Falling felines and fundamental physics / Gregory J. Gbur.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gbur, Greg, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Physics--Miscellanea.

Physics.

Cats--Physiology.

Cats.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (320 pages)

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

How do cats land on their feet? Discover how this question stumped brilliant minds and how its answer helped solve other seemingly impossible puzzles The question of how falling cats land on their feet has long intrigued humans. In this playful and eye†'opening history, physicist and cat parent Gregory Gbur explores how attempts to understand the cat†'righting reflex have provided crucial insights into puzzles in mathematics, geophysics, neuroscience, and human space exploration. The result is an engaging tumble through physics, physiology, photography, and robotics to uncover, through scientific debate, the secret of the acrobatic performance known as cat†'turning, the cat flip, and the cat twist. Readers learn the solution but also discover that the finer details still inspire heated arguments. As with other cat behavior, the more we investigate, the more surprises we discover.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface: Cats Are Crazy

Disclaimer

1. Famous Physicists' Fascination with Falling Felines

2. The (Solved?) Puzzle of the Falling Cat

3. Horses in Motion

4. Cats on Film

5. Going Round and Round

6. Cats Rock the World

7. The Cat-Righting Reflex

8. Cats . . . in . . . Space!

9. Cats as Keepers of Mysteries

10. Rise of the Robotic Cats

11. The Challenges of Cat-Turning

12. Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics

13. Scientists and Their Cats

Notes

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

0-300-24907-1

OCLC:

1122457477