The Physics of Baseball

By Robert Adair,

Book cover of The Physics of Baseball

Book description

Blending scientific fact and sports trivia, Robert Adair examines what a baseball or player in motion does-and why. How fast can a batted ball go? What effect do stitch patterns have on wind resistance? How far does a curve ball break? Who reaches first base faster after a bunt, a…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Physics of Baseball as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The first edition of Adair’s book came out in 1990. I was an undergraduate physics and mathematics major at Vanderbilt University at the time. The title alone drew me because I once thought of playing baseball and was already in love with physics.

I devoured Adair’s book! More than any other book, it got me thinking, “Maybe I could combine sports and physics into a career.” 

By the time the third edition came out in 2002, I was teaching a Physics of Sports course. I had my students read the book. Many of them loved it. Adair's book kept me…

From John's list on combine sports and Science.

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Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up…

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