollars per year to stay ahead of everyone else. This is for the military, but almost every dollar that is spent on military technology comes back to help civilians sooner or later.
The first major weapon used by humans was the bow and arrow. The first bows that we know of today were produced and used in 2800 B.C (Byers). The bow and arrow started as a way to hunt animals and protect each other and yourself. With the bow people could now hunt larger more dangerous animals then they could with a spear. Some of these animals were like bison and deer, and civilians now had a way to protect themselves from tigers and bears better than the old fashion spear (Denny). Along with this, bows made it possible for higher population of people. People could also migrate from place to place and still have enough food to survive (Denny). Without the bow civilizations may have never crossed the ice bridge to America and there could have quite possibly been no Native Americans when Christopher Columbus showed up to what is now the United States.
Vetter 2
As humans realized the potential for the bow and arrow it started to be used as a weapon of war. A great example of this is the battle of Crecy. At Crecy there were half of a million long bow archers firing arrows at each other. In the hands of a well trained and skilled archer, a long bow could shoot ten to twelve arrows per minute. This means that during the one battle alone arrows fell from the sky at a rate of
28 March 2012
From Rocks to Rockets: How Weapon Technology has Changed the World
“Anyone who considers using a weapon of mass destruction against the United States or its allies must first consider the consequences... We would not specify in advance what our response would be, but it would be both overwhelming and devastating,” William Perry. This quote shows that the United States is one of the most feared fighting powers on this planet. It is like this because the United States spends millions of dollars per year to stay ahead of everyone else. This is for the military, but almost every dollar that is spent on military technology comes back to help civilians sooner or later.
The first major weapon used by humans was the bow and arrow. The first bows that we know of today were produced and used in 2800 B.C (Byers). The bow and arrow started as a way to hunt animals and protect each other and yourself. With the bow people could now hunt larger more dangerous animals then they could with a spear. Some of these animals were like bison and deer, and civilians now had a way to protect themselves from tigers and bears better than the old fashion spear (Denny). Along with this, bows made it possible for higher population of people. People could also migrate from place to place and still have enough food to survive (Denny). Without the bow civilizations may have never crossed the ice bridge to America and there could have quite possibly been no Native Americans when Christopher Columbus showed up to what is now the United States.
Vetter 2
As humans realized the potential for the bow and arrow it started to be used as a weapon of war. A great example of this is the battle of Crecy. At Crecy there were half of a million long bow archers firing arrows at each other. In the hands of a well trained and skilled archer, a long bow could shoot ten to twelve arrows per minute. This means that during the one battle alone arrows fell from the sky at a rate of
Cited: Denny, Mark. Ingenium: Five Machines That Changed the World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2007. Print. “Explosives-History.” Web. 15 Feb, 2012. <http://science.jrank.org/pages/2634/Explosives-History.html>. "From Homeland Security to Home Security." Military.com Glaser, Alexander. "Effects of Nuclear Weapons." U.S. Government Printing Office, 12 Feb. 2007. Web. 6 Feb. 2012. <http://www.princeton.edu/~aglaser/lecture2007_weaponeffects.pdf>. Hambling, David Hansen, Dr. James R. “Technology and the History of Aeronautics: An Essay” U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. Web. 20 Feb. 2012 Layton, Julia "Nuclear Warfare." Think Quest. Oracle. Web. 6 Feb. 2012. "Scientist Says Nuclear Weapons Best Bet for Saving Earth from Asteroids | Homeland Security News Wire." Homeland Security News Wire |. 30 June 2010. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.