Customer Reviews

History of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

this book is nothing less than great, it's packed with useful informations, lot of diagrams, pictures. everything you can ask about LRE history is here; definitively another great AIAA book.
i know one of the the first things one would like to know about a "history.." book, is the level of details reported.
this is a very detailed book. i was impressed by the fact that some informations reported here are not so easy to find, like the regenerative channel drilling pattern of the agena rocket engine..
i think you know how rocket engineering textbooks are: they give you some formulas, some ideas; they tell about rocket engines as they were ideal metaphysical objects; where are the pipes? where the bolts? you can't find in them a single detail on the implementation of a real rocket engine, a real existing working object. maybe the book fills the gap: this is not the usual "i'll tell you something about rockets but just to fill 300 pages and collect some money" book, but remembers the efforts of something like "modern engineering.." of huzel / huang, that is to say a book written to be complete (if possible; sure the author tried hard: it's a 911 pages book..) very interesting, useful, and a pleasure to read.
my final impression is that this book has something of the work of art.
absolutely a must for rocket engineers, rocket scientists, rocketry amateurs.
excellent work, Mr. Sutton!

This looks to be a library discard, with the typical black magic marker stripes on the page ends. It's a shame what libraries do to books they discard... The binding is excellent and text is high quality. Many of the photos in it are low quality, which is a shame because they are detailed, just small and poorly transferred, or old and grainy. For a copyright date of 2006 I think it could be improved. On the plus side, the line drawings came out very good.
The info contained inside is a treasure to anyone interested in the engineering of LPRE's. I've been debating buying this book for a while, just get it! You won't regret what you will see. 900 pages of interesting, easily readable information on the history of one of the most challenging engineering disiplines.
The LPRE has to operate at the most extreme ends of temperature and materials science while maintaining severe weight restrictions. Man-rating an engine is no small feat and this book will give you some valuable insight into just how difficult it is, and the various methods engineers use to get there.
If you have any interest in the space program, rocketry, or engineering, and have a technical background, I would highly recommend this book, you won't be disappointed.

Sutton does a great job describing all the liquid rocket engines through out history. His chapters on the individual companies in the US and throughout the world are an excellent resource. I've learned a lot reading this book. Everyone interested or working in the liquid rocket engine business should buy this book.

Whew!
There is a lot to read here. Sutton is one of the father figures of rocket propulsion expositions, and when a man with his personal engagement in the development tells the story, well, there is a lot to tell. As an European I feel faintly disturbed by the parallell usage of the ancient feet-inches-pounds measurements along with the metric system, but then, concerning the developments in the US, that is a part of the scenery.
The greatest drawback with a book like this, is the sheer physical weight. It makes for "heavy reading" in bed, although, it semms to lack a common failing with bedside books, that is, lulling the reader to sleep and then hitting his nose to re-awake him. I put Sutton down mhen my mental harddisc reach overload condition, but as eagerly, i go for more the next day.
Simply a MUST for an armchair astronaut alongside the more wellknown Sutton "Elements".