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Author Topic: Book: Kettelkamp's "Spinning Tops"  (Read 3117 times)

Jeremy McCreary

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Book: Kettelkamp's "Spinning Tops"
« on: October 14, 2016, 07:01:14 PM »

Received Larry Kettelkamp's book Spinning Tops this afternoon and devoured it in about an hour.

Really enjoyed everything about this large-print book of 63 pages -- material, approach, style, and illustrations. My copy came from a school library, and I'm imagining middle school kids as the main target. But that didn't stop me from learning a thing or two, and I loved the way he brought in basic top behaviors and the physical principles behind them.

In fact, Kettlekamp's knack for explaining complex things in simple English is worthy of study in and of itself -- especially for someone like me.
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Art is how we decorate space, music is how we decorate time ... and with spinning tops, we decorate both.
—after Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1960-1988

Everything in the world is strange and marvelous to well-open eyes.
—Jose Ortega y Gasset, 1883-1955

ta0

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Re: Book: Kettelkamp's "Spinning Tops"
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2016, 02:36:16 AM »

You made me pick that book from my library and browse it again. I agree, it is a good book (although the current generation of children probably wouldn't appreciate it  ::) )

Something that picked my curiosity this time is a mention of the "Serson's top".

EDIT: I am separating the description of the Serson top to another thread.

If you liked this book, you will probably also like Things that Spin, from Tops to Atoms, by Irving and Ruth Adler (no relation to Alan), also a children's book from that time. It might be even a little better.

« Last Edit: October 15, 2016, 01:26:43 PM by ta0 »
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Jeremy McCreary

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Re: Book: Kettelkamp's "Spinning Tops"
« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2016, 05:16:03 AM »

I'll definitely check out that book suggestion. I enjoyed your piece on Serson's artificial horizon. Kettelkamp went on to mention Elmer Sperry, his son Lawrence, and their pioneering work on gyroscopes for navigation and stabilization of ships and planes. Now I'm going to have to find some Sperry biographies.
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ta0

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Re: Book: Kettelkamp's "Spinning Tops"
« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2016, 01:30:04 PM »

The Sperry family biography should be interesting. The name Sperry is almost synonymous with navigation gyroscopes.
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Jeremy McCreary

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Re: Book: Kettelkamp's "Spinning Tops"
« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2016, 02:20:08 PM »

Just ordered a hardback Adler book with the same title but different cover with only 1 author (male). Hope it's just a different edition.
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Jeremy McCreary

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Re: Book: Kettelkamp's "Spinning Tops"
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2016, 12:29:57 PM »

If you liked this book, you will probably also like Things that Spin, from Tops to Atoms, by Irving and Ruth Adler (no relation to Alan), also a children's book from that time. It might be even a little better.

Thanks for pointing me to Things That Spin. Both are delightful books aimed at roughly middle school kids, though Kettelkamp appears to be writing for an older audience. Love the Adlers' notion that natural and man-made tops are all around us, and toy tops can help us understand them. The illustrations complement the text nicely. The final paragraph sums it up well:

Quote
There are spinning tops everywhere.  Some of them are toys, like the yo-yo. Some are in machines, like a washing machine. There are tops under us, in us, and around us. The top under us is the earth. The tops that are in us are the atoms, and their nuclei and electrons. The tops around us are the sun, the moon, the stars, and the families of stars called spiral nebulas. When we talk about spinning tops we are really talking about the whole world.

Kettelkamp's focus and style are different enough and valuable enough that I can't say which book is "better" overall. As the title suggests, Things That Spin is more a basic science book on rotational motion with toy tops as the hook. Kettelkamp's book takes a broader look at toy tops in their own right and is less a "children's book". His writing is also much more elegant.
« Last Edit: October 27, 2016, 09:52:13 PM by ta0 »
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ta0

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Re: Book: Kettelkamp's "Spinning Tops"
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2016, 10:08:08 PM »

Quote
Thanks for pointing me to Things That Spin.
Does yours in fact have only one author?

You have read John Perry's book, haven't you? This would be on top of my list of books to read for a general background on spinning even though it is from 1890!
From my bibliography:
Spinning Tops and Gyroscopic Motion
"A Popular Exposition of Dynamics of Rotation"
A delightful little book based on a presentation by John Perry at a meeting of the British Association in Leeds. The informal exposition, fun to read, equation-less but accurate, together with 66 illustrations, has made this a classic with several reprints. It has lots of quotable statements on the importance of playing with tops for the development of the intellect!
The 1st edition was titled simply "Spinning Tops."

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Jeremy McCreary

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Re: Book: Kettelkamp's "Spinning Tops"
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2016, 11:03:22 PM »

Does yours in fact have only one author?

No, it has the same 2 authors yours does. I think it's the same book with a different cover and an inaccurate listing on Amazon.

You have read John Perry's book, haven't you? This would be on top of my list of books to read for a general background on spinning even though it is from 1890!
From my bibliography:
Spinning Tops and Gyroscopic Motion
"A Popular Exposition of Dynamics of Rotation"
A delightful little book based on a presentation by John Perry at a meeting of the British Association in Leeds. The informal exposition, fun to read, equation-less but accurate, together with 66 illustrations, has made this a classic with several reprints. It has lots of quotable statements on the importance of playing with tops for the development of the intellect!
The 1st edition was titled simply "Spinning Tops."

I found a PDF of Perry's book over a year ago but never got around to reading it. On your recommendation, I'll bump it up to the top of the list. My LEGO habit is all about the "importance of playing with tops toys for the development of the intellect".
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