The Bionic-Hand Arms Race: High-Tech Hands are Complicated, Costly, and Often Impractical
Britt H. Young
Abstract
IN JULES VERNE'S 1865 NOVEL From the Earth to the Moon, members of the fictitious Baltimore Gun Club, all disabled Civil War veterans, restlessly search for a new enemy to conquer. They had spent the war innovating new, deadlier weaponry. By the war's end, with “not quite one arm between four persons, and exactly two legs between six,” these self-taught amputee-weaponsmiths decide to repurpose their skills toward a new projectile: a rocket ship.
Topics & Concepts
AdversaryAeronauticsArms raceClubRocket (weapon)Spanish Civil WarRace (biology)EngineeringLaunchedComputer securityComputer sciencePolitical scienceHistorySociologyEconomic historyMedicineLawGender studiesElectrical engineeringAnatomyMusicians’ Health and PerformanceMechanics and Biomechanics Studies