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Catapult-Makers Were Once Ye Olde Celebrities
IOL ^
| 7-5-2004
Posted on 07/05/2004 2:52:06 PM PDT by blam
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1
posted on
07/05/2004 2:52:06 PM PDT
by
blam
To: FairOpinion
2
posted on
07/05/2004 2:52:54 PM PDT
by
blam
To: blam
The belly bow was basically a cross bow braced by the user's torso. The catapult was also called the mangonel or onager. The really heavy artillery was the trebuchet, which could toss stones up to 400 pounds!
To: *Gods, Graves, Glyphs; A.J.Armitage; abner; adam_az; AdmSmith; Alas Babylon!; blam; NukeMan; ...
"Until the discovery of gunpowder, the catapult was the most powerful weapon in existence, said historian Serafina Cuomo. The machines, capable of hurling large projectiles long distances, were in high demand during the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans - and so were their makers.
But the construction of catapults was no easy task, requiring great mathematical and engineering skill.
It became a science in itself, known as "belopoietics" from the Greek "poietike" meaning "making of" and "belos" meaning "projectile" or "projectile throwing device".
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4
posted on
07/05/2004 3:22:48 PM PDT
by
FairOpinion
(If you are not voting for Bush, you are voting for the terrorists.)
To: blam
5
posted on
07/05/2004 3:25:04 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
("A republic, if we can revive it")
To: blam
Marin Mersenne introduced the science of physics to the world by describing the ballistics of gunpowder cannon shortly after the invention of cannon replaced catapults. While the renaissance had already begun, he hastened the advance of science by acting as liaison between the isolated scientists--including Galileo--of the various kingdoms of Europe. He was one of the central figures of the renaissance, and this due to the catapult. Moveable type, the magnetic compass, and gunpowder--the most important inventions according to Thomas More--made scientists necessary, and it was religious figures such as More and Mersenne that led the way to acceptance of science.
6
posted on
07/05/2004 3:34:18 PM PDT
by
RightWhale
(Destroy the dark; restore the light)
To: FairOpinion
"The first catapults dated back as far as the Ninth Century BC when they were depicted in a relief from Nimrud, in present day Iraq."
People living in that region were very clever...but it was long time ago.
To: blam
Until the discovery of gunpowder, the catapult was the most powerful weapon in existence All those buxom wenches, with their decolletage on public display, may beg to differ! *L*
8
posted on
07/05/2004 3:40:20 PM PDT
by
Happygal
(Le gách dea ghuí)
To: blam
I'm pretty sure al gore invented the catapault. In fact, he invented one so powerful it could have thrown michael moore 300 meters. Unfortunately, john kerry voted it down (after he voted for it).
To: Happygal
All those spies disguised as buzom wenches gleaning information by plying their targets with bottles of German reisling....
10
posted on
07/05/2004 4:07:24 PM PDT
by
uglybiker
(I misspell ekxentric on purpose just to be different)
To: uglybiker
Hey! I'm a sucker for a good joust! *L* ;-)
11
posted on
07/05/2004 4:09:01 PM PDT
by
Happygal
(Le gách dea ghuí)
To: blam
For the true catapult/trebuchet geek.
You're not living until you start launching stuff in the back yard. I recommend barrels of flaming fuel oil. LOL!
To: uglybiker
buzomI think you mean buxom, but whatever! LOL!
To: uglybiker
Oooops - just read your tagline.
To: 1stFreedom; Redleg Duke; SAMWolf; archy; I got the rope; 300winmag; cavtrooper21; ...
Ancient Fire Support ping
15
posted on
07/05/2004 4:52:09 PM PDT
by
Cannoneer No. 4
(I've lost turret power; I have my nods and my .50. Hooah. I will stay until relieved. White 2 out.)
To: blam
She added: "Ancient engineers had a role in society and often an ambivalent relationship
with political power. The technology they boasted of may now be obsolete, but
their anxieties, their curiosity, and their pride in their knowledge are not - perhaps the people behind the machine have not changed
that much."
Nice post-modern journalism.
As I started the article, all I could think was "at least these technologists
didn't have a Nobel Peace Prize there to lure them into being useful idiots.".
But I guess the writer thinks otherwise.
16
posted on
07/05/2004 4:56:44 PM PDT
by
VOA
17
posted on
07/05/2004 4:59:12 PM PDT
by
Cannoneer No. 4
(I've lost turret power; I have my nods and my .50. Hooah. I will stay until relieved. White 2 out.)
To: blam
I guess what I really was saying was that the writer just couldn't praise the makers
of these engines of war...
without also trying to make them sound like leftist moral paragons along the lines of
Oppenheimer and Linus Pauling, let alone The Rosenburgs and Gus Hall.
18
posted on
07/05/2004 4:59:58 PM PDT
by
VOA
19
posted on
07/05/2004 5:08:51 PM PDT
by
Cannoneer No. 4
(I've lost turret power; I have my nods and my .50. Hooah. I will stay until relieved. White 2 out.)
Warlord Marsallas with an "Onager" style catapult. This type of siege engine was used by the Roman Legions when assaulting walls and fortifications. "Onager" means "wildass" in latin and refers to the kicking action of the machine when it was discharged. It is a simpler and less complex form of the "Ballista" type catapult; which Rome had adopted from the Greeks. It utilizes a large arm powered by one horizontal skein of rope or gut; whereas the Ballista had a more complex "cross-bow" arrangement powered by two vertical skeins.
20
posted on
07/05/2004 5:17:36 PM PDT
by
Cannoneer No. 4
(I've lost turret power; I have my nods and my .50. Hooah. I will stay until relieved. White 2 out.)
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