History and Contemporary Use
The origins of the game are unknown, but it certainly existed as early as the 1960s. The rules for the game, and a sample track game was published in Car and Driver magazine, in July 1973 (page 65), and again by Martin Gardner in 1983 in his "Mathematical Games" column in Scientific American. Today, the game is used by math and physics teachers around the world when teaching vectors and kinematics. However, the game has a certain charm of its own, and may be played as a pure recreation.
Car and Driver remarked:
- "As you play the game, you will be astonished at its almost supernatural resemblance to actual racing. If you enter a turn too rapidly, you will spin. If you "brake" too early, it will take you longer to accelerate out of the turn."
Read more about this topic: Racetrack (game)
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