Wordtrade LogoWordtrade.com
Technology

 

Review Essays of Academic, Professional & Technical Books in the Humanities & Sciences

 

Automobile

Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Medicine, and Psychology edited by Donald L. Fisher, Matthew Rizzo, Jeffrey K. Caird and John D. Lee (CRC Press) This is an exciting time for researchers using driving simulators. In the 1970s there were in the neighborhood of 20 research driving simulators throughout the US and Europe including many small, part-task devices used for training and licensing. Today there are hundreds if not thousands of driving simulators spread around the globe. International conferences have become well established, including, most notably the Driving Assessment (held in the United States) and the Driving Simulation Conference (held in Asia, Europe, North America), with many others drawing large audiences as well. Governments and industry around the world are much more aggressively funding simulator research.

Effective use of driving simulators requires considerable technical and methodological skill along with considerable background knowledge. Acquiring the requisite knowledge and skills can be time consuming, yet there has been no single convenient and comprehensive source of information on the driving simulation research being conducted around the world. A how-to-do-it resource for researchers and professionals, Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Medicine, and Psychology brings together discussions of technical issues in driving simulation with broad areas in which driving simulation is now playing a role.

The chapters explore technical considerations, methodological issues, special and impaired populations, evaluation of in-vehicle and nomadic devices, and infrastructure evaluations. The volume examines hardware and software selection, visual database and scenario development, independent subject variables and dependent vehicle, environmental, and psychological variables, statistical and biostatistical analysis, different types of drivers, existing and future key-in vehicle devices, and validation of research.

A compilation of the research from more than 100 of the world's top thinkers and practitioners, Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Medicine, and Psychology/a> covers basic and advanced technical topics and provides a comprehensive review of the issues related to driving simulation. It describes literally hundreds of different simulation scenarios, provides color photographs of those scenarios, and makes available select videos of the scenarios on an accompanying web site.

Editors are Donald I. Fisher, head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and director of the Arbella Insurance Human Performance Laboratory in the College of Engineering; Matthew Rizzo, professor of neurology, engineering, and public policy at the University of Iowa; Jeff K. Kaird, professor in the Department of Psychology and an adjunct professor in the Department of Kinesiology, the Department of Anesthesia and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary; and John D. Lee, Emerson Electric Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and director of the Cognitive Systems Laboratory.

To date, there has been no single convenient and comprehensive source of information on driving simulation research being conducted around the world. Nor has there been a single repository for information regarding the numerous challenges that confront new simulator users or the broader challenges that confront the whole community. The Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Medicine, and Psychology puts much of this critical information in one easily accessible place. The chapters detail the many key results. In the broadest of terms, there has been a literal explosion in our understanding of the differences in vehicle and driver behaviors among different groups of people; of the impact of different traffic control devices, traffic scenarios, road geometries, and general lighting and weather conditions on vehicle and driver performance; of the effect of different types of distraction inside and outside the vehicle on various metrics of performance; and on the use of driving simulators as assessment and training tools. The chapters are replete with discussions of the scenarios and dependent variables that are critical for analysis purposes. Additionally, there are key sections specifically targeting scenario authoring and dependent variables. There are still a number of evergreen issues, including simulator adaptation syndrome, fidelity of the virtual environment, cross-platform comparisons among different simulators, development of standard scenarios for testing and training, and transfer of effects to the real world.

Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Medicine, and Psychology provides a comprehensive resource to guide researchers, designers, program managers, and practitioners in: The history and future of driving simulation along with a discussion of its most pressing issues (Section I); the selection and validation of driving simulator technology (Section II); the conduct of simulator studies, including the selection of scenarios and dependent variables as well as the evaluation of results (Section III); and the use of simulators in studies relevant to psychology (Section IV), engineering (Section V) and medicine (Section VI). The editors have initiated a resource for the open sharing of scenarios, CARSS (Coordinated Assessment of Roadway Simulator Scenarios). This resource is necessary because, in the absence of a universal scene and scenario development tool, they must fall back on the actual programs used to generate the scenarios if researchers are ever going to replicate one another's research on different simulator platforms. While it is true that a uniform way of capturing the information would allow researchers around the world to more easily replicate one another's findings on the same or different platforms, such a common description is probably not forthcoming in the immediate future.

