One of the most amusing books I've read on the subject is "Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants" (PDF: http://www.sciencemadness.org/libra

One of the most amusing books I've read on the subject is "Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants" (PDF: http://www.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf http://www.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf, Amazon link: https://amzn.to/2WXzWcp https://amzn.to/2WXzWcp), which discusses how science used to be more fun and chemists basically just mixed lots of super dangerous chemicals together all the time to see what worked. Related-ish: https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/in-russias-space-graveyard-locals-scavenge-fallen-spacecraft-for-profit https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/in-russias-spac... (again, most rocket propellants aren't exactly great for you).