War Tech, From the Bow to "The Bomb"

More than 30,000 years ago, warrior-hunters figured out how to string a bow. Now smart bombs fall from stealthy planes. This knowledge sortie surveys 20 crucial milestones in between--20 times technology changed the world of war.

before 30,000 BC - Clever humans develop projectile weapons, first spears and then bows and arrows. The first spears were just sharpened sticks, but the bow was the "killer app" of the Stone Age. The potential energy stored in the bent bow could transfer all at once to the arrow as kinetic energy. Result: lunch, or a dead neighbor.

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