Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Bring back the fun in teaching writing!
I bought this as soon as it came out since I trust Ralph Fletcher as a writer and as a teacher. But I had no idea I would have so much fun reading it. I started trying the experiments in my notebook and weaving them into my thinking for fall before I was out of the first few chapters. I can't wait to try these with students!

I'm a literacy coach in elementary classrooms. I know my students will delight in these ideas and sparks will happen--sparks of interest, sparks of delight, and sparks of great writing. I am recommending this book to all of the teachers I see now. We know we learn more when we're having fun. Naomi Shihab Nye said, "I am always reminding kids to, as Kim Stafford says, play with their writing, not just work on it." I think we all need this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This book offers a well-rounded selection of reliable, well-researched formulas for the most popular exploding fireworks, including M80s, cherry bombs, ash cans, chasers, globe torpedoes, Knallkorpers, aerial bombs, cracker balls, Flashcrackas and more. For academic study only. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

A Phenomenal Pyrotechnics Guide
A Professional's Guide to Pyrotechnics is everything a novice or a professional would desire. There are several explanations about how to build different fire crackers as well as interesting facts about the history of each firework. The book does a good job of explaining safety procedures and rules for making fireworks. I really enjoyed working with this small but useful book.

Fills holes
This book does a good job of filling the "holes" that at least the newer editions of "firework classics" such as Fireworks Principles and Practice have in them when it comes to exploding fireworks (noisemakers).Oddly enough Amazon offered this book when I was purchaseing Fireworks Principles and Practice.The author here is very big on safety. I think this book makes a very good addition to the classic Fworks by Lancaster especically seeing as how the latest edtion of that work has a poo-poo atttitude to noisemakers and exploding fworks.Otherwise it too is an excellent book and it is easy to see why it has gone on to a 3rd editon.

Good foundational book
I was hoping for more information on creating color in fireworks, but this was a great place to start.

Cool Book
very cool book, great for making typical fireworks
great for the 4th, im using it for July4th '08!!!

good but incoplete
i THINK TECHNICAL DESCRIPTIONS AND MATERIAL SPECIFICATIONS ARE INCOMPLETE? BUT THE OVERALL EXPLANATIONS ARE GOOD ... Read more

Product Description
From the far left to the far right, on talk radio and the op-ed page, more and more Americans believe that the social fabric is unraveling. Celebrity worship and media frenzy, suicidal cultists and heavily armed secessionists: modern life seems to have become a "pyrotechnic insanitarium," Mark Dery says, borrowing a turn-of-the-century name for Coney Island. Dery elucidates the meaning to our madness, deconstructing American culture from mainstream forces like Disney and Nike to fringe phenomena like the Unabomber and alien invaders. Our millennial angst, he argues, is a product of a pervasive cultural anxiety-a combination of the social and economic upheaval wrought by global capitalism and the paranoia fanned by media sensationalism. The Pyrotechnic Insanitarium is a theme-park ride through the extremes of American culture of which The Atlantic Monthly has written, "Mark Dery confirms once again what writers and thinkers as disparate as Nathanael West, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Sigmund Freud, and Oliver Sacks have already shown us: the best place to explore the human condition is at its outer margins, its pathological extremes." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Engaging, informative, prescient, scary
The author makes the dissection of popular culture readable, engaging and thought provoking. My only gripe is, where's the tenth anniversary edition?We need an update!Please!

Mark Dery Goes Pyrotechnic
Normally, I'd be a bit wary of anyone whose job title was "cultural critic." I'd imagine such a person to be a bit insular and pretentious, prone to throwing around terms like "Hegelian" and "hermeneutics" without due cause. But that stereotype has been exploded for me recently, as I've found myself in hog heaven devouring the essays of New York University journalism professor (and yes, cultural critic) Mark Dery. An excellent sampling of his work can be found in this book.

