Let’s Twist Again: Throwing, Jumping, and Spinning

This video is one of a series of free public lectures on Maths in Sport given for Gresham College by Professor John D Barrow FRS, Director of the Millennium Mathematics Project and Gresham Professor of Geometry.

Let’s Twist Again: Throwing, Jumping, and Spinning

Throwing things, and jumping up and down or along, lies at the root of many Olympic events. In the gymnasium, the velodrome, and the diving pool we also see the key role of rotation in dramatic displays of strength and speed. What light does simple maths shed on these movements and the stress they place on equipment and the human body? Why do high jumpers use the Fosbury flop and long jumpers cycle in the air? How high can rugby players jump in the line out? These are a few of the questions that maths can help us answer.

This is part of Professor Barrow's Maths in Sport series.

You can download John Barrow's PowerPoint slides for this lecture, as well as a copy of this video, or the audio file, from the Gresham College website.