Rise Of The War Machines

Rise of the War Machines: The Birth of Precision Bombing in World War II examines the rise of autonomy in air warfare from the inception of powered flight through the first phase of the Combined Bomber Offensive in World War II. Raymond P. O’Mara builds a conceptual model of humans, machines, and doctrine that demonstrates a distinctly new way of waging warfare in human-machine teams. Specifically, O’Mara examines how the U.S. Army’s quest to control the complex technological and doctrinal system necessary to execute the strategic bombing mission led to the development of automation in warfare. Rise of the War Machines further explores how the process of sharing both physical and cognitive control of the precision bombing system established distinct human-machine teams with complex human-to—human and human-to-machine social relationships. O’Mara presents the precision bombing system as distinctly socio-technical, constructed of interdependent specially trained roles (the pilot, navigator, and bombardier); purpose-built automated machines (the Norden bombsight, specialized navigation tools, and the Minneapolis-Honeywell C-1 Autopilot); and the high-altitude, daylight bombing doctrine, all of which mutually shaped each other’s creation and use.

Thomas Rid’s revelatory history of cybernetics pulls together disparate threads in the history of technology, from the invention of radar and pilotless flying bombs in World War Two to today’s age of CCTV, cryptocurrencies and Oculus Rift, to make plain that our current anxieties about privacy and security will be emphatically at the crux of the new digital future that we have been steadily, sometimes inadvertently, creating for ourselves. Rise of the Machines makes a singular and significant contribution to the advancement of our clearer understanding of that future – and of the past that has generated it. PRAISE FOR THOMAS RID ‘A fascinating survey of the oscillating hopes and fears expressed by the cybernetic mythos.’ The Wall Street Journal ‘Thoughtful, enlightening … a mélange of history, media studies, political science, military engineering and, yes, etymology … A meticulous yet startling alternate history of computation.’ New Scientist

Based on ethnographic research among militias in Sierra Leone and Liberia, Danny Hoffman considers how young men are made available for violent labor on battlefields and in dangerous unregulated industries.

The author aims to show how the emergence of intelligent and autonomous bombs and missiles equipped with artificial perception and decision-making capabilities represents a profound historical shift in the relation of human beings both to machines and to information.

Two hundred years before the Alexandrian revolution, the inventor Archimedes created unimaginable weapons to defend the city-state of Syracuse from Rome. Now, the Alexandrians must contend with an enraged Roman Empire intent on destroying the technologically advanced upstart. While Agog takes his army of steam chariots north, Heron must investigate rumors of ancient weapons thought too destructive for the battlefield. As they speed towards conflict with the undefeated Roman Legion, the Alexandrian side must make a demanding sacrifice to survive. Alexandrian Saga Book 1 - Fires of Alexandria Book 2 - Heirs of Alexandria Book 3 - Legacy of Alexandria Book 4 - Warmachines of Alexandria Book 5 - Empire of Alexandria Book 6 - Voyage of Alexandria Book 7 - Goddess of Alexandria Keywords: history, alternate history, historical mystery, woman sleuth, strong female lead, invention, egypt, roman empire, alexandria, alexander the great, pyramids, archimedes, rome, battles, war, ancient history, great library, lighthouse of pharos, great pyramids, egyptian mythology, roman mythology, code Similar Authors: Dan Brown, Harry Turtledove, Harry Harrison, Phillip K. Dick, Nisi Shawl, Michael Chabon, Bernard Cornwell, Ken Follett, Diana Gabaldon, Kate Quinn, Walter Scott, Hilary Mantel, James Patterson