Hesiod's Anvil
Falling and Spinning Through Heaven and Earth
Published on 26. July 2007
Book
Hardback
220 pages
978-0-88385-336-8 (ISBN)
Description
Uses popular literature and philosophy to bring the mechanics of motion to life.
More details
Person
Andrew J. Simoson is chairman of the mathematics department at King College in Bristol, Tennessee. He is also a member of the MAA and has twice been a Fulbright professor.
Content
Introduction; Preamble I. Good to fall; 1. Hesiod's muses; Preamble II. Towers crash; 2. The gravity of Hades; Preamble III. A great fall; 3. Ballistics; Preamble IV. A new leaf; 4. Heavenly motion; Preamble V. Falling oars; 5. Pendulum variations; Preamble VI. Half to fall; 6. Retrieving H.G. Wells from the ocean floor; Preamble VII. Turned round and round; 7. Sliding along a chord through a rotating Earth; Preamble VIII. Fallen, fallen, fallen; 8. Falling through a rotating Earth; Preamble IX. Falling into naught; 9. Shadow lands; Preamble X. Spinning complete; 10. The Trochoid family; Preamble XI. The world turned; 11. Retrieving H. G. Wells from the moon; Preamble XII. Catch a star; 12. Playing ball in space; Preamble XIII. Turn a different hue; 13. The rotating beacon; Preamble XIV. Never turning; 14. The long count; Preamble XV. What a fall!; 15. Hesiod's anvil; Appendix; Cast of characters; Comments on selected exercises; References; Index; About the author.