The Scientific Way Of Warfare: Order And Chaos On The Battlefields Of Modernity (columbia/hurst)
by Antoine J. Bousquet /
2009 / English / PDF
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Beginning with the Scientific Revolution and concluding with
today's terrorist networks, Antoine J. Bousquet advances a novel
history of scientific methodology in the context of the
battlefield. For centuries, scientific conceptual frameworks have
been applied to theories of war, particularly with the invention
of such influential technologies as the clock, the engine, and
the computer. Conversely, many scientific developments have been
stimulated or conditioned by the experience of war, especially in
the wake of the unprecedented technological and industrial effort
of World War II.
Beginning with the Scientific Revolution and concluding with
today's terrorist networks, Antoine J. Bousquet advances a novel
history of scientific methodology in the context of the
battlefield. For centuries, scientific conceptual frameworks have
been applied to theories of war, particularly with the invention
of such influential technologies as the clock, the engine, and
the computer. Conversely, many scientific developments have been
stimulated or conditioned by the experience of war, especially in
the wake of the unprecedented technological and industrial effort
of World War II.
Marked by an increasingly tight symbiosis between technology,
science, and conflict, the constitution and perpetuation of this
scientific way of warfare are best understood as an attempt by
the state to turn violent aggression into a rational instrument
of policy. In his study, Bousquet explores the relative benefits
(such as a unique chain of command to safeguard the use of
nuclear weapons) and decentralizing (such as the flexible
networks that connect insurgents) military affairs. He then
follows with specific scientific approaches to war: mechanistic,
thermodynamic, cybernetic, and "chaoplexic," a network-centric
theory allied with the non-linear sciences.
Marked by an increasingly tight symbiosis between technology,
science, and conflict, the constitution and perpetuation of this
scientific way of warfare are best understood as an attempt by
the state to turn violent aggression into a rational instrument
of policy. In his study, Bousquet explores the relative benefits
(such as a unique chain of command to safeguard the use of
nuclear weapons) and decentralizing (such as the flexible
networks that connect insurgents) military affairs. He then
follows with specific scientific approaches to war: mechanistic,
thermodynamic, cybernetic, and "chaoplexic," a network-centric
theory allied with the non-linear sciences.