The Isaac Newton School of Driving: Physics and Your Car | 
 enlarge | Author: Barry Parker
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $28.95
Buy New: $15.64
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Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 331814
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 264
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 0801874173
Dewey Decimal Number: 531
EAN: 9780801874178
ASIN: 0801874173
Publication Date: August 12, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Excellent condition. Minute ware on dust jacket. NO writing, highlighting, underlining, inscriptions, folded pages, tares, or odors. Excellent reading. 25
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Product Description
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 such as force, momentum, and energy. Its ignition system depends on the principles of electricity and magnetism. Braking relies on friction -- yet another basic scientific concept -- and if the brakes fail, the resulting damage, too, can be predicted using physics. Parker's first lesson describes the basic physics of driving: speed and acceleration; why you get thrown forward while braking or outward while turning; and why car advertisements boast about horsepower and torque. He goes on to discuss the thermodynamics of engines, and how they can be more fuel efficient; and what friction and traction are and how they keep a car's tires on the road, whether it's dry, wet, or icy. He also describes how simple laws of physics enable scientists to design aerodynamic cars and high-tech steering systems. Parker then explores the high-performance physics of auto racing, outlines how traffic accidents are reconstructed by police, uses chaos theory to explain why traffic jams happen, and describes what cars of the future might look like. Whether you drive a Pacer or a Porsche, The Isaac Newton School of Driving offers better -- and better-informed -- driving through physics.
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| Customer Reviews:
 An interesting way to study applied physics February 11, 2007
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.
 Great Potential, So-So Result, Needs Better Diagrams February 3, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The idea behind this book--that many different aspects of physics are illustrated in your car--is fantastic. Electric circuits, Newton's laws of motion, batteries, pressure/volume, and even silicon chips are discussed, along with many, many more topics.
All the topics are introduced at a beginner level, and some are adequately explained. Some aren't. Some are rushed, resulting in a paragraph of jargon and a mention that the topic is too complicated to address in detail. Some are just abandoned.
I found the diagrams to be completely inadequate: small, poorly drawn, and too few.
This book would have been phenomenal as a partnership between the author and David Macaulay, author and illustrator of The Way Things Work. It begs for his sort of artwork.
Too Much Math For Me, But Still a Good Informative Book April 5, 2004
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
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 October 19, 2003
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
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 September 25, 2003
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
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