Inventions of the Great War
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Inventions of the Great War, by A. Russell (Alexander Russell) Bond
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INVENTIONS OF THE GREAT WAR
BY A. RUSSELL BOND
Managing Editor of Scientific American, Author of On the Battle-Front of Engineering, etc.
WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS
NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. 1919
Copyright, 1918, 1919, by The Century Co.
Published, June, 1919
The great World War was more than two-thirds over when America entered the struggle, and yet in a sense this country was in the war from its very beginning. Three great inventions controlled the character of the fighting and made it different from any other the world has ever seen. These three inventions were American. The submarine was our invention; it carried the war into the sea. The airplane was an American invention; it carried the war into the sky. We invented the machine-gun; it drove the war into the ground.
It is not my purpose to boast of American genius but, rather, to show that we entered the war with heavy responsibilities. The inventions we had given to the world had been developed marvelously in other lands. Furthermore they were in the hands of a determined and unscrupulous foe, and we found before us the task of overcoming the very machines that we had created. Yankee ingenuity was faced with a real test.
A. Russell Bond
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UNDERGROUND VILLAGES
HIDING RAILROADS IN DITCHES
PERISCOPES AND "SNIPERSCOPES"
STEEL BRIER PATCHES
MINES AND COUNTER-MINES
HAND-ARTILLERY
LONG-DISTANCE GRENADE-THROWING
STRIKING A LIGHT
MINIATURE ARTILLERY
GIANT PEA-SHOOTERS
THE STOKES MORTAR
A DOCTOR'S TEN-BARRELED GUN
A GUN AS A GAS-ENGINE
GETTING RID OF HEAT
EFFECT OF OVERHEATING
USING THE BULLET TO FAN THE GUN
THE BROWNING MACHINE-GUN
THE MACHINE-GUN IN SERVICE
MACHINE-GUN FORTS
SHOOTING AROUND THE EDGE OF THE EARTH
BEYOND THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE
WAYS OF INCREASING THE RANGE
A GUN WITH A RANGE OF A HUNDRED AND TWENTY MILES
THE THREE-SECOND LIFE OF A GUN
ELASTIC GUNS
HOW BIG GUNS ARE MADE
GUNS THAT PLAY HIDE-AND-SEEK
THE FAMOUS FORTY-TWO-CENTIMETER GUN
FIELD-GUNS
GUNS THAT FIRE GUNS
POURING GAS LIKE WATER
WAITING FOR THE WIND
WHEN THE WIND PLAYED A TRICK ON THE GERMANS
FREEING THE BRITISH TRENCHES OF RATS
GAS THAT MADE ONE WEEP
THE SNEEZING-SHELL
GAS-MASKS
GLASS THAT WILL NOT SHATTER
BATTLING WITH LIQUID FIRE
THE "FIRE BROOM"
EYES IN THE SKY
AIR SCOUTS AND THEIR DANGERS
THE SELF-HEALING GASOLENE-TANK
GIANTS OF THE SKY
HOW FAST IS A HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILES PER HOUR?
SHOOTING THROUGH THE PROPELLER
FIGHTING AMONG THE CLOUDS
THE FLYING TANK
AMERICA'S HELP
A BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO THE NATION
FLYING BOATS
THE AUTOMATIC SEAPLANE
AIRPLANES AFTER THE WAR
THE WEIGHT OF HYDROGEN
ZEPPELIN'S FAILURES AND SUCCESSES
RIGID, SEMI-RIGID, AND FLEXIBLE BALLOONS
KEEPING ENGINES CLEAR OF THE INFLAMMABLE HYDROGEN
THE ZEPPELIN'S TINY ANTAGONISTS
SUSPENDING AN OBSERVER BELOW THE ZEPPELIN
A BALLOON GAS THAT WILL NOT BURN
AMERICAN CHEMISTS TO THE RESCUE
SPREADING THE EYES FAR APART
GETTING THE OBSERVER OFF THE GROUND
MAKING MAPS WITH A CAMERA
CORRECTING THE AIM
MINIATURE BATTLE-FIELDS
SPOTTING BY SOUND
THE AUDION
TALKING FROM NEW YORK TO SAN FRANCISCO
SIMPLE EXPLANATION OF RADIOTELEGRAPHY
TALKING WITHOUT WIRES
RADIOTELEPHONES FOR AIRPLANES
TELEGRAPHING TWELVE HUNDRED WORDS PER MINUTE
DETECTING RADIO SPIES
THE WIRELESS COMPASS
PILOTING SHIPS INTO PORT
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
MATCHING THE SKY
GETTING THE RANGE FOR THE TORPEDO
MAKING STRAIGHT LINES LOOK CROOKED
A JOKE ON THE PHOTOGRAPHER
SEEING BEYOND THE HORIZON
THE BRITISH MYSTERY SHIPS
CAMOUFLAGE ON LAND
A PAPER HORSE
FOOLING THE WATCHERS IN THE SKY
HIDING BIG GUNS
ROADS THAT LED NOWHERE
SHADOWLESS BUILDINGS
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EYE
A CALL FOR THE PHYSICIST
MAKING SHIPS VISIBLE
CONSTRUCTION OF THE U-BOATS
PUTTING HOLES IN A TANK TO KEEP IT FULL
ENGINES THAT BURN HEAVY OIL
FAT MEN NOT WANTED
THE BLINDNESS OF THE SUBMARINE
THE TORPEDO
GUNS ON SUBMARINES
A STEAM-DRIVEN SUBMARINE
A SUBMARINE THAT MOUNTS A TWELVE-INCH GUN
SUBMARINE-CHASERS
A HINT FROM NATURE
A GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK
DEATH-DEALING "ASH CANS"
EYES IN THE SEA
TRAILING U-BOATS BY SOUND
THE MINE THAT DOES ITS OWN SOUNDING
PICKING INFERNAL MACHINES OUT OF THE SEA
FLOATING MINES
EGG-LAYING SUBMARINES
PARAVANES
PENNING IN THE U-BOATS
A WALL OF MINES
MINE RAILROADS ON SHIPS
MOTOR TORPEDO-BOATS
THE SEA TANK
THE AWKWARD "EAGLES"
SEAPLANE TOWING-BARGES
THE "HUSH SHIPS"
MOTHER-BOATS FOR AIRPLANES
TORPEDO-PROOF MONSTERS
AN ELECTRICALLY STEERED MOTOR-BOAT
IN THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA
A SUBMARINE GRAVEYARD
DIFFERENT WAYS OF SALVING A WRECK
RAISING A SHIP ON AIR
SALVING THE U. S. SUBMARINE F-4
A HUMAN SODA-WATER BOTTLE
A SUBMARINE REST-CHAMBER
CUTTING METAL UNDER WATER WITH A TORCH
EXPLORING THE SEA BOTTOM IN A DIVER'S SLED
ARMORED DIVING-SUITS
THE SALVOR'S SUBMARINE
FIGHTING THE WAVES WITH AIR
