Book excerpt: This is a series of lecture notes on the subject of detonation physics. The topics covered include a historical summary from the perspective of the White Oak Laboratory of NSWC dating from 1940, the basic conservation equations for shock and detonation waves, the gamma law equation of state, critical diameter and critical shock initiating pressure, detonability curves and the classification of explosives, the effects of particle size, temperature, temperature cycling, chemical composition, the large scale and small scale gap tests, the wedge test, characterization of shock sensitivity, estimating and measuring detonation pressures, the electro-magnetic velocity measurement method, the continuous wire method, and reaction zone lengths and reaction times.