Newton's Football: The Science Behind America's Game

by Allen St. John, Ainissa Ramirez

In the bestselling tradition of Freakonomics and Scorecasting comes a clever and accessible look at the big ideas underlying the science of football. 
 
Did you hear the one about the MacArthur genius physicist and the NFL coach? It's not a joke. It's actually an innovative way to understand chaos theory, and the remarkable complexity of modern professional football.
 
In Newton's Football, journalist and New York Times bestselling author Allen St. John and TED talker and former Yale professor Ainissa Ramirez explore the unexpected science behind America's Game. Whether it's Jerry Rice finding the common ground between quantum physics and the West Coast offense or an Ivy League biologist explaining--at a granular level--exactly how a Big Mac morphs into an outside linebacker, Newton's Football illuminates football--and science--through funny, insightful stories told by some of the world's sharpest minds.
 
With a clear-eyed empirical approach--and an exuberant affection for the game--St. John and Ramirez address topics that have long beguiled scientists and football fans alike,
 
* the unlikely evolution of the football (or, as they put it, "The Divine Random Bounce of the Prolate Spheroid")
* what Vince Lombardi has in common with Isaac Newton
* how the hardwired behavior of monkeys can explain a head coach's reluctance to go for it on fourth-down
* why a gruesome elevator accident jump-started the evolution of placekicking
* how Teddy Roosevelt saved football using the same behavioral science concept that Dreamworks would use to save Shrek
* why woodpeckers don't get concussions
* how better helmets actually made the game more dangerous
 
Every Sunday the NFL shares a secret with only its savviest The game isn't just a clash of bodies, it's a clash of ideas. The greatest minds in football have always possessed an instinctual grasp of science, understanding the big ideas and gritty realities that inform the game's rich past, as well as its increasingly uncertain future.
 
Blending smart reporting, counterintuitive creativity, and compelling narrative, Newton's Football takes gridiron analysis to the next level, giving fans a book that entertains, enlightens, and explains the game anew.

Genres: Sports, Science, Football, Nonfiction, Physics, History

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Daniel Goldstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "Newton's Football The Science Behind America's Game," a journalist and college professor combine to make a book about how closely related science and football really are. The book consists of short chapters that consist of different topics, whether it compares the ways of Isaac Newton and Vince Lombardi or how a quarterback is like a laptop. Overall, I really liked this book because I love science and especially football. It was really interesting to see how the two corresponded and how I learned new facts about the two subjects. Also, the book did a good job interviewing either different scientists or football players/coaches to give an intriguing perspective. I would recommend this book to anyone that would like to learn new information on how science connects to football or just football and science in general.

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comparisons to Freakonomics are not fair to Freakonomics. This is a series of essays giving the past, present, and future of American football, with some strained references to physics, behavioral science, and math. Can't say I didn't learn anything, but not recommending this one. Maybe I was just put off by the 49er's references that sneak on to almost every page. Whatever.

[Brian Gotham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I thought this was a great book. It was very in depth, and had scientific explanations of scenarios of the game. This book was interesting to me because it explained some of the history of football and the evolution of equipment. Something that surprised me is that when they introduced helmets with facemasks they reduced injuries to the face, but the protection of the face allowed players to use their heads as weapons which lead to head injuries such as concussions. The book goes into depth in different aspects of football, and I really enjoyed it. I would recommend this book to a friend.

[Matt Zar-Lieberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The slate of football books released in a given year are usually rather predictable. You will have a fair share of memoirs from players and coaches associated with Super Bowl winners or national champions striking while the iron is hot, historical books playing off of the nostalgia for a particular team and/or era, and a few exposes decrying the big business of football and the physical and mental dangers associated with it. I have nothing against these books, and recently quite enjoyed Nate Jackson's memoir Slow Getting Up, but I still get excited when I find more distinctive books like Newton's Football.Written by a journalist and a former engineering professor at Yale, Newton's Football applies pop science to the gridiron with largely engaging results. It is a light and breezy read worth the attention of any inquisitive football fan.

