Werrett, S;
(2014)
The science of destruction: terrorism and technology in the nineteenth century.
In: Dietze, C and Verhoeven, C, (eds.)
The Oxford Handbook of the History of Terrorism.
Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK.
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Abstract
This chapter surveys the evolution of chemical and mechanical weapons used by terrorists between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries, ranging from the diabolical contraptions of “infernal machines” to dynamite, the terrorist’s favorite explosive, invented by Alfred Nobel in the 1860s. The chapter also explores the ingenuity of terror. While anarchists and revolutionaries who used explosive chemicals are often represented as merely consumers of the latest scientific creations, the chapter argues that in fact these communities showed considerable ingenuity in devising new weapons. A brief case study of the career of Irish nationalist Robert Emmet’s rockets in the pre-dynamite era demonstrates this. The chapter concludes by considering the relationship of terror and science, and contrasts the radical political views of terrorists with their typically unchallenging acceptance of scientific authority and opinions in the nineteenth century.
| Type: | Book chapter |
|---|---|
| Title: | The science of destruction: terrorism and technology in the nineteenth century |
| ISBN-13: | 9780199858569 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199858569.013.012 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199858569.0... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | "The Science of Destruction: Terrorism and Technology in the Nineteenth Century" by Simon Werrett, from The Oxford Handbook of the History of Terrorism, edited by Carola Dietze and Claudia Verhoeven, 2014, reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press: http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199858569.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199858569-e-012. |
| Keywords: | explosives, dynamite, science, technology, ingenuity, weapons, infernal machines, rockets, Robert Emmet |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Science and Technology Studies |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1418227 |
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