Exploring the Evolution of Liquid Rocket Propellants: An Informal History of Ignition!

William G.: As an engineer I knew little about liquid rocket propellants. The book is well written and informative without being unduly scientific. Scientific, yes. Technical, somewhat. Informative, very. Educational and historical, very. Easy to read, yes. A great historical read. I bought a few more books to send to fellow engineers. BUT, you don't have to be an engineer to read the book. A friend who is a cook returned my book, commenting that he almost couldn't put the book down.

United States on Nov 16, 2023

Alan J. Taylor: A tale of trial and survival (sometimes) of rocket fuel developers and development..

United Kingdom on Oct 06, 2023

Miguel Samos Sáinz: Tras mucho tiempo demorando la compra, estuve a punto de quedarme sin un ejemplar, durante al menos 3 o 7 meses! Tuve suerte, pues tras el susto, volvieron a estar disponibles 3 ejemplares, y decidí no perder la ocasión otra vez.

Iva a tardar una semana, pero ha llegado en la mitad de días... en perfecto estado, sin dobleces ni bordes desgastados, calentito y oliendo a papel recién impreso!

Hace tiempo que tenía ganas de tenerlo, pues allá donde se mencionara como referencia, todos coincidían en tratarse de un libro tanto con información avanzada difícil de recopilar por separado, sin ser exigente en tener que ser un experto en la materia para entenderlo, a la par que lleno de anécdotas descabelladas, y ser tremendamente divertido de leer!

Si cumple todas mis expectativas, yo lo compararía con "El tío Tungsteno: recuerdos de un químico precoz" del genial Oliver Sacks!

Hasta donde me consta, la única editorial disponible es la que fuera la propia universidad del autor, no se han hecho traducciones, y de hecho, hacía décadas que no se volvía a publicar... por lo que si leer en inglés no es un problema para ti, y aun si fuera un esfuerzo,...

Spain on Sep 25, 2023

Yet another customer: I had the good fortune to read and re-read the first printing of this book many years ago, courtesy of a university library. The book is absolutely fascinating and well written, an easy 10/10 for anyone remotely interested in the topic.

Unfortunately this re-printing uses an incredibly tiny font on rather dark paper, making it very difficult to read. It should have been printed in a larger format, like the original, or otherwise kept at a readable font. So this one basically decorates your shelf, while you find a more readable copy elsewhere to actually read.

United States on Sep 23, 2023

Nandan: very good

India on May 30, 2023

postec natacha: exactement comme sur la description et la photo et reçu très rapidement

France on Apr 20, 2023

R. Warren: Today it seems so easy. SpaceX and others launch rockets regularly so much so that it all seems like a forgone conclusion as to what fuels are used. But it wasn't always so. In the 1940s, 1950s, and into the 1960s, several men and labs around the nation worked hard (and sometimes dangerously) figuring out what fuels and oxidizers worked well together and gave the performance and characteristics desired. It was not easy.

This book fleshes out the early history and development of how the fuels we use today came to be and why.

While the information is technical in nature, and it helps if you have had some college level chemistry and physics classes, you don't have to be a "rocket scientist" to understand what the author is presenting.

A very good read, even endorsed by Elon Musk, but it is the forward by the iconic Isaac Asimov that sets the stage.

For anyone with more than a passing interest in how modern rocketry came to be, this book provides one of the foundations and in a very interesting way.

United States on Aug 23, 2021

Wolf Gray: This is a fascinating book if you’re curious about the history of rocket fuel or you’re going into making rocket fuel and you want to know what’s been tried before (and why it didn’t work). The author states (and I agree) that this should be required reading for any budding rocket scientist.
The author’s tone is often a wry, tongue-in-cheek take on the trials and tribulations of discovering better ways to make things go faster through rapid combustion without explosions. (As well as excellent stories regarding the subsequent explosions, of which there are many.)
Individuals with a strong grounding in chemistry will understand much in this book (the author claims he “dumbed it down”). Laypeople will have to skim through the very pithy (but well explained) chemistry (about 2/3 of the book) to find the entertaining stories and quotes.
All in all an excellent book from an author who found many ways to blow Uncle Sam’s money in pursuit of new ways to put molecules together in unstable forms.

United States on Jun 05, 2021

Mary Soon Lee: This is a niche-interest book. Should you happen to be interested in the history of liquid rocket propellants, then this is absolutely the book for you. If you are interested in the history of the space program more generally, then it will likely also appeal. First published in 1972, it describes efforts to develop rocket propellants for military and space applications. These efforts are dryly described by the author, who was one of the key figures, and entail many unplanned explosions and a plethora of thoroughly noxious--if fascinating--chemicals. N.B. For a personal perspective on space history that is a little less niche, I'd recommend Gene Kranz's account "Failure is Not an Option."

I note that the tone of the book is rather dated, reflecting the era it describes. For instance, I spotted only one brief mention of a female chemist amid the plethora of men. The following highlight from chapter six should give you an idea of whether you would enjoy the book: "It [chlorine trifluoride] is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is...

United States on Feb 26, 2020

MJM: The author is clearly one of the people at the forefront of this research - highly specialised as it was - for a period of many decades. His narration - and it is really a narration of What We Did And When - style is highly amusing and accessible. He writes almost as if he were giving a Plenary lecture right before the conference Reception.
Some of the stories he tells are hilarious; some literally tragic in multiple horrific ways and some of squirming sales reps forced to make fools out of themselves because 'we need to pretend our product is special' but are talking to engineers that 'Know'.
This is a complex subject with a lot of chemical names - and few structural diagrams except when the compounds got really crazy-weird as some did; perhaps this is for the best. Hence you will either need a really good memory for what 'UDMH' / 'IRFNA (red fuming nitric acid)' is - or consult the helpful glossary at the back (a lot). At one point I thought about copying the glossary onto separate sheets for quick consultation. Higher education in Chemistry helps...though only do much as the chemistry is so specialist you either know it very specifically or little more than anything you...

United Kingdom on Jan 11, 2019