Powder and Propellants is the story of the U.S. Navy's premier
facility for research, development, testing, and evaluation of
"energetic materials," the chemical compounds used in gun and
rocket propellants as well as in aircraft cockpit ejection seats. 
	
  Initially charged to improve the penetrating power of warheads
against steel armor, Indian Head became the proving grounds for
testing guns, propellant powder, shells, mounts, and armor, notably
the manufacture and testing of Jet Assist Takeoff (JATO), Zuni,
Talos, and Polaris rockets and missiles.

   First published in 1990 as a private publication for the navy,
Powder and Propellants is now available again as a revised and
expanded second edition, with a new chapter on the institution's
last decade. Those interested in military history, technology, and
government institutional history will find this book invaluable.

_________________________________________________________

RODNEY P. CARLISLE is vice president of History Associates
Incorporated, a historical services firm in Rockville, Maryland, and
professor of history at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey.
He is the author of numerous books, including Brandy, Our Man in
Acapulco, published by the University of North Texas Press.





What People Are Saying About This Book:

"A sound piece of historical scholarship. . . . It very ably ties the
story of the institution to what was happening in the navy as a
whole during this time."—Public Historian