ABSTRACT
Most modern weapons, like primitive weapons, are designed to transfer a quantity of energy to the enemy's body in order to crush, penetrate or burn it. The first aggressive weapons were 'anti-personnel' in that they were made to injure or kill other men. Developments in ammunition and firing mechanisms paved the way for the introduction of automatic weapons. From the earliest times until the end of the nineteenth century, weapons suitable for hand-to-hand fighting have given way to projectile-firing devices. At the same time similar weapons were important in the pacification of the Indian peoples in North America: the high-powered rifle was used not only against the people themselves but also for killing the buffalo on which many Indian people depended. New weapons and a superior technology enabled small bodies of men to conquer large territories and populations. The theoretical advantages of the rocket (cheapness and simplicity) continued to interest some weapon designers.
