As all eyes turn to Rio this summer, a lot of us will be sitting on the sofa thinking about sport and very probably dreaming about being better at it. Science superstar Glenn Murphy’s witty, fact-filled and very child-friendly book is a great guide to the human body and explains the physics behind different kinds of sport, examining what it takes to be good at anything from running to cross-country skiing, or the high jump. It’s packed too with interesting pieces of information about the history of the different sports and is great for browsing. Reassuringly – sort of anyway – he explains that we all have the ability to reach Olympic levels of speed and strength, and all it takes is about 10,000 hours of sports training … ~ Andrea Reece
Olympic Sport: the Whole Muscle-Flexing Story 100% Unofficial Synopsis
Are Olympic athletes born stronger and faster than the rest of us? Why do tennis rackets have strings? How do gymnasts balance on their hands? Why do hurdlers do the splits when they jump?
Glenn Murphy, author of Why is Snot Green?, answers these and lots of other brilliant questions in this fascinating book about the science of sport. From running a marathon to beating your friends at basketball or being the bendiest gymnast around, find out everything you ever wanted to know about sports and games and what it is that makes athletes the best at what they do.
Glenn Murphy received his masters in science communication from London’s Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. He wrote Why is Snot Green? whilst managing the Explainer team at the Science Museum in London. In 2007 he moved to the United States. He now lives and works in North Carolina, with his wife Heather and an increasingly large and ill-tempered cat.