"The Pyrotechnic Insanitarium" is a collection of essays about "fin de millennium" America, tackling subjects as diverse as the Unabomber, the Home Shopping Network, artist Damien Hirst, and the city of Celebration, Florida (a kind of company town or planned community run by the Disney corporation). I assumed that the book's title was a `90s-hipster turn of phrase for how crazy things were back when the millennium was approaching. But it's actually a term applied to Coney Island at the very beginning of the 20th century.

Dery uses Coney Island as a metaphor for the centrifugal force and adrenaline rush of a culture on the edge of an abyss. As he points out in the book, we've never _not_ been living on that edge--people throughout history have believed that they were surviving in end times, though the nature of the perceived upcoming apocalypse has varied from place to place and era to era.

What makes Dery's writing so extraordinary is a little hard to pin down. He's brilliant, and it's hilarious, and the well-turned phrases abound. But I think it's also the rare combo of cynicism and affection with which he approaches his topics. Whether he's writing about the perils of knee-jerk masculinity or about the bizarre cultural contradictions of Taco Bell, he honors his chosen subjects with true attention, rather than going for cheap shots or heading down the snarkiness waterslide.

Dery writes a lot about the body, about how our relationships to our bodies are changing as we live more and more online, more digitally and virtually. There's an aggressive curiosity to his work that gives it more of an edge than that of other essayists I admire, such as Malcolm Gladwell (with whom Dery sat on a Time Magazine panel about the future a few years back). I get the sense that Dery was online before mainstream America knew what the Internet was, and that he would agree with William Gibson that "The future's already here, it's just not evenly distributed."

Reading a Dery essay feels like having a few drinks with a really smart friend who wants to regale you about all this incredibly cool stuff he's been thinking about--not out of any pretentious urge to prove his brainpower, but just because thinking is fun, and expressing our thoughts to others even more so. The elegance, wit, and impoliteness of Dery's writing make "The Pyrotechnic Insanitarium" relevant and challenging, even a full decade after its publication.

Cultural Studies Must Read
Time and again I turn to the writing of Mark Dery for inspiration and illumination. The cleverest cultural critic to have spurted out of Uncle Sam's loins, Dery's roving, voracious, ferocious eye outs the dasein of these fine United States with a delicious jeremiad that entertains even as it horrifies.The other day I was trying to sort out how to address the growing phenomena of SCARFACE paraphernalia that is exploding in sales across the Texas-Mexican border. I returned to the pages of Pyrotechnic Insanitarium--the lucid paragraphs on the ubiquity of Edvard Munch's HOWL image-trope in the global visual economy.

I remember being at Cornell back in the day and reading/teaching "Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of Signs: Pamphlet #25" in my second class as a TA in Comparative Literature. THE PYROTECHNIC INSANITARIUM reveals a writer even more on top of his game.Take Gore Vidal, Susan Sontag, JG Ballard, and mix in a little Helmut Newton and Lupe Vélez, and you the get the mind and prose of the one and only Mark Dery.

America Dances on the Edge of the Abyss
Dery's initial metaphor--Coney Island as controlled chaos, an irruption of social taboos--sets the theme for this collection of essays exploring the finde millenium American turn toward the countercultural, the outcast,the obscene,the pacifying. Exploring the place of Disney, talk radio andtelevision, technology, Heaven's Gate, the Unabomber, aberrant art, freakculture, carnival celebrations and other social expressions beyond thepale, Dery suggests that in the century since Coney, America continues toindulge the dark and the chaotic, but it does so now in tones suggestingresignation more than despair. Suggesting a dialectic reaction, Dery positsthe angst of postmodern American as a response to the loss of meaning andcontrol that pervades its society. Gated communities attempt to carve outislands of control amidst urban terror; Disney offers a world whosesimplicity and comfort counter the misshapen reality about us; all thewhile underground art movements aggressively mock corporate values. And forgood measure,Dery is a scintillating writer, tossing off well-turnedphrases and allusions that both entertain and clarify. A stimulatingcompilation of writings.

