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Nature 444, 820 (14 December 2006) | doi:10.1038/444820a; Published online 13 December 2006

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Swoop and swerve

H. K. Moffatt1

BOOK REVIEWEDSpinning Flight: Dynamics of Frisbees, Boomerangs, Samaras and Skipping Stones

by Ralph D. Lorenz

Springer: 2006. 346 pp. £24 $49.95

What do cricket balls, frisbees, boomerangs, rotorcraft, samaras (the winged fruits of trees such as the ash or maple) and 'sensor fused weapons' all have in common? Answer: they spin as they swoop as they swerve, and are subject to a combination of aerodynamic and gyroscopic effects that determine their translational and rotational motion.