Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 31 January 2003:
Vol. 299. no. 5607, p. 659
DOI: 10.1126/science.299.5607.659d
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Random Samples

At top speed. Don't try telling Richard Tapia that drag racing and mathematics don't mix. At this month's Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore, Tapia (pictured at right), a math professor at Rice University in Houston, presented evidence that peeling rubber heats up tires and improves drag racers' acceleration. He also offered calculations that demonstrated the surprisingly large margin of error--6.5 km/h or more--in timing races.

Figure 2
CREDIT: TOMMY LAVERGNE/RICE UNIVERSITY

Tapia's finding builds on a lifelong love affair with drag racing. As a young man, he built a car with his twin brother, Bobby, that in 1968 set a world record. That ride fueled a career that took Bobby into the National Hot Rod Association's Hall of Fame. "Cars helped me with math and math helped me with cars," says Tapia. "They came together."

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)