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A review by jmercury
Ignition!: An informal history of liquid rocket propellants by John Drury Clark
5.0
While this rare, out-of-print book is available online as a free PDF, I prefer physical copies as they are easier on the eyes. I feel extremely fortunate that CSU East Bay had a copy (in excellent condition) available for LINK+ library loans. A treasure of a book like this deserves circulation.
What can I say about Ignition!? First of all, while it's accessible to the layperson, one won't get much out of it without at least a college-level understanding of inorganic chemistry, with organic chemistry a huge bonus. I've only learned the former, myself, so I was at least able to grapple with the enormous amount of chemical information in this book, but a stronger knowledge of OChem would enrich the experience. As it is, I now have a decent handle on liquid rocket propellant chemistry on a very basic level. ...Could come in handy, someday.
Clark organized his book appealingly. Starting with the early history of scientists blowing their hands off in attempts to fuel motors, he progresses from the earliest glimmers of rocket science to the development of liquid O and H, and on to the true birth of the propellant community (funded, it seems, almost exclusively by the government in some form or another during and after WWII). Along the way we're treated to every type of experiment dreamed up by the scientists, including this delight from page 33: "Somebody had the bright idea that the sonic vibrations of a rocket motor might promote combustion [of jet fuel]. So he made a tape recording of the sound of a running motor and played it back at the interacting propellants in the hope that they might be shaken - or shamed - into smooth combustion. (Why not? He'd tried everything else!)" Priceless. Once the playing field is established, further chapters are devoted to individual fields in liquid propellants including monopropellants, boron compounds, and deep space applications. Each idea, lead, and development is teased out for the edification of the reader.
Whenever the text feels like drying out, Clark dashes in a wry remark or footnoted anecdote to produce anything from a smirk and chuckle to outright gales of laughter. Names of people and organizations are sprinkled liberally throughout with embarrassing or exalting stories attached. ("Don Griffin, a free soul if I ever knew one, then took a year's vacation from rocket propulsion, spending it in the Hula-Hoop business. He said it made more sense." p163) Clark is wonderfully specific and, as a primary source, a delightful historian.
Ignition! is a quality addition to the history of science, but it also serves as a reminder (or commiseration) that science is not a swift here-to-there process. It's messy, explosive, and a lot goes wrong. Clark points out failures with grace and acceptance, and saves his most vicious critique for those who have only failed to learn from past mistakes. It is a duty of a scientist to use knowledge effectively...particularly when it comes to deadly chemistry!
What can I say about Ignition!? First of all, while it's accessible to the layperson, one won't get much out of it without at least a college-level understanding of inorganic chemistry, with organic chemistry a huge bonus. I've only learned the former, myself, so I was at least able to grapple with the enormous amount of chemical information in this book, but a stronger knowledge of OChem would enrich the experience. As it is, I now have a decent handle on liquid rocket propellant chemistry on a very basic level. ...Could come in handy, someday.
Clark organized his book appealingly. Starting with the early history of scientists blowing their hands off in attempts to fuel motors, he progresses from the earliest glimmers of rocket science to the development of liquid O and H, and on to the true birth of the propellant community (funded, it seems, almost exclusively by the government in some form or another during and after WWII). Along the way we're treated to every type of experiment dreamed up by the scientists, including this delight from page 33: "Somebody had the bright idea that the sonic vibrations of a rocket motor might promote combustion [of jet fuel]. So he made a tape recording of the sound of a running motor and played it back at the interacting propellants in the hope that they might be shaken - or shamed - into smooth combustion. (Why not? He'd tried everything else!)" Priceless. Once the playing field is established, further chapters are devoted to individual fields in liquid propellants including monopropellants, boron compounds, and deep space applications. Each idea, lead, and development is teased out for the edification of the reader.
Whenever the text feels like drying out, Clark dashes in a wry remark or footnoted anecdote to produce anything from a smirk and chuckle to outright gales of laughter. Names of people and organizations are sprinkled liberally throughout with embarrassing or exalting stories attached. ("Don Griffin, a free soul if I ever knew one, then took a year's vacation from rocket propulsion, spending it in the Hula-Hoop business. He said it made more sense." p163) Clark is wonderfully specific and, as a primary source, a delightful historian.
Ignition! is a quality addition to the history of science, but it also serves as a reminder (or commiseration) that science is not a swift here-to-there process. It's messy, explosive, and a lot goes wrong. Clark points out failures with grace and acceptance, and saves his most vicious critique for those who have only failed to learn from past mistakes. It is a duty of a scientist to use knowledge effectively...particularly when it comes to deadly chemistry!