Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima

Frontispiece
Author	Kazimierz Siemienowicz
Country	Amsterdam
Language	Latin
Subject	Artillery, Rockets, Fireworks
Publisher	Ioannem Ianssonium
Publication date	1650
Media type	Print
Pages	284
Website

Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima ("Great Art of Artillery, the First Part") was written by Kazimieras Semenavičius (Kazimierz Siemienowicz) in 1650. He was a Polish–Lithuanian general of artillery, gunsmithing, military engineering, and a pioneer of rocketry. This treatise, which discussed rocketry and pyrotechnics, both recreational and military, remained a standard work in those fields for over a century. Among the many plates depicting rockets, cannons, bombs, fireworks and other pyrotechnics is a design for a fire breathing dragon. It was published by Jan Janssonius.

Its name implies a second part, and it is rumored that he wrote its manuscript before his death. It is also rumored that he was killed by members of the metallurgy, gunsmithing, or pyrotechnics guilds, who were opposed to him publishing a book about their secrets, and that they hid or destroyed the manuscript of the second part.

Siemienowicz disparaged what he saw as a culture of secrecy based on "canting Alchymists of the times Past...they dealed in nothing but Smoke, yet arrogantly took upon them to be Professors of so noble and excellent an art as Chymistry."

Summary

In this first part of his work he also wrote that the second part would contain the "universal pyrotechnic invention, containing all of our current knowledge". According to his short description, this invention was supposed to greatly ease all measurements and calculations.

Siemienowicz argued that pyrotechny must be based on a few clearly understood compositions, based on an experimental knowledge of their qualities. He had put, he said, "none into Practice till I had examined them by an exact Arithmetical Calculation, Geometrical Demonstration, and by solid Arguments drawn from Natural Philosophy." Discussing the rocket molds on which rocket cases were made, Siemienowicz noted: "Workmen do not always observe the same Proportions in the Dimensions of them... and in this they verifie that Proverb, As many Men, so many Minds."^[2]

According to a Polish source, the first multistage and clustered rockets were proposed by Siemienowicz in this book.^[3], though this is disputed.

Legacy

The ideas of staging and clustering solid rocket motors, together with the rigorous application of calculating, testing, and using scaling laws as advocated by Siemienowicz, were used again to put the first Geiger counters on orbit, there to observe the first exoatmospheric nuclear fireworks.

Publication

Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima, first printed in Latin, was translated to French in 1651, to German in 1676, to English and Dutch in 1729, and to Polish in 1963.

A digital copy of the original book has been made available.^[4]

Select images of Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima

Illustrations from the original book
Machine tools and tooling.
A fireworks fountain. These were popular at gala affairs and have recognizable descendants at rock concerts and other events.
Fin-stabilized rockets. These don't need a stick for stabilization but they are unstable at launch without an attitude control system.
Fig 49. A 2-stage rocket with a warhead. Fig. 50. A 2-stage rocket with a clustered upper stage. Fig. 52. A 3-stage rocket. Fig. 59. A clustered rocket.
Mandrels to make solid rocket motors.‎ The diagram is for proportional scaling of the rocket motor.
A fire-breathing model dragon for entertainment.