The Ultimate Weapon There has been a lot of advancements in the development of weapons over the ages. I have to wonder how many times man has thought he has invented the ultimate weapon only to see another even more deadly one come along. There is one thing different this time and it is the fact we have nuclear weapons and yet no one wants to use them. If they would have had them back a thousand years ago everyone would be blowing up everyone else. Is this because we finally created a weapon of such mass destruction people realized if these weapons are used it could mean the end of the world? Even these weapons may not be the most powerful we find. Once we get into space in a big way we might take our warlike ways with us and there are even more powerful weapons floating around out there, they are asteroids. If we were at war with another planet and decided to destroy it all we would have to do is figure out how to send a large asteroid crashing into it. In a way this is like going full circle. The first weapons were probably rocks which were thrown at each other. The person who threw the first rock probably thought he had discovered the deadliest weapon on earth. It is just so ironic. Let’s hope asteroids this way never comes to pass. One of the greatest inventions in ancient times was the bow and arrow. Spears were deadly but they had one big drawback. Both spears and clubs had to be wielded in close quarters. That meant you had to be face to face with your enemy. If you threw a spear it was a lot less accurate and had a very limited range. The invention of swords didn’t help that situation but using an arrow from a bow gave you a safe distance to kill and wound from. Some ancient Roman weapons were based on the bow and arrow such as the Ballista. The Romans decided as far as the bow and arrow was concerned the bigger and more powerful the better and built these machines which were so large some stood at the height of 6 or 7 men and shot a very heavy spear like missile. It was actually an improved Greek weapon. Seeing a weapon like this by an opposing tribe must have scared the heck out of them. The Greeks had a weapon which was so incredible they must have thought of it as the ultimate weapon. Many of you are about to guess what I am going to say and if you are thinking Greek Fire you are correct. A formula was developed and kept secret for a type of fire device which resisted being put out. If you put water on the flames it just spread them. The weapon was created as a sort of hand grenade and if it hit the water it ignited immediately. We do not know the formula today but a guess by some is it was based on naphtha or quicklime. It was designed as a naval weapon and must have made it impossible for wooden ships to succeed at the time. It was first used at the battle of Constantinople in 673 to 678. It doesn’t seem to have been too much different than napalm. When armor was first used it must have been considered an incredible defensive weapon. Many people don’t know the Romans had knights. They had copied the idea from some ancient race they did battle with. In Medieval early times knights appeared again and weapons developers tried to construct weapons which could pierce armor. The crossbow was very effective and there was also a very large sword which was developed to chop through the armor plate. It was heavy and hard to swing. Along with the sword and crossbow there were hammers, axes and maces. Then it happened, someone invented the hand cannon in China which used gunpowder and in a few hundred years guns made it into Europe and other places and armor was rendered useless and was worn mostly for ornamental purposes. As guns became more efficient other types of exploding devices were developed such as grenades and mines. People of that time must have thought they now had the ultimate weapon. They developed large cannons for blowing down castle walls. Prior to that they thought they had the ultimate castle destroyer the trebuchet which flung large rocks very accurately. By the time the American Civil War came along all sorts of innovations appeared in weapons making. Some consider this war the first modern one. Pistols that fired six bullets and even more were used. There were repeating rifles, but the North held off using them for quite some time because generals thought they used too much ammunition. There were large naval cannons which were mounted both on land and sea. On the sea there were boats which were steam powered and armored. One of the greatest innovations of the war was one of the simplest. It was the balloon filled with gas. It allowed armies to get a bird’s eye view of the battlefield for the first time. Coal gas was used in the balloons and this allowed them to stay in the area for three to four hours. These guys must have been a target for every sniper around. In World War I things got even more advanced and one of the weapons of the time was considered the most advanced and it was the airplane. It was constructed mostly of sticks and canvas with a gas motor but was able to not only carry machine guns but also drop bombs on troops. Tanks appeared for the first time and while they were not the most reliable of machines they were able to cross trenches and resist light fire. When they first appeared, it must have sent the enemy running for cover and at that time it must have appeared they were the ultimate weapon. Huge battleships were developed which could lob shells for miles and the submarine finally came into its own. It had appeared as early as the American Revolution but was never a serious contender as a weapon until World War I when it began to sink a lot of ships. Today we believe our nukes are the ultimate weapons but it is only a matter of time until we discover weapons which are even more powerful and maybe so powerful we can never test them. We continue to smash particles and are finding new stuff every year. If we discover how to create black holes or something like them it would put nuclear weapons to shame. The problem is a black hole could destroy the planet by tearing it apart. It might be the ultimate weapon but it could also be the last weapon we develop because it would destroy us.
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