The broad sweep of contributions in Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Medicine, and Psychology is impressive. The book will catalyze various applied research efforts which either have long been languishing or are currently of pressing need first and foremost is research on novice drivers and the growing contribution to crashes of in-vehicle devices. The hundreds of different simulation scenarios, color photographs of those scenarios, and videos of the scenarios should prove essential for seasoned researchers and for individuals new to driving simulation. The audience for this information consists of a broad collection of academics, professionals and students.

Vintage American Road Racing Cars, 1950-1970 by Harold W. Pace, Mark R. Brinker (Motorbooks International) Harold Pace and Mark Brinker. The 1950s and 1960s were the boom times for road racing in America. In this fertile soil, dozens of American racing car manufacturers sprouted up, supplying fields of post-war thrill seekers with race cars. Names like Shelby American, Huffaker, Devin, Miller, Kurtis, Old Yaller, Chaparral, Cunningham, Scarab, Eagle, and many others made a name for themselves on American race tracks and even overseas. Hundreds of "specials" were produced as well, often modified versions of such classic cars as Corvette, Porsche, and MG. Part hot rod, part sports car, all of these cars were built with a heaping helping of good old American know-how and a pure passion for racing that was unique to the era.

This book takes an in-depth look at more than 50 race car manufacturers and more than 100 racing specials. Many of these have never before been covered in book form. Vintage American Road Racing Cars takes an encyclopedic approach, providing vintage and modern photography, specifications, and a narrative history for each car or manufacturer. Knockout photos of period-appropriate memorabilia, tools, etc., add to the nostalgic feel of this high-quality book.

Vintage racing is gaining in popularity every year. According to Victory Lane magazine, vintage races are attended by about 1.5 million people in the U.S. each year. Around 5,500 people own a vintage race car in the U.S., but, including crew and workers, about 22,000 Americans participate in vintage racing at some level. Another 20,000 participants live in Europe and Asia.

"This is a marvelous glimpse back into a long gone period of racing when car builders were free to build racing cars with only minimum class rules as guidance, long before racing became rule bound and the racing car designs were totally specified by the racing organization. As expected in a work of this immense magnitude, there are some cars left out and a very few incorrect descriptions, leaving room for a second edition, which we expect since this is bound to be a best seller. This one could be the racing book of the year!" - Victory Lane, January 2005 

50 Years of Hot Rod by Editors of Petersen's Hot Rod Magazine (Motorbooks International) "Rods," "coupes," "roadsters," "cruisers," "dragsters," and "buggies"—50 years ago, these terms conjured notions of young hellions bent on devil-may-care street racing antics.

To Robert E. Petersen, though, this was the jargon of an American pastime. As backyard mechanics and gearheads chopped, channeled, and built the cars of their dreams, Petersen had the notion to create a magazine dedicated to providing hot rodders with a place to showcase their machines and share customizing and performance ideas. Simply reporting the hobby wasn't enough, though. Hot Rod hired writers and photographers who were hot rodders—guys who were "motorheads that could write for motorheads."

Hot Rod promised its readers "cars with better performance and appearance." More than 600 issues later, this editorial credo has

survived the ravages of time, automotive evolution, and the scrutiny of millions of readers. "Hot rodder" is no longer a dirty word, and today's hot rods often are worth more than many exotic foreign cars.

50 Years of Hot Rod is a photo-packed celebration of machines like the Eliminator, Beatnik Bandit, and Cadllilla and hot rodding legends like Vic Edelbrock, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Don Garlits, and "Dyno Don" Nicholson. The editors of Hot Rod exhaustively culled the magazine's archive to present more than 125 stunning color and 150 black and white images that chronicle a half century of machines, personalities, and imagination.

If custom coupes, radical rail jobs, and high performance cars and trucks are your style, you will love reading 50 Years of Hot Rod!

