The Scientific Way of Warfare: Order and Chaos on the Battlefields of Modernity

Bousquet's book explores the impact of key technologies and scientific ideas on warfare, highlighting the tension between order and chaos on the battlefield. It spans the modern era, from the Scientific Revolution to the present, and shows how modern armies have been organized around paradigmatic technologies like the clock, engine, computer, and network. The book also examines the symbiotic relationship between science, technology, and war, particularly in the context of renewed great power competition and technological innovation in artificial intelligence and robotics.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 296 pages
Publication date: 28 February 2022
Publisher: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd

Bousquet's groundbreaking work delves into the profound impact of key technologies and scientific ideas on the theory and practice of warfare, as well as the enduring tension between order and chaos on the battlefield. Spanning the entirety of the modern era, from the Scientific Revolution to the present, it provides a comprehensive account of modern warfare as the constitution of increasingly complex assemblages of bodies and machines whose integration relies upon a military assimilation of scientific thought. Reflecting the pervasive influence of scientific conceptual frameworks upon warfare, modern armies have been successively organized by reference to the paradigmatic technologies of the clock, engine, computer, and network. Conversely, significant scientific developments and technological breakthroughs have become intertwined with the experience of war, particularly since the Second World Wars unprecedented mobilization of scientific rationality and technical expertise. This increasingly tight symbiosis between science, technology, and war lies at the heart of both the tremendous powers and enduring pathologies displayed by the contemporary military machine.

In this new and revised edition, Bousquet expands the analysis to encompass the latest developments in the scientific way of warfare amidst renewed great power competition and a wave of technological innovation in artificial intelligence and robotics.

Weight: 428g
Dimension: 141 x 213 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781787387263