The science of spin : how rotational forces affect everything from your body to jet engines to the weather / Roland Ennos.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York : Scribner, [2023]Copyright date: ©2023Edition: First Scribner hardcover editionDescription: xvi, 271 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781982196523
- 1982196521
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 531.34 E59 | Available | 33111011302672 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
What exactly made the earth round? How do boomerangs turn around mid-air? And why do cats always land on their feet? "A basic scientific concept receives long overdue attention" ( Kirkus Reviews ) in this "fascinating" ( Wall Street Journal ) new book from the masterful author of The Age of Wood.
From the solar system to spinning tops, hurricanes to hula hoops, power plants to pendulums, one mysterious force shapes almost every aspect of our lives: spin. Despite its ubiquity, rotational force continues to baffle and surprise, and few people realize how it makes our planet habitable or how it has been tamed by engineers to make our lives more comfortable. Charting the development of engineering and technology from the earliest prehistoric drills to the gas turbine, critically acclaimed author and scientist Roland Ennos presents a riveting account of human ingenuity and the seemingly infinite ways spin affects our daily lives. He also shows how this new approach not only helps us better understand the world but also ourselves. After all, even our own bodies are complex systems of rotating joints and levers.
Artfully moving between astrophysics and anthropology, The Science of Spin shows how, whether natural or engineered, spin is really what makes the world go round.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
"From the time women first used rotating bobbins to twist thread and men whirled slings around their heads to throw stones, people have found spin fascinating and baffling in equal measure. Now, in The Science of Spin, Roland Ennos shows how rotational motion dominates the workings of the world around us. It has shaped the solar system, galaxies, and black holes. It controls our climate and weather-from the pattern of trade winds through to the local formation of hurricanes and tornadoes. Harnessing the power of spin helped launch civilization, from the first developments of the wheel to the systems that now power the industrial world-propellers, turbines, centrifugal pumps, electric motors, and computer disk drives. Even our own bodies are complex systems of rotating joints and levers. But scientists have a tendency to ignore the simple and straightforward. So, 17th-century scientists developed the science of mechanics to explain the phenomenon of the orbit of the planets rather than how machines work. As a result, few people realize how spin makes our planet habitable, or how it has been tamed by engineers to make our lives more comfortable. In a lively and engaging style, Ennos presents a new approach to mechanics that not only helps us better understand the world, but also reveals unlikely links between tightrope walkers and tyrannosaurs, catapults and tennis players, stunt cars and long jumpers. By opening our minds, he shows how we can all learn to move about more gracefully, play sports more successfully and safely-and ensure that, like cats, we always land on our feet. A highly entertaining and informative read, whether it be natural or engineered, spin is what really makes the world go round"-- Provided by publisher.