From tissue paper screens to radar screens: some episodes in the development of ballistic testing methods

Abstract

A chronological synopsis of the history of the technology used in experimental and testing work relating to artillery pieces is presented. The period covered is from the mid-seventeenth century up to the Cold War era of the mid-twentieth century. Although the focus is on the development of ballistics measurement in Britain, there are important links to related work in continental Europe. The locus for much of what is described is the Royal Artillery proof and experimental range at Shoeburyness and the key individuals and groups of men and women who worked there. There are longitudinal connections between the very earliest technologies of mechanical chronometry, with paper screens and paper-based calculations, and the later technology where timings, screens and calculations had all become electronic.

keywords:

• artillery
• ballistics
• chronograph
• army
• women
• Shoeburyness

Notes

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25 Ibid.

26 Ibid.

27 Ibid.

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

N. C. Baker

Dr Nina Baker has had a varied career, having become a merchant navy deck officer on leaving school and later taken an engineering design degree in her 30s, from the University of Warwick. She then gained a PhD in concrete durability from the University of Liverpool. She has lived with her family in Glasgow since 1989, working variously as a materials lecturer in further education and as a research administrator and, until 2017, as an elected city councillor. Now retired, she is an independent researcher, mainly specialising in the history of women in engineering.