Hiram Maxim with his invention, the Maxim gun, an early and influential machine gun, 1884
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Was it Maxim or Gatling who set out to create a weapon so terrible that nations would give up war completely rather than use it?
He must have been disappointed.
Gatling. He wanted to increase firepower per person, which would reduce the number of soldiers in a conflict.
Maxim:
"In 1882 I was in Vienna, where I met an American whom I had known in the States. He said: 'Hang your chemistry and electricity! If you want to make a pile of money, invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each others' throats with greater facility.'"
Was it Maxim or Gatling who set out to create a weapon so terrible that nations would give up war completely rather than use it?
He must have been disappointed.
Gatling. He wanted to increase firepower per person, which would reduce the number of soldiers in a conflict.
Maxim: