Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us) - Hardcover

Vanderbilt, Tom

3.72

7,835 ratings by Goodreads

9780307397720: Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0307397726 ISBN 13: 9780307397720

Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, 2008

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Traffic Why does the other lane always seem to be moving faster? Why are people so different inside their cars than they are outside them? This book explains why traffic problems are really people problems. It shows that how we behave walking the streets, on our bikes, and in our cars is an astonishing cultural indicator. Full description

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Review:

'A great, deep, multidisciplinary investigation of the dynamics and the psychology of traffic jams. It is fun to read. Anyone who spends more than 19 minutes a day in traffic should read this book.' -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan

'An important book ... a demonstration, with dozens of examples, of the counterintuitive truth about traffic' -- Sunday Times

'Everyone who drives - and many people who don't - should read this book. It is a psychology book, a popular science book, and a how-to-save-your-life manual, all rolled into one. I found it gripping and fascinating from the very beginning to the very end.'
-- Tyler Cowen, author of Discover Your Inner Economist

'Eye-opening ... full of scads of cocktail-party factoids'
-- Time

'Fascinating ... Vanderbilt humanises his subject brilliantly ... it is a pleasure to accept the role of passenger' -- Sunday Telegraph

'Fascinating, illuminating and endlessly entertaining as well. Vanderbilt shows how a sophisticated understanding of human behaviour can illuminate one of the modern world's most basic and most mysterious endeavours. You'll learn a lot; and the life you save may be your own.' -- Cass R Sunstein, co-author of Nudge

'I'm very glad I read this book ... if you read it you'll be bursting to tell people' -- Evening Standard

'Tom Vanderbilt is one of our best and most interesting writers, with an extraordinary knack for looking at everyday life and explaining, in wonderful and entertaining detail, how it really works. It doesn't matter whether you drive or take the bus - you're going to want to read this book.' -- James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds

'Tom Vanderbilt uncovers a raft of counterintuitive facts about what happens when we get behind the wheel, and why'
-- BusinessWeek

About the Author:

Tom Vanderbilt writes about design, technology, science and culture for Wired, Slate, The New York Times and other publications. He lives in Brooklyn and drives a 2001 Volvo V40.

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