Science and Civilisation in China, Part 7, Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic

Science and Civilisation in China, Part 7, Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic PDF Author: Joseph Needham
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521303583
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 838

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Book Description
The Gunpowder Epic is one of three planned publications on military technology within Dr Needham's immense undertaking. The discovery of gunpowder in China by the 9th century AD was followed by its rapid applications. It is now clear that the whole development from bombs and grenades to the invention of the metal-barrel hand gun took place in the Chinese culture area before Europeans had any knowledge of the mixture itself. Uses in civil engineering and mechanical engineering were equally important, before the knowledge of gunpowder spread to Europe in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Dr Needham's new work continues to demonstrate the major importance of Chinese science and technology to world history and maintains the tradition of one of the great scholarly works of the twentieth century.

Science and Civilisation in China, Part 7, Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic

Science and Civilisation in China, Part 7, Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic PDF Author: Joseph Needham
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521303583
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 838

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Gunpowder Epic is one of three planned publications on military technology within Dr Needham's immense undertaking. The discovery of gunpowder in China by the 9th century AD was followed by its rapid applications. It is now clear that the whole development from bombs and grenades to the invention of the metal-barrel hand gun took place in the Chinese culture area before Europeans had any knowledge of the mixture itself. Uses in civil engineering and mechanical engineering were equally important, before the knowledge of gunpowder spread to Europe in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Dr Needham's new work continues to demonstrate the major importance of Chinese science and technology to world history and maintains the tradition of one of the great scholarly works of the twentieth century.

Gunpowder, Explosives and the State

Gunpowder, Explosives and the State PDF Author: Brenda J. Buchanan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351931903
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Gunpowder studies are still in their infancy despite the long-standing civil and military importance of this explosive since its discovery in China in the mid-ninth century AD. In this second volume by contributors who meet regularly at symposia of the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC), the research is again rooted in the investigation of the technology of explosives manufacture, but the fact that the chapters range in scope from the Old World to the New, from sources of raw materials in south-east Asia to the complications of manufacture in the West, shows that the story is more than the simple one of how an intriguing product was made. This volume is the first to develop the implications of the subject, not just in the sense of relating it to changing military technologies, but in that of seeing the securing of gunpowder supplies as fundamental to the power of the state and imperial pretensions.The search for saltpetre, for example, an essential ingredient of gunpowder, became a powerful engine of sea-going European trade from the early seventeenth century. Smaller states like Venice were unable to form these distant connections, and so to sustain a gunpowder army. Stronger states like France and Britain were able to do so, and became even more powerful as the demand for improved explosives fostered national strengths - leading to a development of the sciences, especially chemistry, in the former case, and of manufacturing techniques in the latter.

The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society

The Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian Politics and Society PDF Author: Michael Winter
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9789004132863
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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Book Description
This volume is a collection of studies by leading historians on central aspects of the Mamluk Empire of Egypt and Syria (1250-1517), and of Ottoman Egypt (16th-18th century) where the Mamluks survived under the Ottoman suzerainty.

Early Modern East Asia

Early Modern East Asia PDF Author: Kenneth M. Swope
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315282798
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
This book presents a great deal of new primary research on a wide range of aspects of early modern East Asia. Focusing primarily on maritime connections, the book explores the importance of international trade networks, the implications of technological dissemination, and the often unforeseen consequences of missionary efforts. It demonstrates the benefi ts of a global history approach, outlining the complex interactions between Western traders and Asian states and entrepreneurs. Overall, the book presents much interesting new material on this complicated and understudied period. .

The Engineering Revolution

The Engineering Revolution PDF Author: Angus Buchanan
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1473899109
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
Over the past two million years that human species have inhabited the Planet Earth they have distinguished themselves by their ability to make and do things creatively to ensure their survival. From the beginning, therefore, they have been defined by their technology, and the history of technology is the history of the species. For most of this period, the development of human technical skills has been extremely slow and repetitive, limited to basic tools and weapons and the ability to control fire. The utilization of animal power and the invention of the means of harnessing the power of wind and falling water added gradually to their technical skills, but it was the discovery of ways of using power from heat engines a mere three hundred years ago that accelerated this process into a prodigious expansion of technical power that fundamentally transformed human societies . It is this development which deserves to be to be called The Engineering Revolution and provides the primary focus of this book.

Encyclopedia of Chinese History

Encyclopedia of Chinese History PDF Author: Michael Dillon
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317817168
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 872

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Book Description
China has become accessible to the west in the last twenty years in a way that was not possible in the previous thirty. The number of westerners travelling to China to study, for business or for tourism has increased dramatically and there has been a corresponding increase in interest in Chinese culture, society and economy and increasing coverage of contemporary China in the media. Our understanding of China’s history has also been evolving. The study of history in the People’s Republic of China during the Mao Zedong period was strictly regulated and primary sources were rarely available to westerners or even to most Chinese historians. Now that the Chinese archives are open to researchers, there is a growing body of academic expertise on history in China that is open to western analysis and historical methods. This has in many ways changed the way that Chinese history, particularly the modern period, is viewed. The Encyclopedia of Chinese History covers the entire span of Chinese history from the period known primarily through archaeology to the present day. Treating Chinese history in the broadest sense, the Encyclopedia includes coverage of the frontier regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet that have played such an important role in the history of China Proper and will also include material on Taiwan, and on the Chinese diaspora. In A-Z format with entries written by experts in the field of Chinese Studies, the Encyclopedia will be an invaluable resource for students of Chinese history, politics and culture.

World History of Warfare

World History of Warfare PDF Author: Christon I. Archer
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803244238
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 648

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Book Description
This book provides a wide-ranging and comprehensive coverage of warfare across times and cultures. Its main strengths are its ability to provide context for each period discussed, comparison between developments in Europe, Asia, and the colonized world, and critical and up-to-date bibliographies that allow the reader to pursue subjects in greater depth. - Jacket flap.

The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire 2 Volumes

The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire 2 Volumes PDF Author: Michal Biran
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009301977
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1916

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Book Description
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Chinggis Khan and his progeny ruled over two-thirds of Eurasia. Connecting East, West, North and South, the Mongols integrated most of the Old World, promoting unprecedented cross-cultural contacts and triggering the reshuffle of religious, ethnic, and geopolitical identities. The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire studies the Empire holistically in its full Eurasian context, putting the Mongols and their nomadic culture at the center. Written by an international team of more than forty leading scholars, this two-volume set provides an authoritative and multifaceted history of 'the Mongol Moment' (1206–1368) in world history and includes an unprecedented survey of the various sources for its study, textual (written in sisteen languages), archaeological, and visual. This groundbreaking Cambridge History sets a new standard for future study of the Empire. It will serve as the fundamental reference work for those interested in Mongol, Eurasian, and world history.

Gaining Currency

Gaining Currency PDF Author: Eswar Prasad
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190631058
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
China's currency, the renminbi, has taken the world by storm. This book documents the renminbi's impressive rise to global prominence in a short period but also shows how much further it has to go before becoming a major international currency. The hype about its inevitable ascendance to global dominance is overblown.

War In The Early Modern World, 1450-1815

War In The Early Modern World, 1450-1815 PDF Author: Jeremy Black
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 100015923X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
This book presents a collection of essays charting the developments in military practice and warfare across the world in the early modern period. It also considers the nature and role of technological change, and the relationship between military developments and state-building.