A Cheer For The Physics Of Baseball

When you watch a baseball game, you’re also enjoying a spectacular display of science—from physics to biomechanics.

College basketball’s March Madness concluded this week, meaning that now the national sports attention can turn fully to baseball.

The next time you’re at the ballpark—whether you’re devoted enough to fill in the box scores by hand, or are just there for the peanuts and crackerjacks—take some time to appreciate the physics of the game. There are tricky trajectories, problems of parabolas, converging velocities, and the all-important impacts.

Dr. Frederic Bertley, the president and CEO of the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio, joins Ira to talk about the science of sports, and about how sports can be a gateway to scientific literacy.

Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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