In Throwing Fire, historian Alfred W. Crosby looks at hard, accurate throwing and the manipulation of fire as unique human capabilities, allowing us to create simple weapons and atomic bombs, and to venture into space.

Includes index.

Who, why and how. The Pliocene: something new is afoot -- The first acceleration: Hominids become a keystone species and their own worst enemies. The Pliocene and Pleistocene: "You are what you throw" ; The Pleistocene and Holocene: "Cooking the Earth" ; The upper Paleolithic: "Humans and other catastrophes" ; From weapon craftsmanship to weapon technology -- The second acceleration: Gunpowder. The Chinese elixir ; Gunpowder as a centripetal force ; Brown Bess to Big Bertha -- The third acceleration: Into extraterrestrial and subatomic space. The V-2 and the bomb ; The longest throws -- The fourth acceleration.