Car Science: An Under-The-Hood, Behind-The-Dash Look at How Cars Work

This book is excellent for anyone with a car crazy child. As the title suggests it covers the science of how cars work, from formula one to the family saloon. If you ever wanted to know how Newton's laws of physics apply to a car, this is the book for you. We actually borrowed this book from the library as a science fair project resource, and then had to go and buy it. Any fan of the BBC America's 'Top Gear' program is already familiar with how knowledgeable and funny Richard Hammond is, but this book was a relevation concerning his love of science. I firmly recommend it for kids 6 - 16 years old (and I can't pretend that it didn't teach me a thing or two)

After having spent an hour or so with the copy I purchased for our mechanic son and 8 year old granddaughter I am back to purchase a copy just for me. The detail explanations are great and the illustrations provide instant clarity to the "wonder how that works" questions of a child or in my case, a member of the "gas them and go" set.

My 9 year old son loves this book. He often watches Top Gear which features Richard Hammond. So he was tickled pink when he got one of his books. But it has so much really cool information. He has read it and re-read it so many times!

Richard Hammond is an amusing dude. He wrote "Car Science" and infused his book with humor and fun information along with science. "Cars," he says, "are crammed full of science." If you understood this, you wouldn't follow so closely behind the car in front of you. What happens when he suddenly stops? What does science have to do with speed, you might ask. Mr. Hammond would tell you that cars and speed work by the laws of science: inertia and momentum, forces and gravity, and you in a smashed car. What do car enthusiasts and politicians have in common? Love of power. Do you know that a horse has only 0.7 horsepower? James Watt based his formula of horsepower on the power of ponies pulling so much coal up a hill in a minute, then re-figured for horses which are bigger. However, horses pull about the same power as ponies, making his figures wrong. Do you know that the history of the car is really the history of fuel? Or that the answer to the question, How does a car work, is "like a bicyle"--pumping action! That's how Car Science is explained: simply, verbally, visually. When Hammond uses terms like "powertrain," there is an illustration and several splots of short paragraphs to explain it. There are pistons and here is how they work: pump, crankshaft, flywheel, and good ol' inertia. The largest engine in the world belongs to Liebherr T282, a truck which hauls vast heaps of mining rubble. Empty, it weighs 221 tons. Its 0-60 mph is never and its horsepower is 3500 (meaning it would take 3500 horses to pull this monster with an engine the size of a car). How about piston power? A two-page spread explains a single piston (lawnmower) up to a Wankel Rotary. But listen to this description of a V8: "A big V8 is almost like a living thing: it shakes and growls, and when you rev it the hairs on the back of your neck stand up." Have you heard of the Bugatti Veyron built by Volkswagon? Its engine fills the center of the car and is powered by 1001 horsepower, has 16 pistons and two crankshafts and four turbochargers. It goes 0-60 mph in 2.46 seconds and has a top speed of 253 mph. Making gasoline out of black gold (crude oil) is the next topic, then the laws of motion (here Newton is introduced), those forces are detailed, gears are explained, and that concludes Part I: Power. The next three sections are Speed, Handling, and Technology, with history, development, record breakers, stunts, black magic, all-terrain vehicles, monster trucks, G-force, the science of skids, car-crash science, hybrids, a look at the future, and concluding with a glossary and index. This is a perfect gift for that age 9-12 male car enthusiast. Not only will he learn cars, he will gain a life-long understanding of science! Stop! The book is also good for girls and adults of any age who want to learn cars and science, too! This is an age of equal opportunity!

Leave it to DK Publishing (of Eyewitness Books fame) to create something this cool! Yes, it's the one boys ages 7-13 have been waiting for: a reader-friendly book about cars. Car Science is divided into four sections. The first is Power. My favorite spread in this section is "Making gasoline," but the part about gears is also fascinating, as is "Bugatti Veyron," about a car with 1001-brake horsepower, which means it can go from 249 mph to a stop in under 10 seconds. Section 2 is Speed. It begins with a colorful chart comparing the speeds of different animals and vehicles, from a snail's .03 mph to the Thrust SSC's land-speed record of 763 mph. I also liked finding out how something as odd as a boxfish could give designers an idea for the shape of a car in "Inspired by Nature." Section 3 addresses Handling. My favorite spread title here is "Wall of Death," with "Monster Trucks" and "Car-crash Science" tied for second. Section 4, Technology, starts off by explaining what cars are made of, moving on to topics like scuba cars before ending happily with "Top 10 Crazy Ideas." Car Science is written at about a 3rd grade level, but its appeal is much broader. The book serves as an alluring introduction to understanding how cars work. My only request is that someone now write a book explaining cars and their engines in more detail, perhaps at a 6th-8th grade level. (The next one "up" I found was for high schoolers and adults.) In the meantime, boys--and girls--should take a look at this fast, shiny sports car of a book. VROOM! VROOM!