Trial by Fire: Science Technology and the Civil War

Rating:
Summary: Weak Account of the Sinews of War
Review: A very disappointing book. For starters, the subtitle How Technology, Industry, and Transportation Won the Civil War is misleading, as the author really does not focus on these aspects, and when he does, he manages to avoid detail. For example, the Red River debacle is one of Bacon's chapters. The technology LTC Bailey used to build dams to allow the Union boats to avoid being stranded takes less than two pages. Essentially the book is nothing more than a reworking of some of the major episodes of the war with a few remarks about the logistical aspects thrown in. The author does not appear to have done any significant research. There are no citations of source material and the bibliography is limited to fairly recent secondary works.

Rating:
Summary: A book for science or Civil War buffs
Review: In this reference, Charles Ross excellently explains the applications of scientific knowledge during the Civil War and the effects thereof. Through an impartial presentation of the historical solutions to very real obstacles, Ross brings to life an often overlooked aspect of the war while concurrently describing the simple scientific principles that govern those solutions. Answered in this book are the following questions: "How did the Confederates produce the world's purest gunpowder despite their poor manufacturing base?", "What role did the telegraph play in the war?", "What is the story of the submarine CSS Hunley?", and "What was the significance of mines, dams, and balloons?" This book is bound to impress the historian and the scientist.