From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Explosive/Pyrotechnic Bookshelf
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 06:43:45 GMT

dunkelza@titan.ucc.umass.edu (KEITH C MCCORMIC) writes:
: >I'm trying to build a library of references on pyrotechnics and explosives, 
: >their manufacture and use. I'm looking for suggestions as to what to include.
: >These should be books that are relatively layman directed <i.e., not
: >directed toward mass manufacture>. I would prefer to, obviously, exclude
: >books that are either fraudulent or patently unsafe in their directions/
: >methods.
: > +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
: > | Wayne J. Warf -- WWARF@ucs.indiana.edu -- I speak for myself only  |
: > | Midterm Countdown-Bill and the Congress have to '94 to screw it up |
: > +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
: 
:    U.S. Army Training Manual ??-???  Improvised Munitions Handbook.  I can't
: remeber the number of the book.  Has lots of neat field grade thingies, plus
: zip-guns, etc.

He said he wanted to exclude books that were patently unsafe. That includes
the US Army Training Manual on Improvised Explosives.

If you want an all around explosives reference - I would suggest PATR 2700,
"The Encyclopedia of Explosives and Related Items." It is a ten volume set
and should be available from the US Government Printing Office. If not,
it should be available through Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, New Jersey.
I don't know what it costs now, maybe someone will research that - but
expect to pay $50 to $75 per volume.  It contains excellent abstracts
of the field, with references to the source research. You might also
purchase the Dupont "Blasters Handbook". If you wished to do any manufacture,
it would be highly recommended to check your local college/university
library for texts on high energy materials. And older book is Tenney L.
Davis's "The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives". Unless it has been
updated, it is very out of date since it was published in the early 40s.

For pyrotechnics, to me, a far more interesting area - I would suggest:
Shimizu "Fireworks - The Art, Science and Technique". To go with this,
you will need Lancaster "Fireworks - Principles and Practices". Shimizu
refers to Lancaster frequently in his work. There is also a chapter in
Lancaster that he wrote. I prefer the first edition of Lancaster, I do
not consider the second edition worth the much higher cost. An old 
classic, but with many formulas that we would not use today is Weingart
"Pyrotechnics".  You might also look for the books by H. Ellern. If you
want in-depth theory - I recommend "Pyrotechnica" by Pyrotechnica
Publications in Austin Texas. It is a series of paper bound periodicals
costing in the vicinity of $25 each. Another such reference is McLain
"Pyrotechnics from the Viewpoint of Solid State Chemistry". I have not
seen Weingart's "Manual of Fireworks" - it is also an old reference and
undoubtedly contains many unacceptably hazardous formulations. Other
books you might look for (I won't give individual titles) are by 
A.St.H.Brock, J.R.Parington, Faber, Kirk-Othmer, T.Kentish, W.H.Browne,
H.G.Tanner and Watkins,Cackett & Hall. 

All the above references are listed in the bibliographies of Shimizu,
Weingart or Lancaster.

For hazards - a prime reference is I.Sax "Dangerous Properties of
Hazardous Materials". You can also search "Chemical Abstracts".

What I have listed is probably a good basic library. There are thousands
of other books, pamphlets, manuals, abstracts etc available - some very
good and some very bad. I tend to collect anything I find, even if all
I do is skim through it and then never look at it again.

Bill