The title is "Excuse me sir, would you like to buy a kilo of isopropyl bromide?"

https://archive.org/details/gergel_isopropyl_bromide

That's a hilarious book: "There was a jar which I had not noticed before containing potassium metal. I knew that potassium was a silvery metal, but this was one inch spheres, green with the oil in which they were immersed. I removed two for a collection of elements we were starting at Columbia High, scraped off the oil and put the marbles in my handkerchief which I added to a collection of miscellaneous glassware in my back pocket. "

Oops... I can see where that is headed.

Thanks for the rec! Gunna dive into it tonight!

Oh man, you are in for a treat! This was a terrific read even though I probably only understood 1/3rd of it.

Ignition! By John D. Clark

https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-audiobook/dp/B07CTW1M9D/ref=...

Or, maybe you’ve already read it, in which case: great job. Maybe someone else will see this comment and enjoy it.

I don’t want to spoil if for you, but I loved the last paragraph. I believe a new heroic age for the field is dawning.

Oh dang! This has been on my reading list for years! Definetly looking forward to checking it out!!!

My last chemistry class was in high school, so I had to glide over a lot of the details. But the story is still awesome even with liberal skimming of chem reaction details.

This book is probably helping me cope with the extreme confusion of all the various LK-99 attempts. Like, it's going to be a hugely messy confusion and slog with lots of results that are "blend-A can meet 5 of the 7 requirements, but not the important ones. blend-B can meet 3 of the 7, but one of the important ones. blend-C looks very promising but doesn't quite meet any of the requirements." for... years.