While its title may suggest a physics-heavy approach, Newton's Football actually covers a very wide scope of the natural and social sciences (those solely interested in the physics of the game should seek out Timothy Gay's sometimes dry but generally enjoyable The Physics of Football). Topics range from what the uncanny valley can tell us about the game's violent nature, how prospect theory explains coaches' risk-averse natures, and what Schrodinger's cat teaches us about the effectiveness of the West Coast offense. Drawing illuminating connections between seemingly unintuitive concepts is a hallmark of many nonfiction books, but very few of these books to my knowledge deal exclusively with football. Newton's Football can best be described as Scorecasting with more of a natural sciences focus, and I think both books are some of the best sports works released in the past few years.

Despite running the scientific gamut, Newton's Football is actually very well-organized. It begins by analyzing the evolution of the rules of the game from the game's early roots when games were contested with a pig bladder to the A-11 offense. This might sound dry but the authors do an excellent job describing the strategic and health consequences of rule tweaks large and small. They also offer up the intriguing hypothesis that Paul Brown's invention of the facemask (originally intended to protect quarerback Otto Graham's much-maligned face) had the unintended consequence of making the game more dangerous by decreasing the costs of reckless play, similar to how seatbelts might actually increase driving injuries due to encouraging riskier automotive behavior. It proceeds to cover aspects of the current NFL and its players and concludes with a look into the future of the NFL and the safety issues threatening the viability of the sport. The book never drags and is consistently engrossing, whether it is describing why woodpeckers don't get concussions and the ridiculous explosion in 300 pound players starting in the eighties.

Academics writing for a general audience sometimes struggle at maintaining a balance between providing sufficient academic heft and keeping the reader from getting bogged down in unnecessary detail and abstruse concepts. Additionally, as evidenced by the flood of journal articles I had to slog through as an undergraduate, some academics aren't the best writers out there. Newton's Football avoids this pitfall by employing the writing talents of an academic and sportswriter. The prose is breezy and all scientific concepts are explained very clearly with excellent examples. The book also calls upon other experts to explain particular concepts and how they relate to football, allowing them to draw from a huge knowledge base. This is probably the only book containing interviews with former Bengals coach Sam Wyche and particle physicist and math homework godsend Stephen Wolfram within its pages. While they tread some familiar territory regarding subject matter, the scientific emphasis allows the reader to glean some insight from most sections. For example, I already knew about how Greg Cook's injury led to Bill Walsh creating the West Coast offense with the Bengals, but I did not know that the offense's binary-esque decision process led to Dwight Clark's perfect positioning during "The Catch" when Walsh coached the 49ers. While the book deals with some advanced football and scientific subjects, I wish they went more in-depth on particular sections, such as explaining Vince Lombardi's decision-payoff matrix and risk aversion of fourth down. These topics have been covered in more detail in other books and don't add as much to the discussion as other chapters in the book. But really that is the biggest thing I can knock the book on: I wish it was longer. Which is definitely one of the better problems a reader can have.

In Sum

Newton's Football is a fun and breezy read that is easy to read but has some intellectual depth. It is a highly-enjoyable romp through the intersection of the natural sciences and football and is likely to change how you think about the game and may even teach you something about the behavior of prolate spheroids and the neurological benefits of practice reps. I wish the authors went into greater detail analyzing certain subjects, but the fact remains that this is one of the most entertaining football books I have read in a while and narrowly beats Slow to Get Up as my favorite football book released this year. I highly recommend this book to any football fan with intellectual curiosity about the sport.

9/10

[David Koharski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book.

Being a retired scientist and an avid football fan, I found this book fascinating. The science is valid, and the presentation should be understandable to everyone. Various topics are covered, and the book always held my interest.

[Sally N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should football helmets be banned?

That's the essential question the book discusses. Intriguing. Really gets into the physics of collisions and neurobiology of concussions.

[Emil Holm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good and full of scientific answers to crazy questions.

[Eric A Alva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid

Interesting concepts that mix the scientific and football worlds together. Would recommend as a good book for both sides to read about.

[Yune · Rating 4 out of 5]

As both a geek and an American football fan, this book seemed right up my alley, although I approached it a bit warily because I wasn't sure how it'd hold together.