Pyrotechnic Insanitarium
I heard Dery interivewed on KPFK in Los Angeles, and wondered if he was as gleefully subversive,jarringly insightful and downright hilarious in print.I wasn't disappointed!Imagine a brains-sloshing rollercoaster ride where your IQ is ten points higher--rather than lower--when youdisembark.That's what you're in for.

austro@excite.com ... Read more

Product Description
This handbook provides extremely useful data and information about theory and industrial applications that formerly were limited to applications in military ordnance, fireworks, and rock blasting.These “civilian” applications include spacecraft, aircraft, underwater vehicle systems, metal forming, cladding, riveting and some other production methods. Also pairs well with: Fireworks, Principles and Practice, 4th Edition, ISBN: 0820604070;Military and Civilian Pyrotechnics, ISBN: 0820603643; Pyrotechnics, ISBN: 0820601128. Visit us at www.chemical-publishing.com ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good book
As others seems not to have understand : it's a REPRINT . This book was originaly printed in 1974 thats why it may seems a bit outdated. However still very interesting for beginners.

Misleading Title
First of all Karl O. Brauer's book entitled "Handbook of Pyrotechnics" should not be titled this at all. It is not a handbook by any stretch of the imagination as handbooks are how to make and how todo books and this is neither. It has,at least,20 year old out dated,toogeneral information on pyrotechnic devices mostly used in the AerospaceIndustry in it's infancy. It wouldn't raise the eyebrow of an AerospaceEngineer of today nor of anyone else I suspect. It is much too general init's coverage, but the technical data it does have falls into the catagoryof useless information. It doesn't even have the basic formulas for blackgunpowder or flash powder, two mainstays of the pyrotechnic world. If youare looking for a handbook on pyrotechnics, this is not it. ... Read more

Product Description

Chemistry of Pyrotechnics: Second Edition is simply the most definitive reference in this field. Author J.A. Conkling covers the requisite background in chemistry, thermodynamics, and light emission; introduces oxidizing agents, fuels, binders, and retardants; and then explores virtually every aspect of formulating pyrotechnics. Topics include the requirements for and preparation of high-energy mixtures, ignition and propagation, heat and delay compositions, and color and light production, including sparks, flitter, and glitter. The journal Pyrotechnica said this book "…belongs on every pyrotechnist's bookshelf."

Product Description
When Chinese alchemists fashioned the first manmade explosion sometime during the tenth century, no one could have foreseen its full revolutionary potential. Invented to frighten evil spirits rather than fuel guns or bombs-neither of which had been thought of yet-their simple mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal went on to make the modern world possible. As word of its explosive properties spread from Asia to Europe, from pyrotechnics to battleships, it paved the way for Western exploration, hastened the end of feudalism and the rise of the nation state, and greased the wheels of the Industrial Revolution.

With dramatic immediacy, novelist and journalist Jack Kelly conveys both the distant time in which the "devil's distillate" rose to conquer the world, and brings to rousing life the eclectic cast of characters who played a role in its epic story, including Michelangelo, Edward III, Vasco da Gama, CortŽs, Guy Fawkes, Alfred Nobel, and E. I. DuPont. A must-read for history fans and military buffs alike, Gunpowder brings together a rich terrain of cultures and technological innovations with authoritative research and swashbuckling style. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

entertaining but biased
This is a quick and engaging read and should be regarded as being more for entertainment than education. Anyone who has any prior knowledge on the subject will likely not get a whole lot out of it.
My main issue with this book is the condescending nature with which the author regards previous eras. The author's bias serves only to perpetuate the degrading stereotypes that shape the many misconceptions of bygone centuries.
I would say it's worth reading, has a sound structure, and quick pace, but lacks the detail and point of view that the subject matter demands.

Chemistry and history combined
This is an excellent publication and highlights how gunpowder changed world history and is also a fascinating insight into how gunpowder was developed and why no-one knew quite why it worked for 500 years after it was invented.

Sooo Coool!
Okay, I'm a nerd.No question.Do you have to be a nerd to love this book: probably.But, if you are a nerd... oooohhh.. you're in for a treat!The history of gunpowder is several thousand years of unlikely,gradual and fascinating improvements.

