Home >
Prelude to the army tank? Magazine for the blind...
Prelude to the army tank? Magazine for the blind...
Item # 669280
May 16, 1908
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, New York, May 16, 1908
* Prelude to the military "Tank"
The front page is taken up with two photos of: "A Curious Means of Propulsion - The Caterpillar Motor, Showing the Weight-Carrying Wheels".
Although a novel concept at the time, this dates from the introduction of the caterpillar-type means of movement, adopted not only by the construction industry but the military as well.
Inside also has several photos and an article on a "Magazine for the Blind" using raised letters.
Twenty pages, several old tape mends at margins, some edge tears, library stamp at the top.
AI notes: In 1908, what is sometimes loosely called a “Caterpillar tank” was actually an early tracked tractor, not a true armored fighting vehicle; the best-known example was the Hornsby tracked tractor developed in Britain by Richard Hornsby & Sons, which used one of the first practical continuous track (“caterpillar”) systems to move across mud, sand, and uneven ground where wheeled vehicles failed. Designed primarily as an artillery tractor, it demonstrated that tracks could distribute weight and provide traction far superior to wheels, attracting the attention of military observers during pre–World War I trials. Although it carried no armor or weapons and therefore was not a tank in the modern sense, this 1907–1908 Hornsby machine proved the feasibility of tracked propulsion, a technological breakthrough that directly influenced later designs and helped pave the way for the development of true tanks during World War I, beginning with British prototypes such as Little Willie in 1915.
Category: The 20th Century
Available Now
$33.00
