Re: 'toon physics

["Daniel L. MacIsaac" <danmac@physics.purdue.edu>]

> > > Now there is an interesting idea.  A lot of people have been talking about
> > > video analysis using videos of objects falling, colliding, etc.  Has
> > > anybody tried this with cartoons to show that the characters are violating
> > > the laws of physics?  It might make an interesting project to "discover"
> > > the cartoon laws which apply to the roadrunner in a particular case.
....well I may as well be hanged for a pound as a penny so here's yet another
post...

There are several books on this and related themes by Leon Dubeck et al from
Temple Univ, and he sometimes presents a workshop on it at AAPT.

Dubeck, L.W., Moshier, S.E. and Boss, J.E. (1988). SCIENCE IN CINEMA: TEACHING
SCIENCE FACT THROUGH SCIENCE FICTION FILMS.  Teacher's College: Columbia, NY.

Dubeck, L.W., Moshier, S.E. and Boss, J.E. (1994).  FANTASTIC VOYAGES: LEARNING
SCIENCE THROUGH SCIENCE FICTION FILMS.  AIP Press: Woodbury, NY.

They mostly debrief you on SF films, rather than cartoons.  They recapitulate
Galileo's opening to the Discourses by discussing Giant bugs, amongst other
feats.  Dubeck is a Physics Prof.  Good reads, and very motivational for 
hard-to-motivate nonmajors.

Dan M

Dan MacIsaac, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northern AZ Univ
Visiting Asst Prof, Purdue Univ;  Adjunct Faculty, Indiana Univ at Kokomo
NEW NET ADDRESSES:  danmac@nau.edu  http://www.phy.nau.edu/~danmac