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Re: Olympics and the Physics of Sports



Any other sports physics sites or articles are most welcome!

Being an old curmudgeon I have some books to recommend.

From MIT Press:

"Bicycling Science" by Frank Rowland Whitt and David Gordon Wilson:
This is a marvelous source book for numbers for teachers who want
to motivate students who have an interest in cycling. I have bought
both the first and second editions. I gave the old one to a student
who I believe benefitted greatly academically thereby. If a third
or greater edition has appeared I'd like to know.

"Bicycles and Tricycles - an elementary treatise on their design
and construction" by Archibald Sharp, B.Sc.:
This 1979 reprint of the 1896 edition of this classic is a treasure.
It is a mechanics textbook which chooses its examples from bicycle
technology. For example, in his treatment of stability he puts to
rest the myth that bicyles are stabilized by the gyroscopic action
of their wheels, an idea that arises from a non-quantitative
approach to the subject. On the "much that is old is new again"
theme you may be frequently surprised at what you find in this book.
In particular Fig. 356 should stun those who marvelled at "Superbike
II" this weekend. The same wheel designs were manufactured more than
a century ago!

I also own copies of "The Bicycle - A Module on Force, Work, and
Energy" by Phillip DiLavore of Indiana State University and the
accompanying Teacher's Guide. This work, sponsored by NSF and
"coordinated" by the American Institute of Physics, contains ideas
for mechanics laboratory experiments using the bicycle. I have not
used this resource but it looks somewhat useful. It is disappointing
to see that the author has not seen fit to include citations of
other relevant works in his pamphlet.