 

Mustang 1979-2004 Buyer's Guide by Brad Bowling (Color Buyer's Guide: Motorbooks International) 1979-2004 Mustangs are some of the most popular and affordable performance cars available. With a huge aftermarket supplying everything from body panels to crate engines to suspension and handling mods, a motivated enthusiast can easily create the street machine of their dreams. On the other other, those less mechanically inclined can simply enjoy a fun stocker. The 1979 to 1993 Fox-platform Mustangs and their contemporary counterparts, the 1994-2001 Mustangs, are widely available, relatively inexpensive, and easy to work on. Mustang Buyer's Guide 1979-2004 will help you sort out the myriad diffenences over the past 25 years and ensure you buy the best car possible. 

Bikes 

101 Sportbike Performance Projects by Evans Brasfield (101 Projects: Motorbooks International) covers the entire spectrum of sportbike projects and is the perfect workshop companion for beginner, intermediate, and advanced riders. Sportbikes are the best-selling motorcycle in the world, and they are also the most modified. The vigorous riding that most of these bikes are subject to lends itself to project after project, with bodywork being front and center. Written by a formidable sportbike expert, 101 Sportbike Performance Projects is an invaluable reference for riders of all levels of interest and mechanical skill and takes readers step-by-step through the most important and popular modifications.

Sportbikes are the best-selling type of motorcycles world wide
The definitive resource for sportbike enthusiasts
Sample projects inside include how to:
Increase engine performance, with projects ranging from easy bolt-on power to complex modification
Upgrade suspension components and improve handling
Increase reliability


 

The Complete Book of BMW: Every Model Since 1950 by Tony Lewin (Motorbooks International) By general consent BMW is a company that rarely goes wrong. It is one of the most consistent performers on the global business scene. For an unbroken and unprecedented run of 44 years it has seen increasing turnover, improving margins and, with only the very rare exception, steadily swelling profits. In today's stormy sea of corporate collapses, redundancies and rebates BMW is the gyro-stabilized ship that thrusts unflustered through the waves and which charts a smooth and constant course towards its port of destination. Not surprisingly, everyone now wants to climb aboard.

Yet if BMW were a finance house, a producer of farm machinery, fish-cakes or pharmaceuticals, would we care about it? The business gurus might get just as excited about it and the city would still take the same shine to the stock, but the likelihood is that the rest of us just wouldn't be bothered – or we wouldn't even know.

For BMW isn't about investments or earnings, capital or profitability – it's about products.

Whether it is cars or motorcycles or even aero engines, the products are what makes us care about BMW. The only reason BMW is the great presence it is today is that its products are good and people – more and more people – want to buy them.

Building cars that people desire is in BMW's blood, an article of faith in its corporate constitution. Only by pushing the boundaries of design and engineering did the company save itself from certain death in 1960; only by listening in to what its fanatical and often critical customers wanted could it stay one step ahead of everyone else and continue to create cars to intrigue, inspire and thrill. While car makers struggled and suffered, BMW couldn't make cars fast enough.

In researching this book I have become even more acutely aware of the strength and the continuity of the corporate culture at BMW, how the sense of mission and excitement permeates everything the company does – be it the screaming 19,000 rpm engine for a Formula One car or the ergonomically optimized steering wheel for the new 1 Series. Whether it's a car or the whole company, BMW is like a stick of seaside rock: crack it open anywhere along its length and the driving pleasure message always reads through just as clearly.

Of course over the 50-plus years covered by this book the definition of driving pleasure has expanded enormously: at the beginning of the 1950s it might have simply meant getting to your destination safely and without breaking down; in the 1960s, with the advent of BMW's signature sports saloons such as the iconic 2002 tii, it meant agile handling and a potent engine. Today, in the early 21st century, driving pleasure could equally well be off-roading up a steep hillside in an X3, swishing along an Autobahn in high-speed silence in the 760i, or tackling twisty mountain passes in an open-topped Z4 roadster.

