The Physics of Baseball

Physics of Baseball

Spring is no longer in the air, and the grass is worn down. But excitement is building as the boys of summer become the play-off boys of October — with the end of the Major League Baseball season. Please join two veteran physics teachers as they explain — and demonstrate — the physical nuances of the game: how a curve ball curves, why a 550-foot homer is so unlikely, how the half-millisecond collision of ball-on-bat is so beautifully complex. From aerodynamics to energy conservation, and from Magnus force to center of percussion, you be the umpire as simple physics illuminates our national pastime.

  • WHAT:  The Physics of Baseball, dialogue and demonstration
  • WHO: Tucker Hiatt, long-time physics teacher, Stanford Visiting Scholar (emeritus!), and Wonderfest Founding Director *AND* Marc “Zeke” Kossover, long-time physics teacher, Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow to the National Science Foundation, and Teacher in Residence and Co-Director of the Leadership Program at the Eploratorium
  • WHEN:  7:00 PM, Wednesday, September 24, 2014
  • WHERE:  SoMa StrEat Food Park, 428 – 11th Street, San Francisco <http://goo.gl/maps/u6fVu>
  • HOW:  FREE admission, but please register with Eventbrite. Co-produced with Ask a Scientist.
  • WHY:  Because we’re curious creatures.

Wonderfest works every day to promote the scientific outlook. For as little as $1/month, why not become a Wonderfest Patron? As the Medici family were patrons of popular art in old Italy, you can become a patron of popular science and rationality in the modern Bay Area. (And you’ll get that tax-deduction that the Medici never did!) Please become a regular supporter of Wonderfest, and help enlarge the concept of scientific community.