Throwing Fire: Projectile Technology through History

In Throwing Fire, historian Alfred W. Crosby looks at throwing and fire, and the role they have played in shaping the development of our species. Humans began throwing rocks in prehistory and then progressed to javelins, and bows and arrows. We learned to make fire which we used to cook, drive game, and burn out rivals. In historic times we invented catapults and trebuchets, and about one thousand years ago we invented gunpowder, which led to guns and rockets, enabling us to literally throw fire. In the twentieth century gunpowder weaponry enabled us to achieve unprecedented mayhem - the most destructive wars of all time. Faced with possible extinction should we experience World War III, we have turned our projectile talents to space travel. Throwing fire, which might make Earth uninhabitable for humans, may make it possible for migration to other bodies of our solar system.

Alfred W. Crosby is Professor Emeritus in American Studies, History and Geography at the University of Texas at Austin.