5 ms·

I am not a chemist, but I love this guy's writing: "But I have to admit, I'd never thought much about the next analog of hydrogen peroxide. Instead of having t

by D-Coder 12y ago

I am not a chemist, but I love this guy's writing: "But I have to admit, I'd never thought much about the next analog of hydrogen peroxide. Instead of having two oxygens in there, why not three: HOOOH? Indeed, why not? This is a general principle that can be extended to many other similar situations. Instead of being locked in a self-storage unit with two rabid wolverines, why not three?"

ddingus 12y ago
Me too. Some people have a flair for making the technical accessible. Always a treat, and I always learn something.
Crito 12y ago
If you can find a copy, you might like the book Ignition! by John Clark (some libraries have it, and there is a scanned PDF floating around online). It is about the early development of rocket propellants (which as you might imagine covers a lot of really nasty chemicals), and is filled with these sort of humorous analogies and deliberate understatements. Very funny (and informative) book.
- Kliment 12y ago
  Said PDF appears to be at bookzz.org
- pchristensen 12y ago
  Only $3K on Amazon right now: http://smile.amazon.com/Ignition-informal-history-liquid-propellants/dp/0813507251/ http://smile.amazon.com/Ignition-informal-history-liquid-pro...
  - dalke 12y ago
    Or free from http://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf http://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf . Not readable (no text displays) with Firefox's PDF.js, but works just fine with Mac's Preview.app.
    - justin66 12y ago
      Totally readable in both Chrome and IE and I bet it works fine in Safari. Firefox's pdf viewer is apparently worse than being just criminally slow.
      - wlesieutre 12y ago
        But hey, at least it's not Acrobat?
- wiredfool 12y ago
  Ignition! was a complete waste of an evening or two, but quite enjoyable. It did give me an appreciation for what to expect when rocket people talk about monopropellants. And the whole thing about flourine compounds. And an appreciation for just how safe and friendly current H/lox and Kero/Lox rockets are compared to the alternatives.

by D-Coder 12y ago

ddingus 12y ago

Me too. Some people have a flair for making the technical accessible. Always a treat, and I always learn something.

Crito 12y ago

If you can find a copy, you might like the book Ignition! by John Clark (some libraries have it, and there is a scanned PDF floating around online). It is about the early development of rocket propellants (which as you might imagine covers a lot of really nasty chemicals), and is filled with these sort of humorous analogies and deliberate understatements. Very funny (and informative) book.

Kliment 12y ago
Said PDF appears to be at bookzz.org
pchristensen 12y ago
Only $3K on Amazon right now: http://smile.amazon.com/Ignition-informal-history-liquid-propellants/dp/0813507251/ http://smile.amazon.com/Ignition-informal-history-liquid-pro...
- dalke 12y ago
  Or free from http://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf http://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf . Not readable (no text displays) with Firefox's PDF.js, but works just fine with Mac's Preview.app.
  - justin66 12y ago
    Totally readable in both Chrome and IE and I bet it works fine in Safari. Firefox's pdf viewer is apparently worse than being just criminally slow.
    - wlesieutre 12y ago
      But hey, at least it's not Acrobat?
wiredfool 12y ago
Ignition! was a complete waste of an evening or two, but quite enjoyable. It did give me an appreciation for what to expect when rocket people talk about monopropellants. And the whole thing about flourine compounds. And an appreciation for just how safe and friendly current H/lox and Kero/Lox rockets are compared to the alternatives.