All the right angles
Subtitle: from gear ratios to calculating odds : mathematics in the world of sports
By: Joel Levy ; illustrated by Peter Dawson
Contributors: Dawson, Peter, ill
Publisher: Firefly Books (U.S.)
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Buffalo, N.Y
Language: eng
Number of pages: 224
ISBN-13: 9781770851962
Subjects: Mathematics; Sports
Other titles: Mathematics in the world of sports
Description: Presents the mathematical concepts involved in sports, including power and motion, angles and trajectories, and statistics.
Notes: Includes index.
Table of contents: title: Power and motion. Bouncing back to you : basketball and conservation of energy ; Turn up the heat : baseball and momentum ; Relatively heavy : baseball and relativity ; Throwing a curve : ball games and the magnus effect ; The hardest task in sports : timeline of a baseball swing ; Sports by numbers : baseball ; High impact : football and Newtonian physics of collision ; The perfect pass : football and aerodynamics ; Sports by numbers : football ; Spares and strikes : bowling and algebra ; Weight watchers : Tour de France and human power output ; Cheating : cycling and statistics ; Takedown : judo and levers ; The harder they come : rugby and levers ; Sports by numbers : rugby union ; Spin the wheel : cycling and gyroscopes ; The sweet spot : tennis, baseball and elastic collisions ; Club speed : golf, levers and the Coriolis effect ; Hit the ball : golf and conservation of momentum ; Sports by numbers : golf ; Left, right, left : the power of the punch ; Faster than a speeding bullet : pelota, badminton and velocity ; Gait theory : walking and pendulums ; Foot fall : running and load ; Degrees of freedom : racket sports and biomechancics ; On board : surfing and the coefficient of friction ; Heavy lifting : weightlifting and gravity ; Fast as lightning : sprinting and stride rates ; Jump to it : pole vaulting and conservation of energy ; Hot balls : squash and gas pressure ; Hop, step and spring : Hooke's law and the triple jump ; Less is more : physiology, biomechanics and training ; Two wheels good : cycling and energy efficiency; title: Angles, trajectories, and geometry. The sweetest swing : mathematics of a golf shot ; Take it to the bank : billiards and geometry of reflections ; Eight ball : pool and tangent lines ; Spiked : mathematics of volleyball ; The racing line : auto sports and distance ; Swinging for the fences : baseball and trajectories ; Tale of the tape : baseball, wind resistance and distance ; Swing time : cricket and aerodynamics ; Spin class : rotation and bouncing in cricket ; Sports by numbers : cricket ; The wall of death : lean, tilt, gravity and friction in running ; Launch trajectory : shot-putting, javelin-throwing and angles ; Grade school : cycling and gradients; title: Number crunching and statistics. Strike it lucky : statistics in baseball ; Fortunate streak : statistics in cricket ; Soccer crazy : statistics in soccer ; Sports by numbers : football ; The bell curve : statistical distribution and performance ; Points mean prizes : ranking coefficients in soccer ; Keeping score : scoring systems in sports ; Fantasy mathematics : mathematics and fantasy soccer ; Faster, higher, stronger: mathematics of world records ; Ahead of the curve : geometry of world records ; Battle of the sexes : gender and world records ; The long and the short : running and world records ; Stick or twist? Game theory and fencing ; What are the odds? Calculating odds ; No one expects : statistics, upsets and the most interesting sports ; Playing at home  : the statistics of home advantage ; Best of the best : how do you measure sporting perfection? ; One percent at a time : swimming and performance increments ; Athletes uncovered : unusual Olympic statistics ; Animal Olympics : athletic records in the animal and human worlds ; Money makes the world go round : sporting salaries ; A hard rain : Duckworth-Lewis ; Spotting a winner : Tour de France ; Marathon men : soccer players' exertion; title: Mathematics, biology, and the environment. A man for all surfaces : effect of tennis court surfaces ; Sports by numbers : tennis ; The right tools for the job : materials science and sports ; Around the oval : horsepower ; Slipstreaming : cycling and aerodynamics ; In at the deep end : mathematics of swimming ; Get a grip : tires in auto sports ; Juicing the ball : baseball, tennis and velocity ; Sports by numbers : formula 1 ; VO2 the max : the respiratory system ; Blood and guts : the circulatory system ; The speed of thought : fencing, tennis and reaction speeds ; The big blue : free diving and the diving reflex ; All things ice : speed skating and ice ; Body heat : temperature and performance ; Dry as a bone : hydration and performance ; Sky high : skydiving and terminal velocity ; The outer limits : physiology, biomechanics and sports.