About a dozen years ago I heard a news report that some US Border Patrol agents had fired on boys who were merely throwing rocks at the border agents. These border agents were ridiculed for their over-reaction to supposedly harmless rocks.
Outcry After U.S. Border Patrol Opens Fire on Mexican Rock-Throwers, Killing Boy
As our language affects our thinking and our thinking affects language, we sometimes forget the origins of either or which came first. And long-practiced application of advanced technology tends to decouple primordial technology and rigidly fix our minds to exclude connections to the past. Hence the title, Connections, is the name of the video series and books by James Burke wherein he linked technological progression.
The reports that ridiculed the Border Patrol agents overlooked the technological connections of bullets. Essentially, bullets are rocks, although extremely sophisticated rocks.
There are many kinds of weapons. Projectiles are a class of weapons.
Rocks were first thrown or dropped by stone-age man.
[I’m using rock(s) in a generalized sense. Please compare rock to mineral.]
Then came spears. At first, spears were merely sharpened sticks or bone, but then stones were knapped and mounted to the business end of the spears to enhance their penetrability so that they could be either thrust or thrown.
Also, hand axes were made with stone heads that might be thrown.
Then there were arrow slings and shot slings. All of these tools (a common euphemism used by archeologists to largely indicate weapons) employed shaped rocks to enhance their utility to kill at distance. The materials available, whether modified or not, were carefully chosen to provide the best balance, uniformity-symmetry, weight, hardness, and aerodynamic qualities.
Spherical rocks were best for slinging, unless the rocks were attached to arrows.
Eventually came the bow and arrow. And what was placed at the end of an arrow?… a knapped rock.
Then came catapults. But with catapults, we partially retrogressed as almost anything could be lobbed with a catapult. Uniformity of the projectile remains important to a degree, but is not nearly as critical—depending on the circumstance. The catapult even allows for biological warfare as the projectile was sometimes a plague-ridden body that was hurled into a besieged city.
And by this time, we had moved on from natural rocks and knapped rocks—preferably flint in most cases—to bronze. These rocks of bronze were made of a blend of purified (smelted) elemental rock (copper and zinc), … essentially still rock.
And then we progressed to iron, then steel. All of these technologies fostered the development of the crossbow as its potential accuracy and power was greatly enhanced by the uniformity afforded by the new-age rocks used in its bolts.
Eventually, firearms were invented that launched steel or lead or brass or any manipulated components (alloys) of rock we considered best for the application. Again, a modern bullet is a very sophisticated rock.
So the evolution of projectiles is basically an evolution of throwing rocks:
Natural Rocks » Knapped Rocks » Purified-Molded Rocks (modern bullets).
Do those who condemned the Border Patrol agents, alleging that the kids were merely throwing rocks (reputedly, some rocks the size of baseballs), not consider that for millennia, people were executed by stoning?
Do these same people not know of the tale wherein the hero, David (a boy), killed the giant, Goliath, with a mere rock thrown from a shepherd’s sling?
Modern firearms have achieved amazing technology. For instance, as a beginner in bench-rest competition two years ago, Brenda placed two .22 caliber shots exactly atop one another. Of three shots at 100 yards, two of the three bullets landed exactly at center, giving the incorrect impression that she had fired only two rounds. Below is a panel from Brenda’s performance that day performed outdoors in a moderate crosswind.
Brenda’s skill aside, the very notion of the technological possibility of placing two .22-inch bullets in a circle diameter of .22 inches is astounding. How is it possible to make a rifled barrel and fit it with a cartridge of such consistency and power to propel a bullet 100 yards with this degree of both accuracy and precision (two entirely different qualities)? [I personally know people who can perform this feat at several times this distance using different equipment.]
Note that a .22 bullet is a tiny rock, much smaller than the ones thrown at the Border Patrol agents. And the .22 is a deadly round.
And the next time you’re shooting at the range, realize that you’re basically just throwing rocks.
I tip my hat to Brenda for her skill. Last time I fired a .22 or any firearm for that matter I was 11 years old and could not hit the side of a barn. Today I practice shooting my mouth off, but am intrigued by the new pistols which fire shotgun shells 😱.