But perhaps the single thing that struck me most forcibly in my research was the sheer scale of BMW's expansion – how it grew from a bombed-out wreck in the late 1940s with no products at all to a company the world knows and admires. BMW's output in 1959 was 37,000 cars across four model lines: today, it has 10 main model lines and 18 variations and is a million-car company. That kind of growth doesn't happen by chance: it can come in one of two ways – by buying up other companies (which BMW tried once, with Rover, and failed) or, as has been BMW's overriding instinct, by coming up with an unstoppable flow of exciting products and systematically drawing in more and more customers each year. And that requires not just rare talent but the vision of a manager as inspirational as Eberhard von Kuenheim, who steered BMW with exceptional insight for 24 years to make it the company it is today.

Doubters might argue that expansion this far and this fast cannot be good, that the brand will become diluted and that a BMW will no longer be special once there's one in everybody's garage. It's a legitimate enough concern — or at least it would be for a marque whose attractiveness depended solely on its exclusivity. BMWs appeal,

believe, goes much deeper than mere rarity: in every BMW engineer is a deep-down understanding of what makes a car good to drive and a pleasure to own. Americans call them car guys – as opposed to the money men, who tend to spoil the fun – and at BMW it is the car guys with their creative ideas who call the shots.

Above all, this book is a celebration of all those creative ideas turned into moving metal, an appreciation of how BMW's designers and engineers could capture the mood of the times and transform it into something alive and entertaining; the kind of car that people buy to enjoy and treasure rather than just utilise and discard. Sometimes the designs can themselves become the Zeitgeist what better symbol of liberation in 1969 than the dynamic 2002 tii? The newly stylish 5 Series, heralding equality of opportunity in the '90s, the X5's expression of turn-of-the-millennium upward mobility, the born-again MINI's funky sense of fun – all are icons of their individual eras. With the new 1 Series – unique among small cars with its rear wheel drive – we could be on course for a welcome revival of the rebellious tii spirit, while Rolls-Royce under BMW stewardship is set to redefine the meaning of true luxury in a 21st century context.

I have been fortunate enough to experience almost all of the cars in this book from the driving seat and to have had quite a few of them parked outside my house, if only for the frustratingly short periods allocated to automotive reviewers. Only a tiny fraction have I had the privilege of calling my own.

From a company where expectations always run very high, several especially memorable models nevertheless stand out: the 2002tii for its sheer exuberance, the 507 for its timeless beauty and current M3 for being just about as complete a car as anyone could possibly wish for. The X5, which rewrote the rules of the SUV game, and the subtly balanced Z4 count as highs, too – and can be set against the notably few disappointments, such as the 850 and the original but misguided Z1, that BMW has generated over the years.

Yet now, after having spent many months researching and writing, collating data and tracking down the photographs for this book, Iam more than ever resolved to make amends and to re-live my mis-spent BMW youth – for which a tii-sized extension to my garage might just be needed. And if the many thousands of facts, figures, revelations and reminiscences I have assembled here do the same for you, then my efforts will not have been in vain. Tony Lewin August 2004 

Volkswagen: Military Vehicles of the Third Reich by Blaine Taylor (Da Capo Press) Profusely illustrated and rare photographic history of the Volkswagen car and its military use in Hitler's Third Reich.

When Volkswagen burst upon the American automobile scene in the 1960s, it established a reputation for both economy and reliability. Few who drove the original sixties' "Love Bug" knew that the vehicle was the creation of Adolf Hitler in the days of the Third Reich. Originally intended as a symbol of prewar prosperity, the Volkswagen, or "people's car," eventually became a key element in the Nazi war machine.

With the outbreak of World War II, the production of the Volkswagen car was adapted for military use, and the Kubelwagen, German "jeep," was designed and manufactured throughout Germany. A special amphibious version, the "Schwimmwagen," was later developed and spearheaded many major German offensives. Appearing in several variants, Volkswagen vehicles became the mainstay of German command and motorized units.

This detailed history of the Volkswagen in the 1930s and 1940s covers all varieties of makes and models of the Volkswagen in use during the Third Reich and is richly illustrated with rare photographs of the vehicles themselves, technical drawings, engine designs, and sales brochures of the period.  

