Book excerpt: The study of energetic materials is emerging from one primarily directed toward practical interests to an advanced area of fundamental research, where state-of-the-art methods and theory are used side by side with modern synthetic methods. This timely book integrates the recent experimental, synthetic, and theoretical research of energetic materials. Editors George Olah and David Squire emphasize the importance of structure and mechanism in determining properties and performances. They also explore new spectrometric methods and synthetic approaches in this useful reference. - Discusses structural analysis by x-ray crystallography - Explains chemical dynamics by photofragmentation translational spectroscopy - Covers kinetic analysis by ultrafast absorption and emission spectroscopy - Details syntheses of polycyclic caged amines, fuel additives, and polynitro compounds - Examines computer-aided design of monopropellants - Includes contributions by two Nobel laureates and five members of the National Academy of Sciences