Makes a good case
This book turned out to be far more interesting that what I expected. It makes a very good case for the argument that gunpowder is one of the most important inventions in history - and you may in fact walk away with the conclusion that it is in fact THE most important. Concise, eloquent, and engaging. Highly recommended.

A simple chemical that changed history
I read 'Gunpowder' some time ago which, in some cases, is the best way to review a book.Smooth writing and catchy phrases usually disappear from the mind after a day or two, more important concepts last longer.Kelly's book is more informational than a page-turner.His basic premise that the invention of gunpowder--no matter who actually invented it--was one of those pivotal discoveries that changed history inexorably and for all time, stands as a certain truth.

Perhaps like other pivotal discoveries--fire, the chipped stone handaxe, the atlatl, the bow and arrow, the shovel, the wheel, the screw and many, many others, the discoveror [s] have disappeared in history.Still, it was discovered, probably quite by accident, and we are all both its beneficiaries and victims.Kelly did a good job of emphasizing something that all of us should have known anyway...but didn't.

Ron Braithwaite, author of novels, "Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God", on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico ... Read more

Product Description
A perennial bestseller, Chemistry of Pyrotechnics and Explosives: Basic Principles and Theory, is simply the most definitive reference in this field. Author J.A. Conkling first covers the requisite background in chemistry, thermodynamics, and light emission, introduces oxidizing agents, fuels, binders, and retardants, then explores virtually every aspect of formulating pyrotechnics. Topics include the requirements for and preparation of high-energy mixtures, ignition and propagation, heat and delay compositions, and color and light production, including sparks, flitter, and glitter. The journal Pyrotechnica said this book "…belongs on every pyrotechnist's bookshelf." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Must Have For Any Pyrotechnician or Amateur Rocketeer
At first I thought it was overpriced, but take a look and compare any technical book with packed with this much information.There's tons of information to digest and make notes on.Whether you're interested in pyrotechnics, understanding the chemistry of different compounds to use in rocket motors or fireworks.It's not meant as a how-to on either but the understanding of why certain chemicals are or are not mixed together, how they react in different ways.It will hopefully help you to be careful if you attempt anything along these lines.I for one glad I bought it and would have paid more now that I know how much information is in it.

Michael

A reasonable explanation of the chemisty behind pyrotechnics
This is a book that discusses chemistry, on perhaps a freshmancollegiate level (or slightly lower), with an emphasis on thechemistry that occurs in pyrotechnic devices.It is intersting in that it references chemical mixtures from both military and entertainment pyrotechnics.Somewhat overpriced. Does not cover construction of fireworks, nor are the example formulas extensive enough to make this a usefull refernce for the pyrotechnic hobbyist.However, it is educational, and will teach you what is going on, along with some of the why. ... Read more

Product Description
Here is a classic in the field, an enormously successful handbook on the art of making fireworks.In non-technical language, it gives formulas and detailed instructions for all the time-honored favorites, exhibition and display pieces.An indispensable book for both the beginner and the professional pyrotechnist.PARTIAL CONTENTS: Ingredients; Manipulation; Tools and Appliances Used; Articles of Manufacture and Formulas; Exhibition Fireworks; Miscellaneous; Appendix; Glossary; Bibliography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The old-time pyro's reference.
George Washington Weingart worked in and observed the fireworks manufacturing industry during its heyday around WWI. He gives good, practical instructions for making physical components, but the compositioninformation is often inaccurate, plagiarized from patent information, orotherwise questionable. Weingart does not document his sources. However, itis a very good introductory text within its limitations. Best to check moremodern references as well before relying on this one though.

