Hemmings Motor News - August 2015

BOOKS & LITERATURE
BY JIM DONNELLY

The subtitle of this massive book is "An Introduction to Vehicle Dynamics, Energy, and Power." The author has a doctoral-level degree in mechanical engineering, several patents, and a strong background in mathematics. If you never took physics in high school, perhaps you're a little intimidated by it. When your reviewer studied it, few of the calculations really explained how the laws of nature apply to how things work in the real world. This book lays out hundreds of practical applications as to how they work in the world of cars and motorcycles.

It's huge, running to 604 pages, with more than 300 illustrations and diagrams. The physics are expressed through explanations, algebra and calculus formulas, diagrams and examples. Among the broad topics discussed in its chapters are kinematics, vehicle dynamics,torque, energy applications and statics. The appendices cover Greek letters, math references and a glossary. The sheer volume of information here comes with a caveat that a high proficiency in advanced mathematics is necessary to understand and apply the laws of physics. We peg this as a challenging lesson plan for car enthusiasts who really want to acquire some in-depth knowledge. This is one of the most provocative and fascinating tech books we've encountered in quite some time.

Review from and courtesy of Hemmings Motor News - August 2015

http://www.hemmings.com/hmn/stories/2015/08/01/hmn_feature14.html