The Isaac Newton School of Driving: Physics and Your Car

by Barry Parker

Book Overview

For some people, driving is an art; for others, it's a science. At the Isaac Newton School of Driving, though, every car is a laboratory on wheels and every drive an exciting journey into the world of physics. As explained by renowned science writer and physics professor Barry Parker--whose father was a car mechanic and garage owner--almost every aspect of driving involves physics. A car's performance and handling relies on fundamental concepts...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801874173
• ISBN13: 9780801874178
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Fun to read, but not the reference book I'd hoped for

Try to find a reference book that explains the physics behind cars in a detailed, well-written fashion, and you may be disappointed. I know I was. Two books I found that had the math and the equations I wanted were horribly written. They had too much detail, and not enough breadth. Worst of all, the poor and unedited English and grammar made both books very hard to read. When I saw the reviews for this book, and looked at a few pages in a preview, I thought I had found what I was looking for. But when I got the book and read it, it was not the reference book I had hoped for. It's interesting, well-written, and fun to read. But it's not a reference book. It's written to be read, not referred to. So my search continues. Still, I'm glad to have this book. It taught me a lot of things I did not know about the physics of cars, and reinforced, in an entertaining fashion, some of the things I did know. While I had hoped for more, this book was much closer to my ideal than any other book I've found.

An interesting way to study applied physics

In computer science, a pattern is any template or blueprint for solving a problem that can be reused with modifications. The fundamental structure of a car is an example of a pattern. The outward appearance of the various models may be different, but the fundamental parts all perform the same function and in the overwhelming majority of the cases, in the same way. This similar manner of functioning also generates a series of patterns, which are described in this book. The auto parts that are covered in detail are the engine, the electrical system, the braking system, the suspension system, and the transmission. Each section begins with an overview of the fundamental physics relevant to the functioning of the part. This is followed by an explanation of the function of the part and how the physical principles are manipulated to make it work. These explanations are an excellent introduction to the basics of auto mechanics; it is much easier to repair something if you know exactly how it works. The remaining sections examine: *) The basic physics of driving. *) Aerodynamic design *) The physics of collisions *) The physics of auto racing *) Traffic and chaos *) The Road Ahead: Cars of the Future I found the section on traffic and chaos particularly fascinating. The conclusion that adding an additional lane of traffic can actually reduce overall traffic flow was at first surprising, but after some analysis it made sense. This is one of those books that truly make science fun. Teenagers all want to have their own car, so with this book they will be able to study physics in a way that will excite them. Yes, there is math. However, the reality is that it is the only language that can truly be used to describe physics.

Too Much Math For Me, But Still a Good Informative Book

Barry Parker has written a book that gets down to the nitty gritty of how a car actually works. All the way down to the physics of it. There is actually alot to be learned from his book even if you're not a physics buff. For example, I now understand the difference between a 2 and a 4 stroke engine. I still can't explain the physics behind any of this stuff, but then again, I don't really want to. If you have an interest in understanding cars, or an interest in physics, this book will keep you interested with Barry's down-to-earth writing style. But if you don't like physics or math, it's not a total loss. Those parts are easily skimmed or even skipped entirely.

Good but could be better

In short, the idea of writing this book was an excellent one. The book's potential is tremendous. However, rating it fairly is a more difficult matter. On the positive side, the writing style is very friendly, engaging and clear; a few of the author's personal experiences are peppered throughout - a big plus. The topics include: driving, most if not all of the various systems in cars, as well as the road-tire interface. It even covers car racing and theories of traffic congestion. A lot of interesting, indeed fascinating, information is presented. On the negative side, however, although some items are discussed clearly and as thoroughly as one might expect in such a book, other items are briefly glossed over while some seem to come to an abrupt end. The physics in each case is discussed to correspondingly varying degrees. Some equations are incorrect due to errors in subscripts and some graphs' axes are mislabeled, i.e., editorial mistakes requiring more careful editing. Some equations are magically presented out of thin air, while the derivations of others are are briefly discussed before presenting them. I would hope that, in the future, a second edition of this book would appear in which the various shortcomings would be corrected and additional material added to even out the physics, the various explanations and include a few formula derivations (or recommend references if the derivations are too involved). In other words, perhaps 50 to 100 additional pages may be appropriate. Should such a second edition of this book appear, I would be among the first to get a copy. As it stands, it is valuable reading for any driver; however, a revised edition, as discussed above, could satisfy the needs of the more scientifically curious as well. I am giving the book as much as four stars mainly because of its concept, its tremendous potential, its excellent writing style and the interesting information that it contains. An appropriate second edition would earn an easy five stars.

A Century's great Inventions

Barry Parker's book The Isaac Newton School of Driving is one of the few whose underlying message transcends the scope of the subject matter. Like the tale of the sorcerer's apprentice who remembers the charm for hauling water from a nearby river into his master's bathtub, but has forgotten the magic words to timely stem the flood, so could Parker's writings be taken as the reminder of not to make the road of technological achievements into a one way street. In the fairy tale, only the timely interfering of his master saves the apprentice from drowning in the waters he himself has conjured, and us from missing out on his story altogether. Likewise, Parker shows us the way to upgrade our consumer knowledge into solid know how. Sorcerers haven't made it into our times, but we, their apprentices, are blooming. We know all the charms that transmute our former hand-tools into vacuum cleaners, television sets, and self-propelled vehicles, to name only a few. But did we follow up in learning the "undo" commands? The abundance and sophistication of technological contraptions within reach of our pocket books calls for an understanding of not alone what they do, but principally how they do it, and reading instruction sheets alone will not help. The Isaac Newton School of Driving opens up with a crash course on the physical principles of maneuvering animated objects, vulgo automobiles. We recall the basics of the four-stroke engine, the machine some of us remember as the light-weight primary mover which made aviation possible. While the Carnot Cycle is introduced as the thermodynamic principle behind it all, a glimpse at the Wankel rotary engine and the Volkswagen W engine conclude the introductory chapters. What follows are easily understandable presentations of a car's electrical, mechanical, and hydraulic elements. Of special interest are the author's applications of probability calculus, Mandelbrot's theory of chaos, and the Complexity Theory, on the flow of traffic and the preconditions on traffic congestion. We cannot thank authors like Barry Parker enough for their efforts to open peoples' eyes to the underlying principles of those engineering wonders we take for granted, and in particular the ones we operate on our daily trips to the office.