Good, but old
Weingart is one of the classic texts on pyrotechnics.It containsa lot of information on the physical contruction techniquesfor many fireworks, and the tools required to make fireworks. It is NOT an introductory text, and does not cover many of the basic chemical principles and laboratory procedures that should be familiar to those attempting to make fireworks.Also, the book was originally written in 1947, and many of the chemical mixtures described are poor performers, and considered unsafe my modern standards. ... Read more

Product Description
Authored by an insider with over 40 years of high energy materials (HEMs) experience in academia, industry and defence organizations, this handbook and ready reference covers all important HEMs from the 1950s to the present with their respective properties and intended purposes.
Written at an attainable level for professionals, engineers and technicians alike, the book provides a comprehensive view of the current status and suggests further directions for research and development. An introductory chapter on the chemical and thermodynamic basics allows the reader to become acquainted with the fundamental features of explosives, before moving on to the important safety aspects in processing, handling, transportation and storage of high energy materials.
With its collation of results and formulation strategies hitherto scattered in the literature, this should be on the shelf of every HEM researcher and developer.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Energetic Material - Reference Guide
Comparing with other publications with the same purpose to create a compendium related to the so-called energetic materials, this book succeeds on its goal. Nevertheless it has a focus over the application in large calibers munitions (e.g. artillery) and special devices (e.g. counter-measures), the text has also useful information, like properties of explosive, regarding the substances applied in small arms cartridges, for example. Starting with the basics of energetic materials, it also covers the procedures while handling and transport such kind of substances and articles. ... Read more

Product Description

Fireworks are synonymous with celebration in the twenty-first century. But pyrotechnics—in the form of rockets, crackers, wheels, and bombs—have exploded in sparks and noise to delight audiences in Europe ever since the Renaissance. Here, Simon Werrett shows that, far from being only a means of entertainment, fireworks helped foster advances in natural philosophy, chemistry, mathematics, and many other branches of the sciences.

Fireworks brings to vibrant life the many artful practices of pyrotechnicians, as well as the elegant compositions of the architects, poets, painters, and musicians they inspired. At the same time, it uncovers the dynamic relationships that developed between the many artists and scientists who produced pyrotechnics. In so doing, the book demonstrates the critical role that pyrotechnics played in the development of physics, astronomy, chemistry and physiology, meteorology, and electrical science. Richly illustrated and drawing on a wide range of new sources, Fireworks takes readers back to a world where pyrotechnics were both divine and magical and reveals for the first time their vital contribution to the modernization of European ideas.

Customer Reviews (1)

Fabulous "Fireworks"
Simon Werrett has written a fascinating book on the history of pyrotechnics that is as learned as it is accessible. After reading this book, no one will ever look up at a night sky lit by fireworks with the same eyes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Pompous Pontifications From Purveyors of Pyro Mendacity
Once again, Dr. Ken passes himself off as an allged authority in the field. Have a look at the other reviews, from some anonymous person in Whitewater CO. (That you Bonnie Kosanke?) Whitewater is a pretty small place, after all. Didn't have the nerve to rate your own material 5 stars?

Lecture Notes for Pyrotechnic Chemistry
The recent output of books providing accurate scientific discourse on pyrotechnics has been almost nonexistent. While there are still copies of many good texts on this subject, new editions to this extant literature have been rare. The publication of the two-part syllabus of the course "Lecture Notes for Pyrotechnic Chemistry" is a welcome addition to the chemistry of pyrotechnics literature. (Note that earlier edi-tions were called: "Chemistry of Fireworks" and "Chemistry of Pyrotechnics".) The layout of this publication exists somewhere between a course outline and a book and has many strong points.

Many great traditional pyrotechnic texts do not discuss or just briefly mention the topics of whistles and strobes. Their discussion in this publication is very strong and up to date. I especially found the description of their proposed burn mechanisms helpful. The text covers the fundamental principles necessary for a basic understanding of pyrotechnic chemistry. Readers with both a chemistry and non-chemistry background will find this text a valuable addition to their collection of pyrotechnic literature.

Hazard management, in the last section of the text, has good charts highlighting hazardous chemical combinations. This strong section could only be strengthened by providing information about proper disposal of residue and waste chemicals.

Because of the outline nature of the text, such things as references for some of the sources, page numbers, and an index did not appear in the earlier editions. However, edition 3.1 includes page numbers and a nine page index.

Discussion of major topics was well done, although I would like to see more on the effects of hygroscopicity. The presentation of oxidation states is very brief, and I would like to see this dealt with in more detail. Those without training in chemistry often find oxidation and reduction reactions a difficult subject.