The answer: excellently.

The authors examine the physics of the shape of the football (and how it causes no end of trouble for EA's Madden video game), the evolution of rules and equipment and strategy, the psychology behind spectatorship and sportsmanship.

It's like Moneyball, but offers a more comprehensive survey of the entire game, and pokes through various branches of science rather than just statistics. For example, biological evolution:

Charles Darwin wouldn't have missed a rules committee meeting. When a sport changes its rules, a similar evolution on the field can't be too far behind.

And in this way, it's not unlike biological evolution in all its nuanced glory. When most non-scientists think about evolution, they fixate on the seemingly miraculous transformation than an animal species undergoes. A short-beaked finch turns into a longer-beaked finch. A brown toad turns into a bright green one. An orangutan turns into Louis CK.

There's then a brief section about studies of the Galapagos before it gets tied in with the Mel Blount Rule (which limits defensive options).

Shrödinger, Heisenberg, and Edison are cited knowledgeably (if a bit breezily) alongside Jerry Rice, Vince Lombard, and Cam Newton. Stephen Wolfram is consulted, and chaos theory suddenly emerges. Players I've never heard of are described as having lasting influence on the game, sometimes precisely because they had truncated careers. The development of the huddle and, of course, the no-huddle. Loss aversion. How a kicker with amputated toes was actually incredibly effective, thanks to his specially modified shoes that offered him more surface area contact with the ball.

And one of the best parts, I think was near the end, when the book turns seriously to a topic that I think any responsible NFL fan is conflicted about: safety. How effective are helmets? Can a different kind of tackle be encouraged, whereby impact to the head is reduced? Why don't woodpeckers and rams get concussions, and can we steal something from them?

Engagingly written, broader in scope than I'd first guessed, and confident both in the sports and scientific arenas, this book could probably find a happy reader in anyone who is at least interested in one and has some glancing familiarity with the other. (Total newbies to American football are likely to be lost, and I already knew about the theories mentioned, but there's both a football and science glossary that may help bridge any gaps.) A delight to read both for its wealth of anecdotes and its willingness to dig down and really analyze the entire environment and history of a highly commercialized game.

[Vince Darcangelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://ensuingchapters.com/2013/12/28...

Here’s a book combining two of my favorite things: science writing and football. Turns out they go together as naturally (and tastily) as Dorito’s and M&Ms, and like that classic combo, I binged on it until it was all gone. The authors write with passion and knowledge, and in every chapter there was something I didn’t know, either about science or the sport I love.

It begins, fittingly, with an interview with Stephen Wolfram (the theoretical physicist and author of A New Kind of Science), who explains the role chaos theory plays in your team’s game plan. I had always considered the 12th man to be the home crowd, but it turns out to be initial conditions. “Change the initial conditions and the outcomes diverge exponentially,” Wolfram says, leading the authors to extrapolate that “The no-huddle offense was chaos theory at work.”

My new dream is to hear Chris Berman reference initial conditions during a highlight reel.

The ball itself has an interesting history—and a physics all its own. There is no such thing as a tight spiral, for example, since the pigskin (which isn’t really pigskin) requires gyroscopic torque to remain in flight. Knowing that, you might just feel empathy rather than outrage the next time your quarterback lofts a lame duck over the middle.

This book transforms the gridiron into a laboratory. And much like those “Eureka” moments in the lab, serendipity and circumstance had a hand in the game’s innovation, such as the introduction of the West Coast offense and the soccer-style kick. St. John and Ainissa also prove that not all penalties are created equal: The more important stat is not penalty yardage but the breakdown between offensive and defensive infractions.

There is a serious side to Newton’s Football as well. While advances in neuroscience have revealed the extent of football’s brutality, many are wondering if football will exist in another 25 years—and if so, will it be recognizable to today’s fans. The authors explore the current concussion research and uncover some possible solutions.

Along the way, the authors revisit some of the game’s most famous plays and players, and combine physics and football with narrative journalism in one of the easiest and most interesting reads I’ve encountered all year (and that’s no small amount of books). Definitely in my top 10.

