The Book of Wildly Spectacular Sports Science: 54 All-Star Experiments

by Sean Connolly

54 thrilling and informative hands-on experiments for young scientists and sports fans alike, illustrating the physics principles in favorite sports from baseball to frisbee.

Genres: Nonfiction, Childrens

397 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 29, 2016

About the author

Sean Connolly will be familiar to listeners of BBC Radio Five Live and Radio Wales. Among his more than 50 books aimed at children and adults are Wholly Irresponsible Experiments and Witness to History: The Industrial Revolution. He has also written for the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia. His three children are either collaborators or guinea pigs, depending on the project.

Reviews

[YSBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sean Connolly’s 2016’s Wildly Spectacular Book of Sports Science is another of his STEM-themed “cool teacher” books like The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science (2008) or Perfectly Perilous Math (2012). They feature unique layouts and text feature designs and illustrations inspired by comic books, making them an attractive option for researchers as well as STEM collaborators in schools. Using a list organization scheme, featuring dozens of simple hands-on activities, and prefacing each with historical illuminations, Connolly has created a wonderful resource. Each experiment begins with a question, like “Why can’t you sprint for a whole Marathon?” on page 152. After presenting this simple research query, the stage is set with a capsule history taking the reader from the messenger Pheidippides at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC to Usain Bolt, and then explains muscle contraction and glucose burn off. The experiment is a 60-second squeeze marathon to prove how quickly the lactate build up warning sign comes on (that’s the burning in your hand muscles when you’re doing all that grading). There are 53 more of these ideas– all of which attempt to explain the why behind the “football team’s record winning streak, … gymnast’s run of perfect 10s, or a tennis star’s umpteenth ace at a Grand Slam tournament…. Is it lots of training and practice, or just simple luck that makes all the difference? Or have the preceding pages convinced you that something more, something a bit… scientific… could be the secret ingredient?”.

As sports science continues to evolve, explanations for the progression of gymnastics or skateboarding, the shattering of field goal records in American football (with the NFL considering literally moving goalposts), or hockey players training with light boards to increase their reflexes, Connolly’s book advances understanding through simple, concrete steps. Besides being the building blocks of collaborative lessons, there are benefits for sports researchers, a topic I have found to be hugely popular when students are given choice. Having materials that pair the historical research with new and exciting frontiers of sports science adds value for the curious patron but also sparks inquiry and deeper curiosity for the budding researcher. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Ready to do some experiments? This sports science manual not only has lots of ideas, but starts with a great explanation of how to set up and do the experiments in the book, including great advice about equipment and safety warnings. Some of these are trials that can be done at the kitchen table (observing the path of a marble dropped into a bottle of water), but many require attaching cinder blocks to swings with wire! Depending on your comfort level, there are lots of things to try.

The chapters are divided into different types of sports; ball and bat, goals and field goals, indoor, winter sports, outside, rackets and clubs, and aquatic sports, providing opportunities for all active readers to start with the sport dearest to their heart before branching out. I really did like how each experiment was set up in the same sort of way; this repetition makes it much easier to understand and follow the instructions. There is a fair amount of humor to the writing, which I enjoyed.

The green and gray blue two color illustrations aren't as vibrant as some books, but also don't require the heavy paper and smelly ink that the more saturated hues take. Since this book will get carried around a lot, that seems like a good editorial choice. There are plenty of illustrations to show how to conduct investigations, and some historical photographs as well.

Combining STEM topics with sports is a great way to get young readers to delve into math and science topics, but I haven't seen a lot of books that include this, other than Ventura's Learning STEM from Baseball How Does a Curveball Curve? And Other Amazing Answers for Kids! or Adamson's Baseball: The Math of the Game, and those seem somehow more academic. This would make a great gift for a sports obsessed tween, but be prepared for all of the requests for string, balloons, wire cutters and "brave adults" that the supply line ups call for.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was spectacular because it told me things about different sports and tips. Plus it ask questions as the topic sentence like ¨Why is a wiffle ball so hard to hit?¨ then it will answer the question and say different pitches. My favorite part is the different experiments displayed.

[MaryLibrarianOH · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and engaging read for both the science nerd and the sports fanatic.

[Lauri Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 pages on each topic, like "why throw a football spiral" with discussion of the underlying science ( rotation, momentum) and s supporting experiment. More than 50 topics (workman, 2016)

[Sharie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jock meets Science Guy

Really easy to understand and repeatable experiments. Makes sense to athlete as to how to improve his/her game. (Or why to listen to coach!)

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

242 pages of awesome! For reading ability reasons, great for kids aged 9-12. Otherwise, it would greatly interest slightly younger kids as well, whose parents would need to help them digest the pages and set up the experiments.