Explosives
At a glance:
- Series: Magill’s Guide to Military History
- Categories: Military History, Technology, Inventions
- Subcategories: Nuclear Weapons, Power, Radiation, Bombs, Bombings, Explosions
- Curriculum: Worldwide
Explosives are substances or mixtures that have the ability to undergo a sudden chemical reaction with formation of gases and release of heat. Nuclear and thermonuclear explosions result from fission or fusion of atomic nuclei. Propellants are explosives that are useful for driving missiles (bullets, rockets, etc.), rather than for sheer destructive power.
Beginning in the fourteenth century, explosives revolutionized warfare, permitting blasting of fortresses and walls and allowing the peasantry, equipped with firearms, to defeat previously invulnerable armored knights....
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