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Imagine two cars traveling towards each other at speeds in excess of 55 miles per hour trying to exchange tracks in mid-air by jumping over a sixty-foot gap that is located seventy-five feet above the ground! That is exactly what roller coaster designer Dr. Samuel Garvey hopes to achieve with his new thrill ride, The Jumper. The only problem is that someone doesn’t want Dr. Garvey to succeed. A series of roller coaster “accidents” begins to look more and more like sabotage, and the FBI suspects Dr. Garvey. Read this book and see how the author uses the SCIENCE of engineering to make the story more interesting and exciting:

* Learn how engineers use math and physics to design roller coasters.
* Follow the construction of a roller coaster from scale model to the real thing.
* Discover how the latest computer and laser technologies are being applied to roller coaster rides to improve safety.
* Monitor the changes in G-forces that occur on a roller coaster.
* Use the principles of engineering to analyze the cause of the roller coaster accidents.

If you are interested in the science behind roller coasters, you might also like to read Roller Coasters or I Had So Much Fun I Almost Puked
by Nick Cook (1998) Carolrhoda Books, Inc.

***Warning: this book contains language that may be considered objectionable for young readers***

*Albert Einstein noted in his book The Evolution of Physics that roller coasters are a perfect example of energy conservation in a mechanical system. From the potential energy that exists on the top of the first hill to the conversion of kinetic energy as it plunges down the drop, the roller coaster uses only gravity and momentum to perform.

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