Sunday, April 6, 2014

What Inventions Gradually Replaced the Catapult


What Inventions Gradually Replaced the Catapult

Dionysius the Elder invented the basic catapult in 399 B.C. Some catapults were able to throw stones weighing as much as 350 pounds. The amount of force with which these stones were launched made catapults primary weapons of war even into medieval times.

Variations

    Two variations of the catapult design were created from the original machine. The single-armed catapult was designed for throwing large objects, such as rocks, into the air. The two-armed design, known as the ballista, was used to shoot large arrows. The Romans added wheels to both designs so that the siege engines would have more maneuverability.

Invention of the Cannon

    The cannon is one of the first forms of artillery that used gunpowder. Early cannons were not particularly safe, and could only be fired a limited number of times per day. The earliest use of a cannon is not known; however, the Scots defended Stirling Castle in 1341 with at least one cannon, and three were used in the battle of Crcy-en-Ponthieu in 1346. Between 1350 and 1400, use of cannons as weapons became more widespread.

Early Cannons

    When cannon use first began spreading, 600-pound machines were considered "large guns." Although pieces weighing as much as 1,000 pounds, and one as heavy as 9,500, existed before 1400, these were so immobile that they were generally considered useless. As a result, heavy cannons stayed in the 700-pound range, with some as light as 43 pounds.

Similar Artillery

    The cannon's use of gunpowder as a projectile method is what separated it from earlier siege weapons. Three variations on the cannon were developed and commonly used as artillery. Mortars were short-barreled machines that had little range, but were often used for hurling bombs over obstacles such as walls. Bombards were very heavy pieces that had moderate range and were used for battering walls down. Culverins were light and fit small to medium-sized cannon balls that could be hurled over large distances.
    Although armies experimented with other types of weapons, the development of these was often expensive and more dangerous than more traditional firearms, which prevent their widespread use.



  • Great Discoveries, Inventions, And the People Who Made Them - Scribd

    www.scribd.com/doc/49787871/Great-Discoveries-Inventions-And-the...
    Great Discoveries, Inventions, And the People Who Made Them - Ebook download as PDF File (.pdf), Text file (.txt) or read book online.
  • Printing press - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_Press
    A printing press is a device for evenly printing ink on to a print medium (substrate) such as paper or cloth. The device applies pressure to a print medium that rests ...
  • List of Chinese inventions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki?title=List_of_Chinese_inventions
    China has been the source of many inventions, including the Four Great Inventions: papermaking, the compass, gunpowder, and printing (both woodblock and movable type).
  • Keywords for the Engines scripts

    www.uh.edu/engines/keywords.htm
    1 Oliver Evans and an early American steam powered amphibian [steamboat, transportation, steam engine, auto, Oructor] 2 The Jacquard loom and the invention of the ...
  • Invention Quotes - 143 quotes on Invention Science Quotes ...

    todayinsci.com/QuotationsCategories/I_Cat/Invention-Quotations.htm
    ...those experiments be not only esteemed which have an immediate and present use, but those principally which are of most universal consequence for invention of ...
  • The Genius of Traditional Buildings Urban Indy

    www.urbanindy.com/2014/01/09/the-genius-of-traditional-buildings
    Have you ever been to an old downtown and marveled at the historic buildings? Have you ever wondered how they could create such beautiful buildings on such small ...
  • Ancient Catapults - Hellenica, Information about Greece and Cyprus ...

    www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/war/Catapults.htm
    Surviving Greek and Roman texts reveal the remarkable level of mathematical and engineering skill that went into the development of these early ballistic-missile ...
  • The Clarinet - History

    www.the-clarinets.net/english/clarinet-history.html
    Most instruments have very old ancestors - the clarinet has not. It is not common knowledge how old music - instrumental music - really is. What we learnt at school ...
  • A History of Inventions

    www.localhistories.org/techhist.html
    Inventions in the Ancient World. The Egyptians invented the sailing ship about 3,100 BC. The wheel was invented in Sumeria (Iraq) about 3,400 BC.
  • Celebrating The Success Of The Wright Brothers & The Invention of ...

    www.wrightstories.com/airplane.html
    WrightStories.Com was developed to share true stories relating to the Wright Brothers. With the centennial of man's first manned flight on the near horizon, these ...
  • liberalism: Definition from Answers.com

    www.answers.com Library Literature & Language Dictionary
    liberalism n. The state or quality of being liberal. A political theory founded on the natural goodness of humans and the autonomy of the individual
  • Daily Kos: Inside the Hostess Bankery

    www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/18/1162786/-Inside-the-Hostess-
    More Tagging tips: A tag is a way to search for this diary. If someone is searching for "Barack Obama," is this a diary they'd be trying to find?
  • Top 10 Future Weapons in Indian Arsenal ( By 2020

    factstasy.blogspot.com/2012/07/top-10-future-weapons-in-indian...
    7/2/2012 l l t
  • Reversing Heart Disease Linus Pauling Tower Laboratories

    www.hearttechnology.com
    Tower Laboratories sells high-dose vitamin C, lysine and proline drink mixes for coronary heart disease as recommended by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Linus Pauling.
  • telegraph Facts, information, pictures Encyclopedia.com articles ...

    www.encyclopedia.com Electrical Engineering
    The Telegraph. Source. Morse Code. Samuel F. B. Morse demonstrated a simple but stunning invention in 1837. It was a machine that could send a clicking signal across ...
  • technology: Definition from Answers.com - Answers - The Most ...

    www.answers.com Library Literature & Language Dictionary
    technology n. , pl. , -gies . The application of science, especially to industrial or commercial objectives
  • Ran Prieur

    www.ranprieur.com
    Ran Prieur "The bigger you build the bonfire, the more darkness is revealed." - Terence McKenna
  • Computers - How To Information eHow

    www.ehow.com/computers
    Tips, tricks, how-to, and buying advice for everything to do with your computer and software -- eHow Tech can help you enjoy your PC or Mac.
  • The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism

    www.newspeakdictionary.com/go-goldstein.html
    THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF OLIGARCHICAL COLLECTIVISM by Emmanuel Goldstein (The 'Book within a Book' from George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four)

No comments:

Post a Comment