In the book, The Big Bang: A History of Explosives by G.I. Brown, the author talks about how the world was fascinated by the idea of explosives. There were many benefits, but as well as harms to those who had it. He goes into further explanation on the history of them, starting his book off with the invention of gunpowder. There are many different kinds of explosives he talks about in his book, and he even brings up how these inventions had many modifications to them for certain requirements. He also talks about dynamite, TNT explosives, and the hydrogen bomb. These explosives have made a significant impact on the world socially and historically and G.I. Brown talks about how successful these explosives were to many of those who had access
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His argument in the beginning of the book is, “Fire can cause so much damage and create so much confusion, chaos and terror that it is not surprising that the use of incendiaries in warfare dates back to very ancient times”(Chapter 1, Page 1). Fire was always used as a weapon that people used against each other and many different formulas were always being invented in these ancient times. Some formulas were not successful at all. At some point in history, we reached a time in which Mr. Brown says, “There were many other horrible formulations, all trying to outburn the others..”(Chapter 1, Page 1). Then after the year AD 673, fire entered a new phase in which a very successful formula was made and kept a secret by the Greeks for a long time. It was called Greek fire and it protected the Greeks from their enemies for over 800 years. Mr. Brown says, “..it could be propelled through tubes; it floated on water; it was very difficult to extinguish and it was possible, somehow, to keep the secret of its manufacture within Constantinople for many years…”(Chapter 1, Page 2) Later on, an invention that overpowered Greek fire rose. It was gunpowder, the oldest and best known explosive. It was used for fireworks and bombs and …show more content…
An example of how explosives had a significant effect on our world today was during the American Civil War, which was the early use of gunpowder. This was the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Some of the ways it harmed us was the number of lives that were taken from this very important, but dangerous discovery. The biggest strength in the book in my opinion was all the information it had on gunpowder and its early usage. A lot of the book had so much ongoing information about how gunpowder was made in its early stages and used in different variations and modified to fit certain demands and requirements for the people. The biggest weakness in my opinion was the title of the book. When I first saw the title, I honestly thought I was going to be reading a book that was going to talk about the Big Bang Theory. After doing some research and reading the book, I now know it was actually about explosives and the history behind them. I also found that the author has a new edition of the book with a much more “truthful” title. It is called, Explosives: History with a Bang. The author, G. I. Brown, attended Magdalen College in Oxford and Blackburn Grammar School. At one point in his life he worked in Eton College until his retirement as a chemistry teacher and is known to have wrote
His argument in the beginning of the book is, “Fire can cause so much damage and create so much confusion, chaos and terror that it is not surprising that the use of incendiaries in warfare dates back to very ancient times”(Chapter 1, Page 1). Fire was always used as a weapon that people used against each other and many different formulas were always being invented in these ancient times. Some formulas were not successful at all. At some point in history, we reached a time in which Mr. Brown says, “There were many other horrible formulations, all trying to outburn the others..”(Chapter 1, Page 1). Then after the year AD 673, fire entered a new phase in which a very successful formula was made and kept a secret by the Greeks for a long time. It was called Greek fire and it protected the Greeks from their enemies for over 800 years. Mr. Brown says, “..it could be propelled through tubes; it floated on water; it was very difficult to extinguish and it was possible, somehow, to keep the secret of its manufacture within Constantinople for many years…”(Chapter 1, Page 2) Later on, an invention that overpowered Greek fire rose. It was gunpowder, the oldest and best known explosive. It was used for fireworks and bombs and …show more content…
An example of how explosives had a significant effect on our world today was during the American Civil War, which was the early use of gunpowder. This was the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Some of the ways it harmed us was the number of lives that were taken from this very important, but dangerous discovery. The biggest strength in the book in my opinion was all the information it had on gunpowder and its early usage. A lot of the book had so much ongoing information about how gunpowder was made in its early stages and used in different variations and modified to fit certain demands and requirements for the people. The biggest weakness in my opinion was the title of the book. When I first saw the title, I honestly thought I was going to be reading a book that was going to talk about the Big Bang Theory. After doing some research and reading the book, I now know it was actually about explosives and the history behind them. I also found that the author has a new edition of the book with a much more “truthful” title. It is called, Explosives: History with a Bang. The author, G. I. Brown, attended Magdalen College in Oxford and Blackburn Grammar School. At one point in his life he worked in Eton College until his retirement as a chemistry teacher and is known to have wrote