Overview
I study military history and the history of technology. My focus has ranged over all of Western experience, and I have recently converted my undergraduate course in military history to a comparative world military history course. I have written about chariots in the second millennium B.C., Greek fire in medieval Byzantium, and computers and aerospace technology in the twentieth century. While I study the history of technology in general, I also focus on the ways in which technology has shaped war and war has altered technology.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Professor Emeritus of History
·
2010 - Present
History,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Recent Publications
Da Vinci Medal Address: A Centrifugal Maelstrom?
Journal Article Technology and culture · January 2024 This revision of the da Vinci Medal Address, delivered at SHOT's annual meeting in Los Angeles on October 28, 2023, presents two valedictories. The first reviews fifty years in SHOT studying and teaching the history of technology and warfare. It argues tha ... Full text CiteDelta of Power The Military-Industrial Complex
Book · August 10, 2021 "The book covers the Cold War origins of the military-industrial complex and explains its current relevance since the 9/11 terrorist attacks"-- ... CiteIs military technology deterministic?
Journal Article Vulcan · January 1, 2020 In their papers prepared for this volume, Kelly DeVries and David Zimmerman explore the differing viewpoints on technological determinism that military historians bring to bear on premodern and modern warfare. This paper analyzes their respective arguments ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
SRG: Robert Fulton: Between Art and Engineering
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2010 - 2011Doctoral Dissertation Research: Office Automation and the Construction of Computerization as Productivity in Britain, 1945 to 1975
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2006 - 2007View All Grants
Education, Training & Certifications
Duke University ·
1974
Ph.D.
University of Hawaii, Manoa ·
1970
M.A.
United States Naval Academy ·
1966
B.S.