Explosives Engineering

This is THE book for a solid introduction to detonation science and is probably once of the most reference in my library. There are some similar texts (Zukas and Walters, Davis and Fickett) that fill a similar role, but this text is by far the most approachable (due to the worked examples) and modern. To my younger collogues I usually tell them to treat this as their new religious text and to sleep with it under their pillow.Best book on the topic of detonation by far

If you are a novice to the field of explosives engineering, this text should be read after reading Paul Cooper's "Introduction to Explosives Technology." It is a cure to the 'I want more' feeling which that text produces. As in that text, it leaves one feeling 'why did I have so much trouble understanding this subject with other texts?'The answer to that is Paul Cooper's knowledge of the subject, and ability to put that knowledge into words. One does not need a Ph.D. nor be a genius to understand this text. Having taught myself this subject, I wish Paul Cooper had written this work 40 years ago. It is designed to bring the novice up to the mid levels of knowledge in this field.I have found myself putting the book down to write programs to model what I had just read. This text has brought me from believing I know explosive engineering, to having the confidence of actually knowing the subject."Explosives Engineering" is considerably more understandable than such biblical treatments such as LA-2000 or AMCP 706-180. This text prepares one for such texts at such a rarified level.This text should be in the library of every explosive engineer. If I had to select three texts on the subject of explosives behavior, this would definitely be one of them. His "Intoduction to Explosives Technology" would be in the top 10 for preparing the groundwork into this field.

Explosives Engineering by Paul Cooper is a well written book that will give anyone with a master's level in fluid dynamics, thermochemistry and the likes (don't expect this book to bring you up to speed on these subjects) a good understanding of the physics and a bit of the chemistry behind explosives and their uses.This book however does have mistakes in it, so it is recommended to double check equations when they appear funky (eg Mott's equation near the end of the book has some dimensional issues). Personally, it just seems the author didn't have time to triple proof read every inch of his book, but I would say 98% of it is solid. If you don't mind having to occasionally double check a formula if it is very important to your work, then this book will literally become your bible.

This book is about 460 pages and contains fives sections. He starts with the chemistry of explosives. The next section is on thermodynamics properties followed by a section on shock waves. The last two sections are on detonation and initiation. I was particularly interested in shock waves. I found the book inadequate in every possible sense. The notation is an absolute disaster. There is no saying what represents what and sometimes the same symbol has been used to represent several different quantities in the same place. One must try very hard to figure out what is actually meant. The mathematical treatment of shock waves is primitive and almost non-existent. I got the impression that the author does not have a good grasp of the subject. The book resembles an internal report or a collection of white papers as it is customary in some companies nowadays. The book needs a lot of editing, as some sentences are incomprehensible. Here is an example sentense form page 208 : "First we will look at the P-x diagram, a few diagrams in time of the shock presure and the interface, Figure 18.5. " If you know nothing about the subject, then this maybe a place to start because the book is very basic. Just be sure you are not confused by the inconsistent notation. If you are interested to learn about the shock waves and their interaction, I recommend "Physics of Shock Waves and High Temperature Hydrodynamic Phenomena" by Zel'dovich and Raizer.