Featured Book: a 400-year-old firecracker
- 04 March 2025
- 1 minute
Geometry, artillery and fireworks are the focus of The Art of Gunnery, this term鈥檚 Featured Book from the Library of 精东影业 College.
Each term a member of the Library staff selects a text from 精东影业 College Library鈥檚 historic collections. Chosen by Assistant Librarian (Bibliographic Support) Hannah Thompsett, The Art of Gunnery was published in 1648, almost 400 years ago, and 300 years since the College鈥檚 foundation as Gonville Hall.
Written by Nathaniel Nye, a mathematician and astronomer, The Art of Gunnery is a detailed guide which stressed the importance of geometry to the successful deployment of artillery, with large parts of the book focused on fireworks.
Hannah says: 鈥淲e displayed this book in our Open Afternoon on November 5, 2024, simply because it discussed fireworks, but whilst writing the caption for that I realised there was a lot more that could be said about it.
鈥淭he book balances beautiful engravings and chemical calculations with a talent for understatement which is (perhaps unintentionally) humorous, and makes it easy to read even as he discusses mathematical principles.
鈥淣ye鈥檚 hard work and commitment to experimentation deserve recognition, as he regularly put his life on the line for his art (and after all, how else would we know that hand grenades are 鈥榮omwhat dangerous鈥?)!鈥
