Introduction
The word pyrotechnics refers to the art, craft and science of fireworks. As such, it is related to a variety of arts and sciences - as an underdeveloped art, it is nevertheless comparable to many other human arts, such as music, theatre and film; as a science, it attempts to understand and quantify the chemical and physical phenomena that characterise pyrotechnic reactions. As a craft and art, pyrotechnics originated around 1st century AD in China, with the invention of black powder. As a science, however, pyrotechnics is quite young. The basic phenomena of flame and colour production are now well established, but novel effects and novel materials still continue to be discovered.
How did I get involved?
Pyrotechnics has always been a part of my other hobby, chemistry. It was not the only reason I was interested in chemistry - even today, the chemistry I am now happily doing really hasn't much to do with fireworks or pyrotechnic phenomena - but it provided an exciting field where to apply my newly acquired knowledge of chemistry.For several years, my interest merely smouldered; it was not until I got my hands at real pyrotechnic literature that I wanted to learn the art properly. Since then, I have acquired a modest supply of chemicals, and a lot more skill in making stars, rockets and shells.
I like starmines, and the above photos show a few of my favourites. The first one (left) is charged with flitter stars made of fine paint grade aluminium. These stars burn with a bright, luminous tail, resembling snowball comets. The second starmine (middle) is charged with flitter stars utilising coarser aluminium as well as some bright red stars. The third one (right) is a gold glitter mine. The stars will usually continue their glittering while they descend, creating a wonderful cloud-like effect.
Pyrotechnic organisations
Between the years 1992-1996, I was a member of the Pyrotechnics Guild International (PGI), Inc., a worldwide organisation for amateur and professional fireworks enthusiasts. In 1994, I had the opportunity to attend their annual convention held at New Castle, PA (USA), from 7th August to 12th August. The whole week was packed full of seminars, presentations, pyro shopping and - most importantly - lots of fireworks, both during the "open shooting" sessions and the displays.PGI annual dues are USD 25 (full membership), and this includes the PGI Bulletin, a membership wallet card, a larger membership certificate, and a PGI patch.
European Pyrotechnic Arts Newsletter (EPAN) is a project of creating an European forum for pyrotechnics enthusiasts residing in Europe. The irregularly appearing newsletter costs 100 FF per four issues.
Finally, there is the Pyro Mailing List. This list is a worldwide forum for dissemination and exchange of ideas and news related to fireworks. The high quality of the discussions makes this forum well worth reading. Send email to listserv@vnet.net with the text "information pml" as the text body to find out how to join.
See a separate list of contact addresses for the PGI, EPAN and some other relevant organisations.
Selected articles on the pyrotechnic art
- The secrets of pyrotechnic light and colour production
- A picture essay on electric ignition (special effects)
Other places of pyrotechnic interest
- Robert Burch hosts a site with a very fine selection of fireworks photos.
- Pyrotechnics Guild International home page.
- Chalmers pyrotekniska förening (in Swedish).
- Fireworks by Johan Heide. See what Johan puts into his 3" and 6" shells! Excellent photo gallery.
- Tom Perigrin's Webbook project.
- Tom Dimock's pyro page. Includes a calendar of upcoming fireworks events.
- Paul Marriott's page. Detailed reports of the annual Benson & Hedges International Fireworks competition in Montréal.
- NOVA Online's Kaboom! page. Beautiful graphics, this is a site for kids. The "Hot Science" section, however, might lead one to believe that all constituents of the fireworks are pure elements and not chemical compounds!
Commercial sites
- Skylighter, Inc.. Chemicals and books.
- Fireworks by Grucci.
- Kimbolton Fireworks Ltd. Pride of Britain.
- GOEX Black Powder. There are only a handful of producers left for black powder. GOEX is the company supplying North America with this indispensable product.
- American Eagle Fireworks Center.
- Fireworks West Internationale. An excellent site. Lots of outstanding photos!
A note on the photographs
The first photo of this article is from a show put up by Western Pennsylvania Skylighters at the 1994 PGI Convention in New Castle, PA, USA. The presentation started with Stars and Stripes Forever played with hundreds of pyrotechnic whistles. Photo by Johan Heide.
The above three photos, by Johan Heide, are from the 1994 PGI convention. A larger photo (in jpeg format) can be obtained by clicking at the image.
The starmine photos are all courtesy of Matti Pihko.
