book1972

Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants

Disciplines:

Summary

John D. Clark's witty and authoritative account of the development of liquid rocket propellants from WWII through the space race — written by someone who was personally involved.

Core Contribution

The definitive insider history of rocket propellant chemistry: hypergolic propellants, fluorine oxidizers, the search for the perfect propellant combination, the many explosions that attended this search. Famous for its combination of technical precision and dry humor — 'being a story of the heroic and almost unbelievably dangerous early days of rocket development.' Cult classic among chemists and aerospace engineers.

Key Spikes & Highlights

Out of print for decades and extremely rare — copies sold for hundreds of dollars. Rutgers University Press made it freely available online as a PDF, whereupon it became a cult text on chemistry and engineering forums.
Contains passages warning readers of the extreme hazards of certain compounds with a casualness that is itself historically informative: 'It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem.'

Historical Influences

Practical chemistry experience

Intellectual Lineage

Aerospace Engineering Applied Chemistry

Allied Works

Rocket Propulsion Elements The Engines of Our Ingenuity

Contemporaries & Peers

The Making of the Atomic Bomb

Minds Influenced

Aerospace Community

Intellectual Posterity

Rocket Propellant Development

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