Newton’s Football is a must-have for fans of football and/or science. Not everyone is a fan of both, which is all the better because this book offers a chance to expand one’s horizons.

By the final page it will have armchair quarterbacks running statistical analysis and lab rats rubbing elbows at the sports bar. Does it get more interesting than that?

[Malin Friess · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at science and football (the prolate spheroid). I enjoyed this book far more than I ever expected and learned why the game exists as it is currently played.

Did you know?

1) Why have football players gotten so humongous? In 1980 there were only three 300 pounders in the game. In 2012 461 players tip the scale above 300 lbs. P=mv Momentum (A hit) is equal to mass times velocity. While players speed (velocity) in the 40 yard dash has increased slightly (perhaps 10-20%), there mass has nearly doubled 220 lb lineman to 400 lb lineman. Forget the speed, if you want to make a catastrophic hit (momentum) go with size (mass).

2) Would the game be safer without helmets? Soccer and Rugby don't have helmets and have far fewer concussions than football. Does the helmet give a player unreasonable courage to use their head as a weapon. The late Joe Paterno and Mike Ditka think the game would be safer without hemets. We might have more broken noses, and busted jaws, but fewer instances of brain trauma--like George Clooney in Leatherheads.

3) Pro Kickers try anything to soften up the football before and important field goal--dunk it in water, bonk it with a hammer, put it in a microwave, pound it into walls of a racquetball court.

4)Woodpeckers don't get concussions (smaller brains), and safe helmets exist for race car drivers (mostly made of carbon fiber)--can't we do better for our NFL players. Ideas exist but Goodell seems to ignore the suggestions.

5) No player has ever died in an NFL game. In arena football Al lucas (315 pounds) hit a guy who was 185 pounds. Al Lucas never got up. His spinal cord was severed. He was taken to the ER and died shortly from respiratory distress.

6) Why did Jerry Rice have to learn to catch differently from Joe Montana vs. Steve Young. Righty vs. a Lefty

5 stars. Great writing. If you like science and football you will love this book.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

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I was supposed to read this two years ago when I first joined NetGalley. I just never got in the mood to read about football… until a couple of weeks ago when a near-and-dear-one started playing youth football. I figured this book might help me understand a few things, plus it appealed to the “I need to know how things work” geek in me.

Well, it’s certainly a scientific book. I mean, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist, but it would help if you can remember some basic high school physics and math. It’s also definitely a football book. The authors interviewed athletes and coaches, they use football lingo, and they refer to historical football games and their importance in the evolution of football.

I understood it on a basic level, but I certainly had LOTS of questions. I interrogated my go-to football expert about the no-huddle, a nickel, declaring eligibility for receiving passes, and his personal thoughts about football plays that bent the rules. Seriously. This book showed me how much I really don’t know about the game.

Even though I’m not well-versed in the grid-iron world, Newton’s Football was FASCINATING. I especially loved the examples of how changing one little thing in one particilar game had ripple effects in subsequent football games. And I appreciated the discussion on proper tackling and helmet safety. (There’s some progressive thinking in those chapters!)

Reading Newton’s Football was work for me, mostly because I went in pretty clueless about plays and positions. But if you’re a football fan and you want a fresh perspective on the sport — or if you’re not but you’re bold and curious like me — go for it.


NetGalley provided an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free from the Goodreads First Read program.

A confession: I don't like football, but I love science. I was hesitant about reading Newton's Football: The Science Behind America's Game at first, because it starts off with an in-the-moment football scene. But the book quickly moved from a scene familiar to football fans to talking about the various scientific elements or theories that go in to the game. Though I still groaned every time the book got bogged down in football history, especially the ESPN-like trivia of previous games, I truly enjoyed how the authors (and there are two - Allen St. John & Ainissa G Ramirez) pulled from many different scientific domains to explain the sport.

The book is split into four parts: the past, the game, the players, and the future. More than simply the physics of football, the authors pull in scientific theories like game theory and Schrodinger's cat to explain how the game is organized and played. I think a football fan would enjoy the book, since they are learning more about their sport and how it fits into these larger ideas; but the non-football fan can also enjoy the book by learning more about science and how it applies to such a well-known sport.

