Each opinioned synopsis is written right after I, Sheridan, read the book. Each synopsis is not overly edited and is not changed or added on to. Each one reflects the feelings and thoughts of the book fresh after reading it; each is written in a style close to that of the book. Some may give away a lot, others not so much.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do; and What it Says About Us by Tom Vanderbilt

Traffic is a very information book about the living organism of human behavior, laws, signs , signals, metal monsters and culture and how they make up one word - traffic. Tom Vanderbilt provides pages of professional information and easily translates it into everyday language. He provides easy to understand, everyday examples along with startling observations we would never think about. Vanderbilt relates traffic - and all things that are traffic - to animal behaviors, stories, myths and world events.
This book is very well researched, but it is also funny and personal. Driving is a very physiological process and Vanderbilt will explore the minds of many people in many times and places. Vanderbilt went to many places and interacted with many people to explore the human mind, and how it changes once enclosed in a large metal machine - the car.
Traffic is sometimes extremely easy - sometimes almost impossible - to change and influence, because millions of unpredictable humans with millions of additional factors make up traffic. After reading this book you will never drive the same way again, or think of traffic in the same way. Highly recommended, even to non-drivers.
Recommended to ages 15 and Up (easier for drivers to understand however).