No, not a professional anyhow. We're all teachers of one kind or another.

I consider myself a hacker of the classical variety. Not a cracker, but someone who is driven to understand something until the puzzle pieces fall together elegantly. You can do all of this yourself, if you can make it through a decent chemistry book. Look for "A Molecular Approach", Tro teaches the subject well.

Once you get to the point of understanding catalysis, you can make a detonation out of just about anything. After you can solve chemistry problems, all it really takes is a written reaction 2H + O = H~2~O to give you an idea of how you might go about making said reactions. The composition of Semtex is public knowledge, just ask Wikipedia.