Understanding Chemistry through Cars

Book Preface

The journey to create this book began on a long walk to our office duringgraduate school in 2003. Walking from the stadium parking lot at Penn State to the chemistry buildings gave us plenty of time to think and talk, and one morning we were particularly excited about brainstorming ways that chemistry can be used to describe cars. Immediately upon arriving at work, we typed up our ideas, thinking that some day we would teach a summer camp or course with this theme. Occasionally, we would add to the list and daydream ways to present the material. Nine years later, while our eldest son was napping during a daylong drive to visit family for the holidays, we developed a draft table of contents and decided to writeup our ideas as a book.

We put the time and effort into writing this book because we learned so much from one another simply while brainstorming the topics, and we were astounded that there was no such text already. Geoff’s interdisciplinary chemistry and engineering background and enthusiasm for cars, combined with Ruth’s interests in education and the chemistry of consumer products, gave us a unique perspective on marrying and marketing the “chemistry of cars.” We both firmly believe in teaching chemistry by stressing practical applications, as we want our students to become informed consumers of everyday chemistry who can make educated decisions on personal, environmental, health, and political matters. The automobile is a great example of a consumer product with an abundance of chemistry hiding in plain sight, and personal transportation has an impact on a wide variety of socially important issues, including energy and the global carbon balance. There is almost nothing in an automobile that cannot be described from a chemical perspective, but for this book, we have chosen several major car systems and chemistry concepts to showcase the links between our passions.

As a reader, we expect that you picked up this book already having some level of interest in either chemistry or cars, with a desire to learn more about both. We have provided some basic chemical and automotive background in the appendices, so youcan brush up on general chemistry topics or the basic systems in a car if you feel the need. Some of the chemistry topics presented in the book do build on one another, so the chapters are best read in order if you do not have a strong background in chemistry already. If you are using this book in a chemistry course or in conjunction with a general chemistry textbook, we hope you can skip around to meet your course goals. As you are reading, you may have a desire for information beyond what we feel is within the scope of this book. We have provided many references that guided us for specific topics, but you may find more information in sources as varied as patents, automotive technician manuals, chemistry textbooks, and handbooks on the chemistry of specific classes of compounds (such as pollutants or polymers). Additionally, there are many diagrams, animations, and videos available from various online resources that may help you better visualize concepts described in this text. We encourage you to look up a topic or phrase online and to use these preexisting visualization tools as often as possible. Finally, we love teaching and we are passionate about cars, so we are very interested in interacting with you if you are reading this book. To that end, we have made ourselves available toyou the readers via a dedicated Twitter account (@CarChemProf) and an associated blog (http://www.thechemistryofcars.com/). Please visit these to ask us direct questions and see responses from us and other experts or to hear the latest news about car chemistry.

Despite our driving passions, this book would not be what it is without a great deal of support from many individuals. Many thanks go to several people at Taylor and Francis, including Lance Wobus for taking a chance on our idea, Barbara Glunn our editor, and to David Fausel for coordinating the project. Thanks also go to Dr. John D’Angelo for introducing us to Lance when we first decided to write this book. Several individuals also graciously reviewed the book draft one or even several times. We extend our thanks to Larry Bowers, Peter Wagoner, Arielle Polakos, and David Bish for helpful comments and suggestions that helped develop the book into what it is today. Thanks are also due to Geoff’s parents, Larry and Janet Bowers, for providing us with a calm and peaceful working environment to bring the book draft near completion during the summer of 2013. Geoff would also like to thank Larry for instilling both his love of cars/ racing and his interests in chemistry—there would be no book without your influence over the years. In addition, we thank Ruth’s parents, Bret and Peggy Rivers, who were probably surprised when we arrived at their home for a visit and immediately requested paper and pen to jot down our initial outline for this text. Peggy’s visit, cooking, and grandson wrangling during a spring break from school were also essential in the final stages of revision.

This book is dedicated to Isaac and James. May our love of cars be passed down to you and give us all many years of joy and togetherness.