Evolution Of Weapons Essay

Evolution Of Weapons Essay

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A weapon, according to Oxford Dictionary, is defined as “a thing designed or used for inflicting bodily harm or physical damage”. Due to the fact that humans have always fought and killed each other, it is hard to determine an exact time in which weapons were first used, but according to ancient cave paintings dating back from 10,000 to 5,000 BC weapons such as bows were used. Over centuries weapons steadily advance till the 16th century when guns were invented. In the beginning of the 19th century a man by the name of Sir William Congreve engineered the first rocket used in warfare. The rocket was not a very good one, it lacked accuracy, but because of a need to have the best and most powerful weapon, improvements and other designs were created which lead to the first super weapons being built. What exactly is a super weapon? A Super weapon is a “very powerful weapon compared to others in its era.” Although many countries have their own different types of super weapons, it has been very rare that a super weapon has been used in history. One of the most well-known uses of a super weapon would be the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Super weapons today are known as weapons of mass destruction. Today any involvement with super weapons is closely monitored. Any country that operates, research, or funds super weapons is observed. The ethical issue involving engineering weapons is “when is it too much?” Weapons have evolved from being just an item for protection, to now having the capacity of annihilating an entire country. Many argue that having a single weapon that could eliminate an entire country is extreme, because the weapon not only eliminates the enemy but also many innocent civili...

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6. NRA | ABOUT US. (n.d.). NRA | ABOUT US. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from http://home.nra.org/home/document/about
7. Robots, Ethics & War. (n.d.). Center for Internet and Society. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2010/12/robots-ethics-war
8. Simpson, J. A., & Weiner, E. S. (1989). The Oxford English dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press ;.
9. Martin, M. W., & Schinzinger, R. (2010). Introduction to engineering ethics (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
10. Nabulsi, K. (n.d.). Crimesof War. Crimes of War – Jus ad Bellum / Jus in Bello. Retrieved December 10, 2013, from http://www.crimesofwar.org/a-z-guide/jus-ad-bellum-jus-in-bello/

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