THE 

 NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE 



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SCIENCE AND WAR 1 

 GEORGE ELLERY HALE 



SCIENCE UNDER NAPOLEON 



THIS is by no means the first war in which men of science 

 have been called from their customary researches to solve 

 military problems. For early examples we might go back to 

 the Greeks, and cite illustrations from the conquests of Alex- 

 ander the Great or the reputed exploits of Archimedes at the 

 siege of Syracuse. But a more striking and illuminating ex- 

 ample, of great significance because of the emphasis laid on the 

 national importance of science and research by the leaders of 

 France, may be taken from the history of the French Revolu- 

 tion and the life of Napoleon Bonaparte. 



At the period of the French Revolution the Paris Academy 

 of Sciences occupied an unrivalled position in Europe. Com- 

 posed of the leaders of science in every field, it was therefore 

 prepared to deal with the heavy problems which grow out of 

 a great emergency. When the Convention decided to raise a 

 large army to resist invasion and stamp out civil war, equip- 



1 For the material used in the first half of this Chapter the writer is 

 chiefly indebted to Maindron's L'Academie des Sciences and to the 

 Presidential address of M. Guignard at the last annual meeting of the 

 Academy (Comptes Rendus, December 22, 1919). 



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