Absinthe & Flamethrowers: Projects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously

5 comments to “ Absinthe & Flamethrowers: Projects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously ”

1. # 1 Lawrence C. Smith has sayed:
   February 4th, 2010 at 1:41 am

   On page 5 Gurstelle asserts that solid fuel rocket
   
   motors propelled the Saturn V. That is incorrect.
   
   The Saturn, and the Apollo missions it carried, were
   
   all liquid fueled. The first stage used LOX and
   
   kerosene, the upper two stages used LOX and liquid
   
   hydrogen, and the service module and lunar modules
   
   used liquid hypergolics.

   In point of fact, solid rockets of any kind were
   
   never used for manned missions until the advent of
   
   the space shuttle. They were too worried the solid
   
   fuel boosters would eventually do what they actually
   
   did to the Challenger.
   
   Rating: 1 / 5

2. # 2 Kate has sayed:
   February 4th, 2010 at 2:26 am

   What drew me to this book was the title. It is catchy. What got me reading was the philosophy on adding a little more risk to my life. I have been fairly bored with my hobbies and non-work activities for sometime and thought that maybe I’d get some ideas for adding some more excitement to my life. However, after reading this, I’m not really interested in adding this type of excitement to my life.

   I have zero interest in chemistry. Maybe I’m paranoid, but in this day and age, I really don’t want to be ordering the equipment and ingredients to make pyrotechnics in my basement on the internet. For all I know, I’ll end up on some homeland security list and be treated to a very thorough search at the airport next time I travel. No thank you.

   Other “projects” designed to help us feel more adventurous include smoking a cigarette. Really? I think I did that when I was 16 to feel like a risky, edgy kid giving a middle finger to the world. I understand what the author wants us to do – to not make decisions on our behaviors based on societal norms, but come on. Smoking a cigarette is not going to change your character one way or another, and it is just silly to assume otherwise.

   So if living dangerously includes making explosives in my basement, or smoking, I guess I will remain perfectly happy, if a little bored, in my non-chemistry experiment lifestyle.
   Rating: 2 / 5

3. # 3 Daniel Smith has sayed:
   February 4th, 2010 at 4:29 am

   There is entirely too much rumination, and not enough projects.
   
   The author repeats himself constantly, fills the already slim volume with “saftey notes”.
   
   Nothing in here I couldn’t have easily (TERRIBLY EASILY) just hit the internet for.
   
   How to make black powder, rockets, smoke bomb – and the rest is just a collection of rambles and pop culture references. The flamethrower isn’t even portable, just a standard pyrotechnic propane tank. Pales in comparison to my fathers Diesel fueled modified spray pack. So there.
   
   Couldn’t be more disappointed.
   Rating: 1 / 5

4. # 4 Chris Navarro has sayed:
   February 4th, 2010 at 4:39 am

   This is an OK book, but way too much space is wasted on warnings and profiling of the type people who like to read books of this kind. Not enough actual experiments and too little detail. I could do without the Zippo tricks (which really didn’t explain any tricks), for example. Maybe get it for the 13 year-old that think The Dangerous Book for Boys is for little kids.
   Rating: 2 / 5

5. # 5 Daniel A. Niles has sayed:
   February 4th, 2010 at 7:20 am

   If you want to learn how to make Absinthe and fun things that go boom in the back yard this is not your book. It is more of a toilet time book. Somewhat entertaining and totally written by a man for men. The price is good, the reading OK. I recommend the book but don’t expect to much out of it…
   Rating: 2 / 5