Ignition!

Archival Summary & Scope

In this reissued classic from the Rutgers University Press Classics Imprint, acclaimed scientist and sci-fi author John Drury Clark delivers an irreverent, eyewitness account of the perilous, against-the-odds search for explosive rocket propellants. Working against known laws of nature, rival labs raced to develop the fuels that would eventually launch men to the moon, missiles to planets, and satellites into space. Part memoir, part history, this influential volume offers a behind-the-scenes look at a hazardous enterprise. Praised by SpaceX founder Elon Musk as "a good book on rocket stuff…that’s a really fun one," this essential work in the history of science is available again for the first time in decades.