PREFACE

...lives, of disgraces, of injustice, and finally to the gallows, or to a violent and ignominious death. For all these things are the effects of these cursed machines, which our iniquities have forged against ourselves, and which have become the most evident tools in the service of punishing our injustices. We also considered that this wretched Berthold Schwarz original: "Berthold Schuuarts, (autrement le noir)." A legendary 14th-century German monk and alchemist credited in folklore with the invention of gunpowder. had acquired an evil reputation, not only for having invented gunpowder and the thundering cannon, but also for having put them into use and practice. He acted like Herostratus original: "Eristrat." An arsonist who burned the Temple of Artemis in 356 BCE solely to ensure his name would be remembered throughout history., who, in order to make himself famous in the future, burned the magnificent Temple of Diana in Ephesus—formerly erected by the subtle and ingenious craftsmen Chersiphron, Ctesiphon, and Dinocrates original: "Archiphron, Chtesiphon & Dinocrate." These are the architects historically associated with the various phases of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.: architects so rare that this work deserved to be placed among the Seven Wonders of the World. Thus, this unfortunate man, thinking to eternalize his memory and his name, instead made himself hateful to every age. So did this Berthold, who, for having recklessly disclosed his invention, gains only a blameworthy remembrance and an enduring reproach. For since he brought this damnable invention to light, one has heard only the howling of the wounded, the voices of the oppressed, the laments over the dead, the sobbing regrets of widows, the tears of orphans, the crushing and shattering of bones, and the falling of great walls—all caused by this terrestrial lightning The authors use "foudre terrestre" (terrestrial lightning) as a vivid metaphor for the explosive power and sound of artillery., which goes about imitating