[Dash Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

***I received my copy of Newton's Football: The Science Behind America's Game from The Goodreads First Reads Program***

Have you ever wondered what The No-Huddle Offense has in common with Chaos Theory or what designers of football helmets can learn from rams? If so Newton's Football has answers for you. Newton's football is an quick airplane friendly read that uses America's favorite game as the sugar to sweeten taste of learning often difficult to explain scientific principles. You'll learn that the explosion of the number of 300lb players in The NFL can be likened to the rapid generational evolution of Galapagos Island finches and that it is possible to use the oft-forgotten NFL legend Otto Graham's adoption of the facemask to explain both complex systems and compensatory behavior. There is a lot of brainpower under-girding the strategy and tactics of football. The authors, Allen St. John and Ainissa G. Ramirez PH.D, do a great job of enlisting the insights of those who have shaped the strategy of the game, like Sam Wyche and Dick LeBeau and some of science's biggest superstars Wolfram to prove this. Newton's Football is a compelling popular science book that would be a great gift for anyone curious about science, America's game, or the science of America's game.

[Kent Keifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting combination of science and football. Each chapter investigates a different topic such as the shape of the football, size of the players, helmet construction, concussions, kicking styles etc. Each chapter also mentions some type of scientific study that compares with the football topic being investigated. It's pretty interesting for fans of football and the reasons it developed the way it did. I definitely learned some things I didn't know and many of the chapters were really enjoyable. BTW the Butterfly Effect is the most misunderstood scientific concept ever and is almost always misapplied. How it went from a simple rounding error to people saying the flapping of a butterflies wings can cause a tornado just goes to show that people apply history to support whatever ridiculous idea they want.

[Killian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book, and a great read now that football season is coming to a close.

The author takes concepts like the Butterfly Effect, the Uncanny Valley, and Schrodinger's cat and relates them to football in ways that don't seem like a stretch. As someone who has read quite a bit about Bill Walsh I still enjoyed the this interesting take on the science behind the West Coast offense. In fact, even though I am pretty familiar with football theory and history I still found more than plenty of interesting facts and explanations to keep me interested to the end.

Great book for those who want a deeper understanding of the game we fans watch so avidly.

Copy courtesy of Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[John Kaufmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, interesting book, if you follow football at all. However, it really has very little to do with the science of football. I expected it would talk about the physics of a spiral and how it affects the flight of the ball, or the science (velocity and mass) behind the rising incidence of concussions. Rather, the author uses examples from science - evolution, chaos theory, quantum physics - as analogies to help illuminate why certain strategies or rules work or developed; the strategies and rules were not developed intentionally based on the science. Nonetheless, I still learned quite a bit about football that will make my viewing more enjoyable (or at least enlightened).

[C.J. Ruby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stories in here about the evolution of turn of the 20th century football into the NFL we know in the 21st century. It builds from the archaic game that was nearly banned during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency (he help save the game), and describes the great innovators and innovations they developed to turn football into the greatest game ever (imo), with a great history.

[Karen]

After skimming this one I gave it to my son who I got it for in the first place. I think he'll enjoy it as he is a great student of the game of football.


I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

The authors know how to cover complicated but related topics for a general audience. Physics and football, science and the clash of bodies. Well done, but perhaps best read during football season, when it can be appreciated as it should.

[Tony Parsons]

played FB for 4 yrs, & sport till I was 53 luv 2 win/read this book

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent thought experiment- take heed NFL, the A-11 offense should be the future...also, buy better helmets already!

[victor harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining, even thought provoking commentary on how physics and biology apply to football.

[Robert Keck · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, I need to admit I'm not a fan of football, math or physics. So I'll say this book was well written and cohesive. I truly have no idea whether the parallels were accurate.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors' storytelling made physics and football come alive! I couldn't put it down, and loved how stories from nature and science were interwoven with great football moments.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting, and not particularly technical, discussion about how science has figured in the evolution of the game.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

[Gena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of science in this football book!

[Nate Morse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Space reserved for future review

[Budd Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

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