The Chemists' War

The Chemists' War PDF

Author: Michael Freemantle

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 358

ISBN-13: 1849739897

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The 1914-18 war has been referred to as the 'chemists' war' and to commemorate the centenary this collection of essays will examine various facets of the role of chemistry in the First World War. Written by an experienced science writer, this will be of interest to scientists and historians with an interest in this technologically challenging time.

Gas! Gas! Quick Boys

Gas! Gas! Quick Boys PDF

Author: Michael Freemantle

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2011-11-30

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13: 0752479032

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Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! reveals for the first time the true extent of how chemistry rather than military strategy determined the shape, duration and outcome of the First World War. Chemistry was not only a destructive instrument of war but also protected troops, and healed the sick and wounded. From bombs to bullets, poison gas to anaesthetics, khaki to cordite, chemistry was truly the alchemy of the First World War. Michael Freemantle explores its dangers and its healing potential, revealing how the arms race was also a race for chemistry to the extent that Germany's thirst for the chemicals needed to make explosives deprived the nation of fertilizers and nearly starved the nation. He answers question such as: What is guncotton? What is lyddite? What is mustard gas? What is phosgene? What is gunmetal? This is a true picture of the horrors of the 'Chemists' War'.

War of Nerves

War of Nerves PDF

Author: Jonathan Tucker

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2007-12-18

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 0307430103

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In this important and revelatory book, Jonathan Tucker, a leading expert on chemical and biological weapons, chronicles the lethal history of chemical warfare from World War I to the present. At the turn of the twentieth century, the rise of synthetic chemistry made the large-scale use of toxic chemicals on the battlefield both feasible and cheap. Tucker explores the long debate over the military utility and morality of chemical warfare, from the first chlorine gas attack at Ypres in 1915 to Hitler’s reluctance to use nerve agents (he believed, incorrectly, that the U.S. could retaliate in kind) to Saddam Hussein’s gassing of his own people, and concludes with the emergent threat of chemical terrorism. Moving beyond history to the twenty-first century, War of Nerves makes clear that we are at a crossroads that could lead either to the further spread of these weapons or to their ultimate abolition.

The Chemical Age

The Chemical Age PDF

Author: Frank A. von Hippel

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2020-09-04

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 022669738X

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This sweeping history reveals how the use of chemicals has saved lives, destroyed species, and radically changed our planet: “Remarkable . . . highly recommended.” —Choice In The Chemical Age, ecologist Frank A. von Hippel explores humanity’s long and uneasy coexistence with pests, and how the battles to exterminate them have shaped our modern world. He also tells the captivating story of the scientists who waged war on famine and disease with chemistry. Beginning with the potato blight tragedy of the 1840s, which led scientists on an urgent mission to prevent famine using pesticides, von Hippel traces the history of pesticide use to the 1960s, when Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring revealed that those same chemicals were insidiously damaging our health and driving species toward extinction. Telling the story in vivid detail, von Hippel showcases the thrills—and complex consequences—of scientific discovery. He describes the creation of chemicals used to kill pests—and people. And, finally, he shows how scientists turned those wartime chemicals on the landscape at a massive scale, prompting the vital environmental movement that continues today.

The Poisonous Cloud

The Poisonous Cloud PDF

Author: L. F. Haber

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1986-02-20

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 0191512311

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The author examines fully the military role of chemical warfare and its effects on the people, industries, and administrations on both sides; he also considers the growing moral problems it created. The launching of an entirely new weapon that did not discriminate between soldiers and civilians raised complex issues which were debated endlessly between the wars and which, in recent years, have led to agreement among the powers not to use chemical or biological warfare.

Hellfire Boys

Hellfire Boys PDF

Author: Theo Emery

Publisher: Little, Brown

Published: 2017-11-14

Total Pages: 636

ISBN-13: 0316264113

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This explosive look into the dawn of chemical warfare during World War I is "a terrifying piece of history that almost no one knows" (Hampton Sides). In 1915, when German forces executed the first successful gas attack of World War I, the world watched in horror as the boundaries of warfare were forever changed. Cries of barbarianism rang throughout Europe, yet Allied nations immediately jumped into the fray, kickstarting an arms race that would redefine a war already steeped in unimaginable horror. Largely forgotten in the confines of history, the development of the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service in 1917 left an indelible imprint on World War I. This small yet powerful division, along with the burgeoning Bureau of Mines, assembled research and military unites devoted solely to chemical weaponry, outfitting regiments with hastily made gas-resistant uniforms and recruiting scientists and engineers from around the world into the fight. As the threat of new gases and more destructive chemicals grew stronger, the chemists' secret work in the laboratories transformed into an explosive fusion of steel, science, and gas on the battlefield. Drawing from years of research, Theo Emery brilliantly shows how World War I quickly spiraled into a chemists' war, one led by the companies of young American engineers-turned-soldiers who would soon become known as the "Hellfire Boys." As gas attacks began to mark the heaviest and most devastating battles, these brave and brilliant men were on the front lines, racing against the clock -- and the Germans -- to protect, develop, and unleash the latest weapons of mass destruction.

The Politics of Chemistry

The Politics of Chemistry PDF

Author: Agustí Nieto-Galan

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-08-22

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 1108482430

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Nieto-Galan examines the political role of chemistry in twentieth-century Spain, enriching understandings of the relationship between science and power.

A Strange and Formidable Weapon

A Strange and Formidable Weapon PDF

Author: Marion Girard

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 2008-06-01

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 0803222238

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The advent of poison gas in World War I shocked Britons at all levels of society, yet by the end of the conflict their nation was a leader in chemical warfare. Although never used on the home front, poison gas affected almost every segment of British society physically, mentally, or emotionally, proving to be an armament of total war. Through cartoons, military records, novels, treaties, and other sources, Marion Girard examines the varied ways different sectors of British society viewed chemical warfare, from the industrialists who promoted their toxic weapons while maintaining private control of production,øto the politicians who used gas while balancing the need for victory with the risk of developing a reputation for barbarity. Although most Britons considered gas a vile weapon and a symptom of the enemy?s inhumanity, many eventually condoned its use. ø The public debates about the future of gas extended to the interwar years, and evidence reveals that the taboo against poison gas was far from inevitable. A Strange and Formidable Weapon uncovers the complicated history of this weapon of total war and illustrates the widening involvement of society in warfare.

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