The Science of Speed: Why Driving Fast is Harder than You Think

Carson City Library will welcome Dr. Leslie-Pelecky, author of The Physics of NASCAR as special guest on Tuesday, April 15th, at 6:00 p.m.

This National Library Week highlight will take place in the Bob Boldrick Theater, 851 East William Street, at the Carson City Community Center. National Library Week highlights the value of libraries, librarians and library workers in our community and brings featured programs to your library.

The Carson City Library is the embedded heart of our community and the space for creativity and life-long learning. Nationwide studies have shown libraries are trusted places where citizens can gather to reconnect, engage and learn. 2014 is particularly an extraordinary celebration of libraries thanks to an exciting traveling exhibit, “Discover Tech: Engineers Make a World of Difference” that will be open to the community on Monday, April 14.

Dr. Diandra Leslie-Pelecky’s presentation “The Science of Speed: Why Driving Fast is Harder than You Think” is the result of a question she set out to learn whether understanding the science of speed would translate into being a good racecar driver.

That quest took her from race shops and materials labs all the way to the 24 degree banking of the Texas Motor Speedway — where centripetal force suddenly became much more than numbers on a page. This talk covers the basics of driving fast and shows that racecar drivers – even if they don’t use the terminology we like to throw around — really do have to understand some complicated physics.

The need for advanced techniques is even more pronounced for the engineers and physicists who must apply computational fluid dynamics and advanced materials development techniques to simultaneously optimize speed and safety. The last part of the talk focuses on how popular culture (such as sports, music and art) can be used to raise interest in math and physics to a large audience and the lessons she’s learned from working with television, blogs and satellite radio.

Diandra Leslie‐Pelecky earned undergraduate degrees in physics and philosophy from the University of North Texas and a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from Michigan State University. She spent the majority of her 20-year academic career as a nanomaterials research and educator at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Her research in magnetic nanomaterials was funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. She developed fundamental understanding of magnetic materials as well as applications of nanomaterials to medical diagnosis and treatment processes such as magnetic resonance imaging and chemotherapy.

Leslie-­Pelecky is nationally recognized for her work in science education and outreach at all levels, having directed projects education and outreach projects funded primarily by the National Science Foundation.

Leslie-­Pelecky is a popular speaker with technical and non­‐technical audiences, including addresses for the public sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, numerous science museums, and the American Physical Society. Her book, The Physics of NASCAR, was excerpted by TIME magazine and has been featured in publications from the Materials Research Bulletin to Sporting News.

Her blog (www.buildingspeed.org/blog) focuses on the science of motorsports and is avidly read by NASCAR fans and insiders. Dr. Diandra has written for and appeared in a number of motorsports-­‐related television broadcasts, including segments for ESPN (one of which won the 2010 Aflac Motorsports Journalism Award of Excellence), an episode of the Emmy-winning series Quest for the Cup, was host and writer for the National Science Foundation project The Science of Speed, and appeared in a segment of the History Channel show Invisible. She is a bi-­weekly guest on the SiriusXM Speedway satellite radio program where she uses science to debunk “NASCAR Myths” for motorsports fans.

Dr. Diandra will be available for a book signing of copies of The Physics of NASCAR after her presentation. A number of her books will be available to audience members while supplies last. A reception will follow her presentation.

National Library Week is generously sponsored by the Friends of the Carson City Library.

“Your Knowledge and Discovery Place”, Carson City Library, open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., is located at the corner of Roop and Washington streets. For more information call 887-2244 or checkout our website at www.carsoncitylibrary.org.