Vintage American Road Racing Cars, 1950-1970 by Harold W. Pace, Mark R. Brinker (Motorbooks International) Road racing in America evolved from small prewar races put on by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) into a major spectator sport after World War Il. On February 26, 1944, a handful of Boston-area sports car enthusiasts formed the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Its stated purpose was to preserve sports cars, and racing was not an initial consideration. When the war wrapped up a year later, they waited for ARCA to start putting on races again. But ARCA never revived, and the SCCA and other clubs stepped into the void and began organizing races.

The first SCCA races were held on the East Coast, where the predominately blue-blooded participants raced imported machinery, including prewar Alfas, Maseratis, and MGs. There were also notable American specials present, including Briggs Cunningham's BuMerc and the Ardent Alligator Ford-Riley. Cameron Argetsinger, a law student at Cornell, came up with the idea to put on a race in the peaceful New York village of Watkins Glen. The first Watkins Glen Grand Prix was held on October 2, 1948, won by Frank Griswold in an Alfa Romeo coupe with the BuMerc right behind. American iron was already holding its own. Although Europe had a long lead in the manufacture of great road racing cars, Americans were way ahead in raw horsepower.

A history of the fascinating American-built road racing cars would not be complete without the stories of the characters behind their creation, and authors and collectors Harold Pace and Mark Brinker pay homage to the great American race cars of the era and, in so doing, honor the men and women who created them.

The world is full of books on racing cars. There are innumerable tomes devoted to Formula 1 dynasties, endurance racing legends, and specific road racinç cars. But until now there has never been a book

devoted exclusively to American road racing cars c all types and sizes. Sure, you can find lots of single marque books devoted to documenting every chassis number of well-known racers like the Ford GT or famous Can-Am champs. But hundreds of cars built in America have never been mentioned in print before, and that is what you will find here.

American road racing started just after World War II and quickly blossomed into a movement. The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and the United States Auto Club (USAC), clubs that became fierce rivals in the 1950s and 1960s, were the principal race promoters. Race tracks popped up everywhere, at first on city streets, then at airports and U.S. Air Force bases, and finally at purpose-built circuits like Road America and Laguna Seca. America's love of road racing continues to this day.

Although most of the cars that competed in American road racing were built in Europe, an underground movement sprang up of "special builders" who constructed their racers in home garages or small-town machine shops. Some were so homely and slow that only the builders couldlove them. Others trounced every Ferrari in sight and are now on wish lists for wealthy collectors the world over.

In between these extremes were purpose-built race cars intended to be sold for profit by professional race car builders. Some, like Autodynamics and Zink, built hundreds of successful cars, while others expired after a single embarrassing season. They were powered by everything from two-cylinder Panhards to fire-breathing Chrysler Hemis. A few companies even built their own engines, but these were seldom successful.

We have taken a look at all the classes that were run in amateur and professional racing events, from Formula Vee to Group 7 Can-Am. While we have not included street sports cars that were modified for racing by individuals or race preparation shops, we have included production-class cars that were designed solely (or principally) for racing.

This book is broken into several major sections. Chapter 2 is devoted to Racing Car Manufacturers, those companies that sold racing cars to the public or produced them for a racing team. Chapter 3 covers American Specials, one-offs built for the constructor or his driver to race. Chapter 4 is devoted to Engine Swap Specials, race cars that received a relatively simple engine exchange that did not necessitate major redesigns. Chapter 5 covers American Kit Car Manufacturers, companies that sold bodies or frames used to construct a special, and Chapter 6 covers the various purpose-built American Racing Engines. Chapter 7

describes the sometimes overwhelming myriad of Racing Classes for the various competition cars. The Appendix contains various rosters of cars arranged by Year(s) of Construction, Constructor, Body Builder, Powerplant, and Racing Class. The Bibliography will be useful to those wanting to read more on a specific manufacturer or car.

The focus of the book is the cars, although without the characters themselves, there would be no cars and no book. We pay homage to the great American race cars of the era and so doing honor those men and women who created them.

We have made every effort to document these splendid cars as accurately as possible and have interviewed as many of the actual builders as we could locate. Inevitably errors have occurred. Memories fade, car identities become jumbled together, and even period race reports sometimes contain errors.

Headline 3

insert content here