this week marks 100 years since the end of world war i heres a look at the role of science in the conflict creditnational archives and records administrationone hundred years after the end of world war i the army corps of engineers is still cleaning up the relics of experiments that helped develop chemical weapons to counter the germans gas attacks at the american university experiment station near the dalecarlia reservoir in maryland soldiers tested gas masks in a mantest laboratorycreditnational archives and records administrationnov 10 2018washington under a canopy of poplar and oak trees a team of geophysicists surveyed the forest floor for centuryold wartime relics they positioned an electromagnetic scanner atop the carpet of leaves while the delicate instrument harvested data about objects in the soil beneathin 1918 mortars and artillery shells arched toward this spot near the dalecarlia reservoir one of the main water sources for the nations capital but no armies fought here and no soldiers charged up the embankment rather the shells were launched from the wartime research campus to the east at american university where scientists developed chemical weapons explosives bombs and gas masks to use on the battlefields in world war iin this centennial of the wars end the team working in the woods was a reminder that the great war had another name the chemists war a sobriquet reflecting the crucial role of science in the conflict alex zahl a project manager for the united states army corps of engineers and a selfdescribed world war i buff mused over the stateoftheart science detecting remains of experiments dating to 1918they were using cuttingedge technology 100 years ago developing chemical weapons mr zahl 62 said in the airconditioned trailer that serves as the cleanup headquarters that was high technology at that time and here we are 100 years later using high technology again to remediate the material left behindimagecreditandrew mangum for the new york timesimagecreditnational archives and records administrationimagecreditandrew mangum for the new york timesworld war i which ended with the armistice on nov 11 1918 is infamous for its horrific battlefield conditions its grinding bloody clashes the battles of the somme verdun passchendaele and others and the resulting human slaughter some 85 million soldiers were killed and 21 million more were woundedless is remembered about the role of science the war hastened technological progress with optics radio and primitive sonar the germans largest siege cannon the dreaded paris gun heaved gigantic shells into the stratosphere that returned to earth to pummel the french capital 75 miles away lithe german submarines prowled under the waves aviation in its infancy at the wars start roared into maturity by the end the inventor thomas a edison lent his scientific prowess to the united states navyeven before the united states entered the war the national academy of sciences anticipated the need for collaboration among scientists universities industry and the military president wilson established the national research council in 1916 and after the president signed the war declaration