Towing Icebergs, Falling Dominoes, and Others Adventures in Applied Mathematics

Although we seldom think of it, our lives are played out in a world of numbers. Such common activities as throwing baseballs, skipping rope, growing flowers, playing football, measuring savings accounts, and many others are inherently mathematical. So are more speculative problems that are simply fun to ponder in themselves--such as the best way to score Olympic events.

Here Robert Banks presents a wide range of musings, both practical and entertaining, that have intrigued him and others: How tall can one grow? Why do we get stuck in traffic? Which football player would have a better chance of breaking away--a small, speedy wide receiver or a huge, slow linebacker? Can California water shortages be alleviated by towing icebergs from Antarctica? What is the fastest the 100-meter dash will ever be run?

The book's twenty-four concise chapters, each centered on a real-world phenomenon, are presented in an informal and engaging manner. Banks shows how math and simple reasoning together may produce elegant models that explain everything from the federal debt to the proper technique for ski-jumping.

This book, which requires of its readers only a basic understanding of high school or college math, is for anyone fascinated by the workings of mathematics in our everyday lives, as well as its applications to what may be imagined. All will be rewarded with a myriad of interesting problems and the know-how to solve them.

Contents

1. Units and Dimensions and Mach Numbers
2. Alligator Eggs and the Federal Debt
3. Controlling Growth and Perceiving Spread
4. Little Things Falling from the Sky
5. Big Things Falling from the Sky
6. Towing and Melting Enormous Icebergs: Part I
7. Towing and Melting Enormous Icebergs: Part II
8. A Better Way to Score the Olympics
9. How to Calculate the Economic Energy of a Nation
10. How to Start Football Games, and Other Probably Good Ideas
11. Gigantic Numbers and Extreme Exponents
12. Ups and Downs of Professional Football
13. A Tower, a Bridge, and a Beautiful Arch
14. Jumping Ropes and Wind Turbines
15. The Crisis of the Deficit: Gompertz to the Rescue
16. How to Reduce the Population with Differential Equations
17. Shot Puts, Basketballs, and Water Fountains
18. Balls and Strikes and Home Runs
19. Hooks and Slices and Holes in One
20. Happy Landings in the Snow
21. Water Waves and Falling Dominoes
22. Something Shocking about Highway Traffic
23. How Tall Will I Grow?
24. How Fast Can Runners Run?