Professional Engineering - May 2015

Book Of The Month...May 2015

Love cars? And love physics? Then this is the book for you. Its author, mechanical engineer Randy Beikmann, wanted to write an introduction to vehicle dynamics, energy and power with examples from motorsports, and he does a grand job of it, too.

Beikmann has been a car nut for 35 years. During his time spent tinkering under the bonnet, he got frustrated at how general physics books failed to relate to automotive matters. So he set about filling that void with a book about classical physics applied to automotive problems.

It's a concept that works well. Each main topic is covered in the same sequence, with one chapter on the basics, and another on applications. Physical laws are described and put into a formula, usually an equation, and then applied with imaginative examples. So, if you want to learn about Newton's discovery of centripetal force and acceleration, you can. Or if torque, force resolutions and 2D vectors are your thing, that's here, too. Other chapters cover the basics and applications of kinematics, angular dynamics, energy, power, and statics and quasi-statics.

The book is a mix of calculations, graphs and schematics, with colour photos of cars under test-track conditions, proving various concepts such as lateral load transfer.

Physics for Gearheads runs to almost 600 pages. That accounts for the hefty price - $79.95. But it's an informative, well-executed publication that works a treat.

Review from and courtesy of Professional Engineering, the official magazine of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers - May 2015

www.imeche.org/news/features/book-of-the-month...-may-2015