Cover image for
Title:
Physics and dance / Emily Coates and Sarah Demers.
Author:
Coates, Emily, author.

Demers, Sarah, author.
Publication Information:
New Haven : Yale University Press, [2019]

©2019
Call Number:
QC28 .C638 2019
Abstract:
"A fascinating exploration of our reality through the eyes of a physicist and a dancer--and an engaging introduction to both disciplines. From stepping out of our beds each morning to admiring the stars at night, we live in a world of motion, energy, space, and time. How do we understand the phenomena that shape our experience? How do we make sense of our physical realities? Two guides--a former member of New York City Ballet, Emily Coates, and a CERN particle physicist, Sarah Demers--show us how their respective disciplines can help us to understand both the quotidian and the deepest questions about the universe. Requiring no previous knowledge of dance or physics, this introduction covers the fundamentals while revealing how a dialogue between art and science can enrich our appreciation of both. Readers will come away with a broad cultural knowledge of Newtonian to quantum mechanics and classical to contemporary dance. Including problem sets and choreographic exercises to solidify understanding, this book will be of interest to anyone curious about physics or dance."--Jacket.
ISBN:
9780300195835
Physical Description:
vii, 184 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
General Note:
Includes physics problems and choreographic studies at the end of the book.
Contents:
Part I. Principles of movement. 1. Gravity -- 2. Force -- 3. Motion -- 4. Friction -- 5. Momentum -- 6. Turning -- Part II. Energy, space, time. 7. Energy -- 8. Space -- 9. Time.

Part I: Principles of Movement; 1 Gravity; Tuning in to Gravity; The Universal Law of Gravitation; Balancing; Center of Mass; Balancing Together; Area of Support; The Dance of the Future; Interdisciplinary Thinking; 2 Force; Newton's 1st Law of Motion; Newton's 2nd Law of Motion; The Plié; Down and Up; Free Body Diagrams; A Cultural Force Diagram; Force Plates and the Plié; Newton's 3rd Law of Motion; How Do We Move?; Everyday Action; When Is Walking More Than Walking?; 3 Motion; Dancing Feet; Taking Off and Landing Projectile Motion; Equations of Constant Acceleration; Jumping Up and Out; Calculating a Jump; Zero Velocity; 4 Friction; Improvising with Friction; Kinetic Friction; Surfing; Static Friction; Calculating Frictional Forces; If People Were Boxes; Composing with Friction; Tango in the World; 5 Momentum; Catching a Wave; Calculating Momentum; Conservation of Momentum; A Momentum Movement Phrase; Conservation of Momentum in a System; The Momentum of Two (or Three); 6 Turning; The Pirouette; Rotational Motion; The Lunge; Torque; The Arms; Moment of Inertia; The Turn; Angular Momentum; Kinesthetic Intelligence.

Part II: Energy, Space, Time; 7 Energy; Kinetic Energy; Energy as Form; Gravitational Potential Energy; Falling; Spring Potential Energy; Mixing Energies; The Energy of Light and the Electromagnetic Spectrum; From Marking to Attack; Quantized Energy and Bohr's Atom; Energy Images; Dark Energy; Real Versus Apparent Energy; E = mc2; 8 Space; Dancing Cells; A Glimpse into the Microscopic World; The Geography of the Body; Dancers in the Universe; Room Writing; Postulates of Special Relativity; Special Relativity: Length Contraction; Absolute to Relative Choreographic Space; Stage Space; Perspective; 9 Time; Special Relativity: Time Dilation; Spacetime; Cunningham's "Space, Time and Dance"; General Relativity; Extended Duration; The Lifetime of Muons; Rates of Change; Gravitational Waves; Ghostcatching; The Story of the Universe; Perception.

Afterword; Acknowledgments; Workbook Physics Problems; Choreographic Studies; Notes; Index
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