Timothy Gay

Football Physics - The Science of the Game

4 stars (Good Book for the Sports Fan Who Likes Science) - From start to finish this was a fascinating book. There is also a great deal of football history sprinkled throughout. It does a great job introducing the football portion of the topic, then the physics lesson, and then combines them to understand how the physics principle is implemented in real life. It does take a basic understanding of physics to really grasp the concepts since the book does not go into a great deal of detail on the principles. It starts with the fundamentals of blocking a tackling and you gain a much greater understanding of the forces an NFL player can generate. Then you get to understand the precision required to run a passing and kicking game. I especially enjoyed the section on pursuit angles and maximizing the yardage gain. A very fast read that was very enjoyable. 5 stars (I Wish I'd Had This for a Physics Textbook) - If Thmothy Gay doesn't rewrite this book into a high school level physics text he's really missing a bet. Of course I don't know anything about selling textbooks, but boy, I sure wish I'd had something like this when I was first taking physics in high school. Dr. Gay is both a professor (atomic physics) and a football fan. What happens when a heavy, fast moving player (like Warren Sapp) hits a much lighter quarterback (Doug Flutie)who is standing still? This is such a better question than a mass of blah with a speed of blah-blah, and so on. Or what was the accuracy required of Joe Montana in throwing to Jerry Rice in The Catch during SuperBown XXIII. Montana had to throw the ball at just the right speed, just the right direction, and just the right time. But how fast, how accurately, and what was the margin of error on his timing. The book is a delightful read on aspects of the game of football rarely seen. 5 stars (Great book for football fans and science students...) - If you're a football fan but don't know anything about physics, this book will teach y...
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