The Incredible Scream Machine

Both of these books are published under the University of Wisconsin Press’ Popular Press imprint. In 1984, America celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the first successful roller coaster device – La Marcus A. Thompson’s switchback railway – erected at Coney Island. Although more than a century has gone by, the literature of the amusement park and its history is still in its infancy. Robert Cartmell examines every phase of roller coaster history, from the use of the roller coaster by Albert Einstein to demonstrate his theory of physics, to John Allen’s use of psychology in designing one.

Author Biography

Robert Cartmell is professor in drawing and printmaking at the State University of New York at Albany. For America’s Bicentennial in 1976 he initiated and organized an exhibit of the complete history of the roller coaster titled Coast to Coast Coasters. The exhibit, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, toured the United States for two years.