POWER PLAY
EVERY SO often, it’s good to think about basic physics and engineering matters such as torque, horsepower and, these days, their electrical equivalents. Being the internationalists we are, let’s discuss … Continue reading
POLITICS AND MOTORSPORTS
VLADIMIR PUTIN has been courting Bernie Ecclestone. The reason: The Russian president hopes to “encourage” the boss of Formula 1 to bring a Grand Prix to Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, next year. … Continue reading
BIG SHIP, BIG DATA
AN INTERESTING article by Thomas Laqueur, “Why Name a Ship After a Defeated Race?,” in the London Review of Books, 24 January 2013, discusses seven recent books on the RMS … Continue reading
BENOIT B. MANDELBROT
I’LL BET you never thought about fitting an infinite length onto something the size of a postage stamp. However, this is today’s topic, thanks to Benoit B. Mandelbrot, the Polish-born … Continue reading
AMÉDÉE GORDINI
THEY CALLED him le Sorcier—the Wizard—because Amédée Gordini performed sorcery in engine tuning. He worked magic as well in contesting Grands Prix and endurance racing in the 1950s against the … Continue reading
HYDRAULIC HYBRID
RECENT NEWS concerning Peugeot S.A. and Robert Bosch GmbH makes for technical confusion. The key words are “hydraulic hybrid”—whereas, a better term is “pneumatic hybrid.” Even its developers call the technology Hybrid … Continue reading
BLÉRIOT TYPE XI TECHNICALITIES
IT WAS fun celebrating Louis Blériot and his epic flight crossing the English Channel in his Type XI (www.wp.me/p2ETap-M7). Just as they extended the celebration back in 1909, let’s continue it today, … Continue reading
BLÉRIOT XI
LET’S CELEBRATE Louis Blériot, his Type XI and its historic flight across the English Channel. The “Type Onze” generated great excitement with this July 25, 1909 flight, in no small … Continue reading
THE FIRST DETECTIVE
EARLY IN A Study in Scarlet, Holmes tells Watson, “I suppose I am the only one in the world. I’m a consulting detective.” It was 1881. One obviously treads lightly in … Continue reading
CARS OF THE SCHLUMPFS
COLLECTIONS OF cars often have interesting stories, but there’s no more intriguing one than the tale of the Schlumpf Collection. Originating as an obsession of brothers Fritz and Hans Schlumpf, … Continue reading
