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The Fruits of War: How Military Conflict Accelerates Technology
 
 

The Fruits of War: How Military Conflict Accelerates Technology (Hardcover)

by Michael White (Author)
2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
Price: £16.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd (1 Aug 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0743220242
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743220248
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.4 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 760,142 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description
Since man first wielded a stick in anger, war and conflict have been prime movers in the progress of science and technology. In our earliest days the impetus may have been as simple as protecting territory or a food supply; more recently science has benefited from massive injections of cash when national security is at stake. But as Michael White demonstrates in this superbly wide-ranging and brilliant history of innovation, almost all major technological developments can be traced back to times of war. From the arrow to nuclear power; from cuneiform to the credit card; from the chariot to the bullet train and from the tribal drum to the Internet, our creativity owes much to the destructiveness of our nature. Accessible, thought-provoking and chock-full of fascinating facts, THE FRUITS OF WAR is a superb history of science and innovation that shows how the best of humanity often flows from its worst.

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2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars steve37a, 29 Jun 2006
By Stephen F. Clark - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I bought this book because it was on the Aventis long list for this year (2006). I am astonished that it was selected, I thought this a very superficial book (as I did for the winner of the prize -- Electric Universe).
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3.0 out of 5 stars War as the engine of technology, 10 Feb 2009
By Christian Jongeneel (Rotterdam, Netherlands) - See all my reviews
Almost all technology we use everyday was developed to benefit warfare, Michael White seems to say in this book. Well, that may be somewhat exagerated, but he there is something to it. Mr White explores several fields to make his point: medical technology, weaponry, payments and logistics, ground transport, air transport, sea transport and information.

The examples and anecdotes are spread like rapidfire in this book, but coherency suffers. At points sloppiness creeps in. Mr White for instance states the Romans could keep their large empire together, because they were the first to build an extensive road network. But the Persians did so before them, and ten centuries later the Mongols would conquer an even larger empire without a road network.

In all, this book scores high on style and accessibility, but low on giving systematic evidence of its central thesis.
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