This volume should be of real benefit to all those involved in pyrotechnics and a welcome new addition to my pyrotechnics library.

This review originally appeared in "Journal of Pyrotechnics", No. 6, Winter, 1997 and was for an earlier edition. The book has recently been revised and expanded, but is still available at the same price.

Lecture Notes for Pyrotechnic Chemistry
The recent output of books providing accurate scientific discourse on pyrotechnics has been almost nonexistent. While there are still copies of many good texts on this subject, new editions to this extant literature have been rare. The publication of the two-part syllabus of the course "Lecture Notes for Pyrotechnic Chemistry" is a welcome addition to the chemistry of pyrotechnics literature. (Note that earlier edi-tions were called: "Chemistry of Fireworks" and "Chemistry of Pyrotechnics".) The layout of this publication exists somewhere between a course outline and a book and has many strong points.

Many great traditional pyrotechnic texts do not discuss or just briefly mention the topics of whistles and strobes. Their discussion in this publication is very strong and up to date. I especially found the description of their proposed burn mechanisms helpful. The text covers the fundamental principles necessary for a basic understanding of pyrotechnic chemistry. Readers with both a chemistry and non-chemistry background will find this text a valuable addition to their collection of pyrotechnic literature.

Hazard management, in the last section of the text, has good charts highlighting hazardous chemical combinations. This strong section could only be strengthened by providing information about proper disposal of residue and waste chemicals.

Because of the outline nature of the text, such things as references for some of the sources, page numbers, and an index did not appear in the earlier editions. However, edition 3.1 includes page numbers and a nine page index.

Discussion of major topics was well done, although I would like to see more on the effects of hygroscopicity. The presentation of oxidation states is very brief, and I would like to see this dealt with in more detail. Those without training in chemistry often find oxidation and reduction reactions a difficult subject.

This volume should be of real benefit to all those involved in pyrotechnics and a welcome new addition to my pyrotechnics library.

This review originally appeared in "Journal of Pyrotechnics", No. 6, Winter, 1997 and was for an earlier edition. The book has recently been revised and expanded, but is still available at the same price.

Lecture Notes for Pyrotechnic Chemistry
The recent output of books providing accurate scientific discourse on pyrotechnics has been almost nonexistent. While there are still copies of many good texts on this subject, new editions to this extant literature have been rare. The publication of the two-part syllabus of the course "Lecture Notes for Pyrotechnic Chemistry" is a welcome addition to the chemistry of pyrotechnics literature. (Note that earlier edi-tions were called: "Chemistry of Fireworks" and "Chemistry of Pyrotechnics".) The layout of this publication exists somewhere between a course outline and a book and has many strong points.

Many great traditional pyrotechnic texts do not discuss or just briefly mention the topics of whistles and strobes. Their discussion in this publication is very strong and up to date. I especially found the description of their proposed burn mechanisms helpful. The text covers the fundamental principles necessary for a basic understanding of pyrotechnic chemistry. Readers with both a chemistry and non-chemistry background will find this text a valuable addition to their collection of pyrotechnic literature.

Hazard management, in the last section of the text, has good charts highlighting hazardous chemical combinations. This strong section could only be strengthened by providing information about proper disposal of residue and waste chemicals.

Because of the outline nature of the text, such things as references for some of the sources, page numbers, and an index did not appear in the earlier editions. However, edition 3.1 includes page numbers and a nine page index.

Discussion of major topics was well done, although I would like to see more on the effects of hygroscopicity. The presentation of oxidation states is very brief, and I would like to see this dealt with in more detail. Those without training in chemistry often find oxidation and reduction reactions a difficult subject.

This volume should be of real benefit to all those involved in pyrotechnics and a welcome new addition to my pyrotechnics library.

