Mr. Hyde roams the back alleys of civilization for opportunities to figure out his worst on society, which often appears to be the dark side of innovation. The Greek Hephaestus (whose Roman counterpart was “Vulcan”), the only god to have been lame and misshapen, is its founding figure in civilization. But countless inventors and innovators, from chemists to Boyle, thought of weapons positively. They believed that they may banish the scourge of war, or a minimum restrains its excesses if they might only invent the final word weapon, the instrument so horrible that nobody would dare use it.

More than six decades into the nuclear age, there’s growing evidence that the bomb may influence the long-sought war-stopper. Whether it does good or ill depends not on the technology itself but on what humans like better to do with it.

They will help demystify the arcane and infrequently secretive world of military research and development and also clarify the impact on society of all complex technological systems. They provide students a collection of conceptual tools for puzzling over the change in warfare over time and therefore the role that technological innovation has played in this process.

Technology Shapes Warfare
Technology shapes warfare, not war. War is timeless and universal. Warfare is the conduct of war. It’s the clash of arms or the maneuver of the military within the field. War could be a condition within which a state might find itself; warfare may be a physical activity conducted by soldiers within the context of war. To know the technology of warfare is to grasp the technology of most violence.

The wording is additionally important in articulating exactly what impact technology has on warfare. A variety of verbs suggests themselves. Technology defines, governs, or circumscribes warfare. It sets the stage for warfare. It’s the instrumentality of warfare.