Improvements in iron and steel helped change the way warriors battled Through the Ages From prehistoric fighters to modern-day soldiers science and technology have improved warriors chances on the battlefield With science behind them warriors have protected their homelands and conquered new territories The earliest conflicts involved hand-to-hand combat In time workers learned to mold metals People forged strong clubs and swords of bronze iron and steel With more powerful weapons came the need for better protection Metal armor was created and used along with leather and fabric armor 6
Harnessing the power of machines made weapons even more powerful Projectiles shot from machines were more effective than those thrown by hand The invention of gunpowder ushered in a new era of projectiles and warfare Cannons and guns were born Technology also revolutionized military transportation The chariot gave Egyptian soldiers an advantage on land Superior shipbuilding allowed Vikings to travel to and take faraway lands The invention of the combustion engine the steam engine and nuclear energy each changed how militaries moved 7 IN THE REAL WORLD The Cold War Nations sometimes compete with each other to develop the best weapons in what is called an arms race After World War II 1939 1945 the United States and the Soviet Union struggled with each other to become the top superpower This time of competition was called the Cold War 1947 1991 The war did not involve soldiers fighting Instead each country spent billions of dollars building its military to try to get ahead of the other
Modern Military Science is still driving improvements in the military Chemists develop new armor materials to keep soldiers safe Physicists and engineers design more effective weapons and combat vehicles Computer technology flies military planes and directs missiles Drones and robots take over dangerous tasks Some scientific advancements meant for military purposes have become part of everyday life 8 Animals in War Not all war tactics involve new technologies Animal behavior experts sometimes train animals to perform wartime tasks During World War I 1914 1918 soldiers attached messages to pigeons legs The birds instinctively flew to their coops where other soldiers received the messages Dogs dolphins and seals have also been wartime helpers Dogs can sniff out hidden explosives Dolphins and seals can find underwater mines and retrieve objects Other animals do not need training Slugs naturally shrink when they detect poisonous gas During World War I soldiers brought slugs into battle When the slugs scrunched up the soldiers knew to put on their gas masks
Robert A Millikan was a physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1923 After World War I he wrote about the connection between war and science Below is an excerpt from that article But what have all these accomplishments of science in the war to do with the new opportunity in science Simply this for the first time in history the world has been waked up by the war to an appreciation of what science can do Why have we gone on for hundreds of years wasting millions and hundreds of millions of dollars in collisions between ships Why have we not years ago in times of peace gone at the problems of under-water detection in the way in which we went at them during the war Simply because men in authority have been asleep to the possibilities But now they are awake But just now the war has taught our political and industrial leaders what science can do The war has also taught young soldiers that they need their science for success Source Robert A Millikan A New Opportunity in Science Science 50 1291 1919 292 Print Back It Up In this passage Millikan uses evidence to support a point Write a paragraph describing his main point and the evidence he uses to support that point 9 STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE
