I need to find out, once and for all, how big it is. I need to see if I measure up to the other guys, if I have what it takes. And to do that, I’ll have to hang it out in public, let them size it up, in a very open display of the one quantity most important to the American car guy. Horsepower.

Why are we able to produce a tone when we rub our finger around the lip of a crystal glass?

The atoms in a crystal glass are arranged in a very regular pattern, a structure resembling a honeycomb or a chain-link fence. In contrast, the atoms in normal glass are connected irregularly, more like the veg-etables in vegetable soup. The pattern of the atoms in crystal ensures that the glass vibrates in only one way, with one single frequency.