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The mathematics of bowls

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2016

Tom Roper
Tom Roper*
Affiliation:
Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics Education, University of Leeds LS2 9JT
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Extract

A little altering of the one side maketh the bowl to run biasse waies

Robert Recorde, The Castle of Knowledge, 1556

John Branfield’s request [1] for the mathematics of bowls was too tempting to resist. What follows comprises a simple model for the curve upon which the bowls move, an explanation of how and why they move as they do and an attempt to refine the model of the curve. The search for a model proved to be addictive and effectively displaced many other activities. One of the reasons for this was the way in which the investigation involved so many people with interesting contributions to make. In order to give a flavour of the investigation, I have taken the liberty of giving a somewhat personal rather than strictly mathematical account, the mathematics being no less important.

Type
Articles
Information
The Mathematical Gazette , Volume 80 , Issue 488 , July 1996 , pp. 298 - 307
Copyright
Copyright © The Mathematical Association 1996

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References

1. Branfield, J., What is the mathematics of Bowls? Math. Gaz. 79 (March 1995) pp. 120–121.Google Scholar
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6. Zeeman, E.C., Gyroscopes and boomerangs, Video and Handbook, The Royal Institution, London.Google Scholar
7. French, A.P., Newtonian mechanics, Norton, New York (1971).Google Scholar
8. Collinson, C.D., Introductory mechanics, Edward Arnold, (1989).Google Scholar