This review originally appeared in "Journal of Pyrotechnics", No. 6, Winter, 1997 and was for an earlier edition. The book has recently been revised and expanded, but is still available at the same price.
... Read more

Product Description
Describes how fireworks came to be invented, how they are made, the different kinds and their uses, and some of the disasters they have caused. ... Read more

Product Description
This manual provides the essential information you need for improvising and using highly explosive compositions. Ingredients for 13 powder mixtures are provided as well as details on Armstrong's Explosive and selenium dioxide. For academic study only! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

this book tellus abut the hazared of explosive
i want to reviw it for refrshin

this book tellus abut the hazared of explosive
i want to reviw it for refrshin

don't buy
watch out it can make you lose a lim

What is this trash?
This book is very unspecific and leaves out very importaint details. Don'tactually try this stuff

The content does not live up to the title.
I found the authors covers of the subject to be very sinplistic andsuperficial. It contains no hints on how to make most of the compositionslisted and even less on their use. He list several foumulas but novariations. Had he not made a perfunctory review of safety this book wouldhave had no useful content. I suggest anyone interested in the subjectspend their money on another book. ... Read more

Product Description
Fully revised and updated to take account of the most recent developments in the field, this useful text explains today''s explosives from simple theory to practical use and considers future developments.' ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Basics
Having more than a dozen years in dealing with explosives safety, I must state that this is by far one of the best books I've read in dealing with Explosives, Propellants & Pyrotechnics.This book not only covers the basics, but actually goes into enough detail to keep even the most knowledgable persons interest.

This book is a great text book that even has questions and answers for each chapter.This book is a must if you are new to the field of explosives and would be a great addition to anyones collection. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description
The Preparatory Manual of Black Powder and Pyrotechnics is a new recipe Handbook discussing the worlds most commonly used pyrotechnic compositions. The book contains multiple sections on pyrotechnics including black powder, high performance rocket propellants and gun propellants, general pyrotechnic compositions, specialty and experimental compositions, and fireworks. The book even includes sections on specialty pyrotechnic compositions such as incendiary compositions, cloud seeding compositions, and pyrotechnic welding compositions. All compositions are discussed in great detail with complete processes for manufacture. The book discusses a total of 1187 pyrotechnic compositions all with a variety of uses, and methods of production. Version 1.4 is the same as the original version, but includes updated hazard information, and a test and review section. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

preparatory black powder
The book contains alot of information (which is good) but it is arrange in a non friendly manner. It does not have an index that could have been helpful.

Preparatory Manual of Black Powder and Pyrotechnics
Great recipe manual. Thousands of recipes for various pyrotechnical formulations divided into functional groups for applications. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Illustrated Dictionary of Pyrotechnics
A Review by Robert M. Winokur
This 138 page 8½ by 11" soft bound volume is a unique contribution to the literature of pyrotechnics. In addition to the two primary authors there are eight other contributors listed including Ettore Contestabile who is listed as a senior editor and contributor. I am in an unusual position in that I am among those listed as contributors, but have also been asked to write this review. My contribution was mainly as a proof reader, although I submitted a number of additional entries and suggestions.

The content of this volume is eclectic in the extreme. It contains entries on all aspects of fireworks, from regulatory definitions to Italian and Japanese shell making. It also contains a large variety of terms used in rocketry which are not normally seen in the fireworks literature. In addition there are many terms taken from high explosive science and technology, and some from stage and movie special effects. To illustrate the eclectic nature of this volume one only has to open the pages at random. For example, on pages 74 and 75 we find "M-80" defined: "One type of small but powerful exploding device...". In the next entry we find "Mach Diamonds": Diamond shaped features exhibited by the exhaust plume of rocket motors and engines"... Several entries later we find "Magnesium, Magnalium, Magnesium carbonate and Magnus Force". Terms are sometimes grouped together based on their being closely related in definition rather than strictly alphabetically. For example, the terms "Color Purity", "Color Species" and "Color Spectrum" come before "Colored Heart" and "Colored Smoke". Although this is unusual in a dictionary, it is an extremely functional aspect of the volume.

