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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Physics of Basketball, January 11, 2007
This review is from: The Physics of Basketball (Hardcover)
Make no mistake about it, this is not an introductory book. This is for people who know basketball and a little physics or know physics and a little basketball. It tells basketball stories to illustrate physics and physics stories to illustrate basketball.
I would recommend this book to high school and college physics teachers to add interest to their discussions. It could even be used as text for a college course on physics of sports. Not only does sport interest students, they already know something about 'how it works' and with the help of this book, an instructor can use physics to introduce them to 'why it works'.
I found of the sequence of explanation of the four force model of the flight of the ball exceptionally well done. As with a good scienctist, he started with data. Then he took one force, gravity, explained how it works, what effect it will have on a shot ball and compared the effect to data. He showed how gravity was necessary but insufficient to explain the ball's motion. Through three more forces: buoynacy, drag (air resistance) and Magnus force, he methodically discussed the force, performed measurements, then added the force to the model. Now that he had the four force model, he used it to explain how a good shooter chooses his shot angle to make a shot 'softer' not, as one might expect, easier. Marvelous -- data, theory (or theories), model, prediction, repeat until it matches nature, and finally use the model to explain something not originally in the model. How much more accurate a view of the method of scientist than the "scientific method".
As the motion of the ball gets more complicated, following the physics does get a bit challenging. Through the discussion of deflections off the rim and backboard, I admit I read for a while and then let it sink in before I returned to it. I was however rewarded in discovering how correct I was in trying to use the board when close to the hoop -- only thirty years too late.
As with any good rock concert, one should be left wanting more, and I wished that the discussion of breaking the glass was given a bit more space. I think a figure or two more showing the effect of compression and tension and how this leads to an explosive break would have helped.
Finally, in addition to instructors, this book would be a good read for your scientist friend or science dabbler who would like good basketball stories along with some good stories of scientific inquiry.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
understanding brings skill!, December 12, 2009
This review is from: The Physics of Basketball (Hardcover)
Would you like some extra motivation to learn the laws of physics? John Fontanella really does the trick for you, with his great analysis of the physics world in the game of basketball! He covers aspects of how to shoot the "soft shot" and how the ball has its best rotation before falling into the hoop. He also covers the aspect of the buoyant force acting on the ball. That was something that really struck my interest, as it is something that I've never really thought about. Reading from this book helped me to appreciate the game of basketball even more. I even feel like I may naturally perform a little better in the future due to the realization of how things work. It makes sense now how the basketball can seem to float more than a solid object in the air, because of the air that is inside it causing a buoyant force from the air to act upon it.
Not only are some of these aspects of the game of basketball taught on, but Fontanella even breaks down the mechanics of how one receives "hang time" when going to slam the ball. He broke down the calculations to where due to the acceleration of gravity, 71% of a person's horizontal travel happens in the top half of flight. Also, because when one throws his or her arms up in the air, there is an opposing force which seems to lower the person's vertical height. If this person will raise his or her arms once he or she barely pushes off the ground, this appearance of being lowered in the air will not really occur. When this individual throws his arms down, especially in attempt to throw the basketball through the hoop, his body will appear to "lift" even though he is currently in the air. Due to all of this, it will appear as if the athlete is truly floating or hanging in air.
I really enjoyed this book. I wish that I had read it earlier as it would have caused an appreciation for the reality of physics. Just as knowing the fundamentals of basketball provide one with essential skills, I feel that understanding the physics that go into this game also increases one's skill. Sure, I'm not a Micheal Jordan athlete yet, but I do know how to better appear as if I'm floating in the air now when I attempt to take the ball to the hoop. Once again, I appreciate physics, and especially this book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The true science of basketball, May 13, 2007
This review is from: The Physics of Basketball (Hardcover)
Over the years, I have found it fascinating to read books on the physics of baseball. Curve balls do curve, knuckle balls do knuckle and scientists have come to admit to the facts that the experimentalists (baseball players) have known for decades. In this book, Fontanella, a physics professor at the United States Naval Academy and a former college basketball player, analyzes the many ways a basketball can bounce. It is very detailed yet extremely entertaining. It is so specific that he points out how much less a basketball weighs as a consequence of air buoyancy. Even to the point where he compares the differences in the weights between the balls used in the women's game versus the men's game. While that part was not of great interest, the rest certainly was.
Like the baseball players, the basketball players have carried out a lot of empirical research. However, not to the extent that Fontanella has. He is very specific about the best angle for a shot, where the "sweet spot" is on the backboard when attempting a lay up and even to the distortion affects on a basketball when it is bounced. While the latter may not appear significant, it is critical for shooting percentages. As the author points out, very few shots are "nothing but net." Most make some contact with the rim and many bounce off the rim before going through the net. The manner in which the ball bounces off the rim is critical. If you have ever played, you know the difference between a soft shot and a "brick."
This is not a book where the author expresses his love for the game and then throws in a bit of physics. It is a serious treatise on basketball with enough formulas so that it could be used in a high school or college physics class. That part was impressive, many coaches would find an examination of this book time well spent.
Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission
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