Some decent reading material

A while back, Neil Roberts (of Swift Engineering) was nice enough to send a copy of Think Fast over here. I told Neil I'd give him a more in depth review once I got a good chunk of spare time - but that hasn't quite happened yet!

From what I did have the chance to read, I'd recommend it. Similar in some regards to what you'd find in the Carroll Smith series - maybe has a bit more "why" than just "what," but still reads well without getting bogged down. Has a lot of stuff I agree with, and a few subtle points I'm not entirely on board with (a couple tire specifics). Definitely some good driver points that I'm becoming more a fan of now that I'm working directly with a team. I also particularly liked some points on tire side-slip drag, as well as the entire section on cheating.

As far as target audience goes, is it probably a good pick up for the FSAE, SCCA, or semi-professional racer? Absolutely. Is it going to bring about some tremendous "ah-ha!" moments for well-established pro stock car or pro open wheel engineer? Probably not. But hey, Neil's still working professionally on this stuff, guy can't give away too much.

I should write a book one of these days - after we've won at least one pro level championship, and after I'm retired from competitive racing. If/when I do, it will probably be as thick as RCVD - or much more so. I want to have something for everyone:

1. "Underclassman level" - the basics .Qualitative over quantitative. An important thing IMO is establishing how to approach problems of this nature (as I've said many times - top down rather than bottom up). 
2. "Upperclassman level" - blending in more quantitative work, putting numbers on things, elaborating on theory, etc.
3. "Graduate level" - Would assume there's already a firm understanding of concepts and focuses on novel applications, methods work, etc. Math heavy.

I feel as though there's a lot of material that blends #1 and #2. I might even break #3 into Masters and PhD. Masters level material would probably be along the lines of RCVD, and Tire and Vehicle Dynamics. If you have a pretty firm understanding of things at that level, you're probably doing alright for yourself. PhD level probably doesn't see the light of day, as it's the good shit that wins championships, and is what keeps me employed while trying to develop it!