Table of Contents

Aerodynamics of Balls.- Bouncing Balls, Airbags, and Tumbleweeds.- Spinning Bullets, Bombs, and Rockets.- Satellites and Spin.- Encountering Asteroids and Comets.- Planetary Probes and Spinning Parachutes.- Frisbees.- Spinning Cylinders and Rings.- Spinning Aircraft and Nonspinning Disc Aircraft.- The Boomerang.- Samaras.- Skipping Stones and Bouncing Bombs.- Conclusions.

Reviews

From the reviews: "In his fascinating book Spinning Flight, Ralph Lorenz provides a rich feast of … examples of spinning bodies … . The book is well organized … . The discussion in the book … should be accessible to readers with some elementary understanding of aerodynamic principles. For the expert, the book is full of open problems … . Its scope is extensive … . In this respect, there may be something for everyone within its attractively designed cover … ." (H. K. Moffatt, Nature, Vol. 444, December, 2006) "If you liked physics at school, then this book is for you. It concerns itself with flying objects that spin through the air, and even tells you how to impress your friends with the biomechanics of Frisbees. … there is plenty of information at all levels, and the book has a wealth of detail that only an aerospace engineer like Lorenz could have come up with." (Len Fisher, BBC Focus, February, 2007) "To my knowledge, Lorenz’s work is the first in which the dynamics of spinning bodies have been treated under a single cover. … Lorenz’s book is written for the general reader who has a basic science education and is eager to learn about physics, even the most esoteric of subjects. … When you want sometime off from the intense working environment of the modern technical world, sit down and read Spinning Flight – and enjoy the ride." (John D. Anderson Jr, Physics Today, December 2007)