<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Well, it turns out my dad had a copy of this sitting in his bookshelf! Only thing is; this is the 6th edition, not the 7th - do you think I will be missing much of value? The preface mentions that the 6th edition has "40% more pages" than the 5th.. so I'm tempted to pursue the 7th edition afterall... <br />Posted by l3p3r</DIV></p><p>That book has been around since Hector was a pup. The basics haven't changed much so I think you would do well to look through edition that you have in hand. I don't know what the additional 40% might be. You might find a copy of the new addition, at a library, compare it with the 6th edition and then decide if you want the new book. It depends on what you want to do with it.</p><p>Quite frankly I spent about 24 years associated with the design of solid rockets and didn't use a textbook very much. There are various lecture notes and data books available that cover the material, but Sutton does offer a nice compact package for the fundamentals. It is good for doing hand calculations and getting a feel for the underlying physics. When you need really accurate calculations you need some sophisticated and specialized computer codes. The textbooks don't cover those.</p><p>ADDED: The value of Sutton is that it is readily available. I have looked through it and know that it has the sort of information that you are looking for, but I personally have used other notes and outside references that are available within the industry but might be difficult to obtain outside of it. There is an organization called the CPIA (Chemical Propulsion Industry Association) that has available a huge amount of information on rocketry. However, that information is only available to member organizations and some of it is classified. </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>