Edward Clinton Ezell

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Edward Ezell (born November 7, 1939 in Indianapolis , † December 23, 1993 in Woodbridge (Virginia) ) was an American book author and historian . He published in the fields of space research and weapons technology .

As is common in the Midwest , he came into contact with firearms at a young age. These remained the subject of his interest throughout his life. Ezell earned a Bachelor of Arts from Butler University in 1961 and a Master of Arts from the University of Delaware two years later . In 1969 he earned a Ph.D. in the history of technology and science from the Case Institute of Technology . He taught at North Carolina State University (1966–1970) and at Sangamon State University (1970–1974).

From 1972 to 1974 he was the vice president of the arms trading company Interarms Asia in Singapore .

Ezell joined NASA in 1974 as a historian . He published there on the Apollo Soyuz Test Project and the exploration of Mars . In 1980 he became a historian for the Johnson Space Center .

Ezell was the author of various magazine articles and books on small arms and military topics. His book Small Arms of the World on military small arms is considered a standard work .

In 1982 he was hired by the Smithsonian Institution to serve as a curator for the National Museum of American History on the armed forces field. There he designed a number of exhibitions .

Under the auspices of the Smithsonians, he oversaw a project on oral history ; He conducted a series of interviews with the assault rifle developers Michail Timofejewitsch Kalashnikov and Eugene Stoner , the developers of the AK-47 and M-16, respectively . As early as 1972, he contacted Kalashnikov with questions about his biography. In 1989 they met for the first time in Moscow for an interview . Ezell later invited Kalashnikov to the United States and the two men became friends.

Since 1989 Ezell has also served on the board of directors of the non-profit organization Institute for Research on Small Arms in International Security in Alexandria, Virginia . Ezell is considered to be the founder of the scientific quantification of global small arms stocks, even if this question was not primarily his focus.

Edward Clinton Ezell died of kidney cancer at the age of 54 .

Publications

  • Small Arms of the World 1977 11th Edition, 1983 12th Edition (with Thomas M. Pegg)
  • The Partnership , 1978 (with Linda Neuman Ezell) [5]
  • Combat Handguns , 1980 (with George C. Nonte)
  • Handguns of the World 1981
  • On Mars: Exploration of the Red Planet , 1984 (with Linda Neuman Ezell) [6]
  • Small Arms Today 1st edition 1984, 1988 2nd edition
  • The Great Rifle Controversy: Search for the Ultimate Infantry Rifle from World War II to Vietnam and Beyond , 1984
  • The AK47 Story: Evolution of the Kalashnikov Weapons , 1986
  • Reflections on the Wall: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial , 1987
  • The Black Rifle: M16 Rifle Retrospective , 1987 (with R. Blake Stevens)
  • Personal Firepower , 1988

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Donald Eugene Thompson: Indiana Authors and Their Books, 1967-1980 , Wabash College , 1981, p. 123
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Richard Pearson: EDWARD C. EZELL in: The Washington Post, December 25, 1993 [1]
  3. ↑ Arthur P. Molella: Edward Clinton Ezell in: Technology and Culture Vol. 36, No. 2 (April, 1995), p. 445 [2]
  4. ^ The Planetary Society : Edward Ezell
  5. ↑ Mikhail Kalashnikov, Elena Joly: The Gun that Changed the World, Verlag Polity , 2006, ISBN 9780745636917 , pp. 126–128 [3]
  6. ↑ Aaron Karp in: Controlling Small Arms: Consolidation, Innovation and Relevance in Research and Policy , Routledge , 2013, ISBN 9781135005436 , p. 66 [4]
personal data
SURNAME Ezell, Edward Clinton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ezell, Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American author and historian
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Indianapolis
DATE OF DEATH December 23, 1993
Place of death Woodbridge (Virginia)