Stories by Dan Schlenoff

Reported in Scientific American this week in World War I, November 7, 1914 Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the man who built up the Imperial Navy of Germany, had dismissed submarines as a waste of money back in 1901.

Reported in Scientific American, This Week in World War I: October 31, 1914 The articles by “The Military Correspondent of the Scientific American” were probably written by an American army officer.

Reported in Scientific American, this Week in World War I: October 24, 1914

This Week in World War I: October 17, 1914 The cover wrap of the issue has a painting of an armored car, charging into—surely not running away from!—some battle, gun blazing.

Reported in Scientific American This Week in World War I: October 10, 1914 Drones are at the forefront of warfare in the 21st century. These unarmed and unpiloted aircraft, big and small, circle far above the battlefield, collecting images and reporting back to headquarters, electronically.

Reported in Scientific American, This Week in World War I: October 3, 1914 The opening weeks of the First World War saw sweeping movements of vast armies.

Reported in Scientific American—This Week in World War I: September 19, 1914 The Belgian field army retreated into the fortified city of Antwerp only 16 days after the Germans had invaded.

Reported in Scientific American: This Week in World War I: September 19, 1914 The first few weeks of the Great War in Europe had convincingly shown the value of aircraft for reconnaissance work.

Reported in Scientific American this Week in World War I: September 12, 1914 The Battle of Heligoland Bight took place in the North Sea on August 28, 1914.

Censored: How the Army Eats In this issue, a telling line reads: "The censors have not allowed the press of the world to state whether or not explosives were dropped on the fortifications of Liège." This special "War Issue" contained much on military theory, organization and resources, but apart from a scattering of images little [...]

A Monstrous Paradox In the late 19th and early 20th century before the Great War broke out, Germany (which had become unified only in 1871) could be held up as a shining example of how science and the arts (philosophy, music, painting) could help a country prosper, grow and become civilized.

The Vast Scale of War When the Great War broke out the scale of it was unprecedented. Citizens, soldiers and governments alike tried to grasp the sheer immense numbers of combatants and materièl involved.

Germany’s Opening Gambit The German attack on Belgium and France, starting on August 4, 1914, was designed to deliver a crushing blow to the French armies before the Russians and British could mobilize; after defeating the French, the Germans planned to use their extensive railway system to rush their forces to the eastern front to [...]

The Panama Canal opened officially a century ago

Reported 100 years ago in Scientific American The invasion of Belgium by the German army, in a bid to outflank French forces, led to Britain declaring war on Germany this week a century ago.

A look at military science from the first year of the war that engulfed Europe

July 21 is verdict day in the infamous Scopes "Monkey" Trial of 1925. The verdict came in from a jury in Dayton, Tenn., that John Thomas Scopes had committed the crime of teaching evolution to students at his high school, for which transgression he was fined $100.

A reader asked whether an article from December 18, 1886, was fact-checked; the implied question was whether it was "a true story."