The entries are usually considerably more than brief definitions. On average an entry is composed of a short paragraph or more, and often includes one or more illustrations in the form of diagrams, drawings and graphs. In some instances a series of closely related entries may take up several pages. For example, if one searches for the term "Mortar", the following entries are found: Mortar (fireworks), Mortar (special effects), Mortar Burst, Mortar Length, Mortar Organization, Mortar Placement, Mortar Plug, Mortar Racks, Mortar Racks - Dense-Pack, Mortar Strength, and Mortar Trough. These eleven entries take about 2½ pages and contain a wealth of information on structure, physical properties, composition, safety, and functions of mortars.

Virtually all commonly, and many not so commonly, used pyrotechnic chemicals are included. The chemical entries are necessarily brief but usually contain sufficient information to equip a reader with a fundamental understanding of the chemical. The entries on a chemical provide its physical appearance (e.g., "a white powder" or "a silvery metal") and the major ways the chemical is used.

There exists an entire set of devices and terms that are used in the movie special effects industry that are not adequately addressed in this volume. Although common devices such as "bullet hit" are defined, many other commonly used devices and materials are not included, for example, "silver match" and "mortar hit". However, in this regard there is a major problem in writing a dictionary of this type. How should the names of commercial devices be treated? The authors have made almost no attempt to address this issue (and generally for good reasons). Their solution has been to exclude nearly everything that is strictly or primarily the name of a consumer device. (Although there are a few notable exceptions to this, especially in the explosive technology area such as "Nomatch" and "Igniter Cord", which are included.)

The fact that there may be multiple terms used to refer to the same phenomena, device or material is fully recognized in this dictionary, and there are often parenthetical synonyms found after an entry. Somewhat less fully recognized is the fact that there are sometimes multiple uses of the same term. When this is recognized there is a parenthetical comment indicating that the term is about to be defined in a certain context - say either "fireworks" or "rocketry" or "special effects" or "explosives". It is rare when a term is fully recognized to have more than one meaning within a broad context. A good example of this is the term "prime". At the term "prime", the dictionary directs one to "See Pyrotechnic Prime". At "Pyrotechnic Prime" a reasonable definition is provided. "Priming" however, is defined in a completely separate entry as a "process performed to help insure ignition or initiation" (emphasis mine). If the following sentence were to confuse you, I'm afraid that the dictionary would not immediately come to the rescue. "The prime turned out to be hygroscopic and a week later we were forced to prime all the fuses again with a newly formulated prime." It seems to me that the term "prime" is both a verb and a noun and it should be unnecessary to skip about the dictionary to discover this fact.

Reading this dictionary is an education in itself. I learned much that I found interesting, especially about explosive technology. I suspect purchasers will find that they will wish to use the volume not only when a question comes to mind, but will pour through it as any avid "pyro" does with all new sources of information. And since the Kosanke's preface makes it clear that this is the first of a series of efforts, and that readers are requested to submit suggestions for "additional terms to be included", I believe that the dictionary will become increasingly encyclopedic in scope and thus increasingly useful. This volume has no parallel and it belongs on the bookshelf of every person claiming to be interested in pyrotechnics. I will end this review with a suggestion for a new entry: "Pyro" - Slang for any individual with a strong interest and involvement in pyrotechnics, sometimes prefaced with "true" to distinguish dilettantes from the "real thing". RMW

What is the point, pyrotechnically speaking?
Once again the Kosankes toot their own horns, and trot out another assemblage of poorly edited tripe. Not that it's so bad, it's just not so good. We ought to expect better from someone who promotes himself as the world's foremost authority on pyrotechnics.
By the way, this is not even properly speaking, a book. It's more of a technical report bound in a cheesey plastic-faced report cover. I should look a little more closely -- this might not even be real offset printing, but a xerographic reproduction. Looking at teh sales rank, it may be that the numbers sold don't support the costs of real printing and binding, which entail an up-front financial risk.

This book remains on my shelf, a reminder now and then of the old adage, caveat emptor!

Who This Book is For
This book is ok, it has good information. But the information isn't too acuret. This book is good if you are intrested in Pirotecnics, but not to serious with it. If you are just learning how to blow stuff up, and if you aren't doing anything big then this is the book for you! ... Read more