Book description
What can maths tell us about sports?
100 Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know About
Sport sheds light on the mysteries of running, jumping, swimming
and points scoring across the whole sporting spectrum. Whether you are
a competitor striving to go faster or higher, or an armchair
enthusiast wanting to understand more, this is a fascinating read with
one hundred short pieces that range across a wide number of sports.
Find out:
* Why high-jumpers use the Fosbury Flop,
* How fast Usain Bolt can ultimately run and how he could break
his records without running any faster,
* Whether there is a limit to human performance,
* Who the strongest man or woman is, pound for pound,
* Why there are so many different scoring systems in sport,
* If a 100-kilogram mass weighs more in London than it does in Singapore,
* What the best strategy for taking football penalties is,
* What the effect of those banned skin-tight swimsuits are,
* Why golf balls are dimpled,
* And last, but not least, why does the bounce of a Superball
seem to defy Newton's laws of motion.
Written for anyone interested in sport or simple maths, this book
will enrich your understanding of sport and enliven your appreciation
of maths.
John D. Barrow is Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Director of
the Millennium Mathematics Project at Cambridge University, Fellow of
Clare Hall, Cambridge, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and the current
Gresham Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London. He is the
bestselling author of
100 Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know
.
