Dew of death : the story of lewisite, America's World War I weapon of mass destruction / Joel A. Vilensky ; with the assistance of Pandy R. Sinish ; foreword by Richard Butler.
"Discovered by accident by a graduate student and priest in a chemistry laboratory at American University, lewisite was developed into a weapon by Winford Lewis, who became its namesake. After a powerful German counterattack in the spring of 1918, the government began frantic production of lewi...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Bloomington, IN :
Indiana University Press,
©2005.
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| Summary: | "Discovered by accident by a graduate student and priest in a chemistry laboratory at American University, lewisite was developed into a weapon by Winford Lewis, who became its namesake. After a powerful German counterattack in the spring of 1918, the government began frantic production of lewisite in hopes of delivering 3,000 tons of the stuff to be ready for use in Europe the following year. The end of the war came just as the first shipment was being prepared. It was dumped into the sea, but not forgotten." "Joel A. Vilensky tells the story of the discovery and development of this weapon and its curious history. During World War II, the United States produced more than 20,000 tons of lewisite, testing it on soldiers and secretly dropping it from airplanes. In the end, the substance was abandoned as a weapon because it was too unstable under most combat conditions. But a weapon once discovered never disappears. It was used by Japan in Manchuria and by Iraq in its war with Iran. The Soviet Union was once a major manufacturer. Strangely enough, although it was developed for lethal purposes, lewisite led to an effective treatment for a rare neurological disease." "Vilensky recounts these stories with detail and skill. Dew of Death makes fascinating reading for anyone concerned about the terrifying uses of technology in warfare."--BOOK JACKET. |
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| Physical Description: | xxiii, 213 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [188]-209) and index. |
| ISBN: | 0253346126 (cloth : alk. paper) |