Wonders in Motion

What makes an aeroplane fly? Why aren't rollercoasters circular? And how long would it take to fall right through the Earth? This wide-ranging popular introduction to the science of motion tells the story of how dynamics developed, from Galileo's time to the present day. Including such exciting discoveries as the motion of the planets, the dynamics of spinning objects, wave motion, elasticity, and fluid mechanics, the book explains the physical phenomena involved, especially those that surprise us and most challenge our elementary intuition. The book brings the fundamental principles of mechanics to life by tackling a wide variety of real-world questions, such as why modern-day loop-the-loop rollercoasters are not circular, why skaters on ice spin faster when they draw in their arms, and how a falling cat, initially upside-down, can sometimes manage to land on its feet. The book also explores the idea that classic problems in mechanics can often acquire a wholly new life by being given a sudden and unexpected modern 'twist', including, for example, the role played by the gravitational three-body problem in the Apollo moon missions of the 1960s. Written in an informal and accessible style, yet underpinned by rigorous scholarship and historical research, this book shows that, even after all these years, classical mechanics still has the potential to surprise us and challenge our understanding of how the world around us really works.

David Acheson is an Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford. After a career of teaching and research in applied mathematics, specialising in dynamics and fluid mechanics, he now writes and lectures on mathematics for young people and the general public. He was President of the Mathematical Association for 2010-11 and in 2013 he was awarded an Honorary D.Sc. by the University of East Anglia for his outstanding work in the popularisation of mathematics. He is the author of several OUP books, including The Wonder Book of Geometry in 2020 and The Spirit of Mathematics in 2023.

- 1: Introduction - 2: The Beginning of Dynamics - 3: Force, Mass and Acceleration - 4: Circular Motion - 5: Energy - 6: Collisions - 7: 'A Scab of Symbols...' - 8: Reaching for the Heavens - 9: Principia - 10: Newton and Planetary Motion - 11: Calculus - 12: Oscillations - 13: A New Age Begins... - 14: '...Contrary to Ye Opinion of Ye Vulgar' - 15: The Principle of Linear Momentum - 16: The Principle of Angular Momentum - 17: Spinning Tops - 18: ...and Falling Cats - 19: The Not-so-Simple Pendulum - 20: The Wave Equation - 21: 'The Lawes... of Springinesse' - 22: The Best of all Possible Worlds? - 23: Instability - 24: Fluid Dynamics - 25: Viscous Flow - 26: 'I Got Instantly on Horseback...' - 27: Shock Waves - 28: Vortex Motion - 29: The Curse of the Golden Ratio - 30: The Coriolis Force - 31: The Three-Body Problem - 32: A Paradox Resolved - 33: The Secrets of Flight - 34: Falling through the Earth - 35: Tremors in the Night - 36: Very Viscous Flow - 37: Which Way does the Bathwater Spin? - 38: Tipping Points, Catastrophe, and Chaos - 39: And Finally...