Ignition! cover art

Ignition!

An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants

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About this listen

 Ignition! is the inside story of the Cold War era search for a rocket propellant which could be trusted to take man into space. A favorite of Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, listeners will want to tune into this "really good book on rocket[s]," available for the first time in audio.

Ignition! is the story of the search for a rocket propellant which could be trusted to take man into space. This search was a hazardous enterprise carried out by rival labs who worked against the known laws of nature, with no guarantee of success or safety. Acclaimed scientist and sci-fi author John Drury Clark writes with irreverent and eyewitness immediacy about the development of the explosive fuels strong enough to negate the relentless restraints of gravity. The resulting volume is as much a memoir as a work of history, sharing a behind-the-scenes view of an enterprise which eventually took men to the moon, missiles to the planets, and satellites to outer space. A classic work in the history of science, and described as "a good book on rocket stuff...that's a really fun one" by SpaceX founder Elon Musk, listeners will want to get their hands on this influential classic, available for the first time in decades. Aeronautics & Astronautics Astronomy & Space Science History History & Culture History & Philosophy Military Military Science Science Witty Astronomy Technology Classics
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Great listen but I think only fun for quite knowledgeable people both on mid 20th century history and chemistry on college level.

chemistry history

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I delayed listening to this for a long time because of other reviews as i have no scientific education (just a layman Spaceflight fan) and was worried it may be a textbook more than a narrative. It is not. It reads almost like the biography of a rocket scientist (although it is much wider ranging than that and i found it entertaining and had a few laughs. The narrator is fantastic at conveying the writers obvious enthusiasm and levity. Large portions of it where over my head certainly but graciously it was far from being the oblivious actor drily mispronouncing his way through chemical equations and statistics charts that I'd feared. I could only name the more common propellants going in and I thoroughly enjoyed it.


Thank you so much for recording such a rare and niche book.

Advanced reading but far from impenetrable gem.

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it is an interesting book. But it would be better to read as it gets confusing with all the formulas in it

better to read

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Overall performance, language excellent. The book is more for people who understand chemistry at the semi-pro level. I expected more insights and stories about use of the propellent.

For chemists not wide audience

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The history in book is great and the reading is done well. however chemical formulas may not translate well to audio book format

Interesting

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