I’ve read Ignition!. It’s an excellent read, easy to recommend to anyone who frequents these parts whether they’re into chemistry or rocketry or none of the above. Sardonic sense of humor, tendency for violent explosions, people just doing it wrong. Good choice.
(That Schlieren photography thing in particular stands out as something that could have happened at one of Howl’s workplaces, down to the minions summarily dismantling everything that could be used to rebuild the awful beast.)