An explosive new look at history

I have long been puzzled by accounts of cannons that unaccountably exploded, killing gun crews in wartime and civilians on the Fourth of July. Why should an article made of solid iron that has successfully fired 1,000 rounds of gunpowder explode upon being loaded one more time?

In "Gunpowder: The History of the Explosive that Changed the World," Jack Kelly explains that this black powder burns at 2,138 degrees C, hundreds of degrees above the melting point of iron. Since every firing eroded the interior of the barrel, the eventual explosion of a long-used cannon was not an accident; it was an inevitability.

This kind of insight is both the strength and weakness of "Gunpowder," and, indeed, of all books with titles that include the phrase "...That Changed the World." More than 100 such books are currently in print, on topics that range from cod to the printing press (see list below). Their appeal lies in the chance to look at the whole world.

Why, for example, was gunpowder invented in China? European and Chinese alchemists used similar methods and materials. Why didn't Europeans come up with gunpowder?

Eastern and Western alchemists, Kelly tells us, were looking for different things. "In the West, alchemy focused on ways of transforming basic substances into gold. In contrast, the principal aim of Chinese practitioners was to create an elixir of immortality. Their interest was drawn by materials with paradoxical properties - gold, the element that never tarnished; mercury, the liquid metal; sulfur, the stone that burned."

It was while investigating sulfur that 10th-century Chinese alchemists came up with gunpowder, the explosive result of mixing sulfur with saltpeter and charcoal. The process of perfecting the new "fire drug" was neither smooth nor brief, but in Kelly's account it was often amusing. Chinese gunpowdermakers added charred grasshoppers to the charcoal, to give the gunpowder liveliness, while European manufacturers preferred saltpeter made from the urine of individuals "whiche drink either wyne or strong bear." (The idea is not as absurd as it sounds. Saltpeter is produced by bacteria that feed on decaying organic matter; the ammonium-rich liquid produced by heavy drinkers enhances bacterial activity.)

Anyone who dedicates years to researching and writing about a topic will be prone to exaggerate the importance of his subject, but when the topic is gunpowder, no exaggeration is needed. Gunpowder really did rearrange the world.

Early modern Europeans invented ships that could sail close to the wind and carry many months supply of food and water. So did the Chinese. But when Europeans mounted heavy cannons on their ships, they created an unbeatable weapon.

Cannon-bearing ships defeated the Ottoman fleet of oared galleys at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, checking the Muslim effort to conquer the Mediterranean. In the main, however, the new ship-mounted cannons were used for commercial and imperial expansion, not defense.

Indeed, after the final Muslim attempt to conquer Europe failed with the defeat of the Ottoman Army at Vienna in 1683, the only conquerors Europeans had to fear were other Europeans. Neither the Chinese, nor the Mughal, nor the Ottoman empires could stand against Europe's gunpowder weapons.

Page: 1 | 2