Preface

Each year the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM) sponsors Mathematics Awareness Month to increase public understanding of and appreciation for mathematics. This is achieved through a web page, posters, resource materials, and theme essays. With its abundance of data, great variety, numerous strategies, and widespread popularity, sports is an ideal venue to demonstrate the illuminating power of mathematics to a larger audience. This book is an eclectic compendium of the essays solicited for the 2010 Mathematics Awareness Month on the theme Mathematics and Sports. In keeping with the goal of promoting mathematics awareness to a broad audience, all of the articles are accessible to college level mathematics students and many are accessible to the general public. The book is divided into sections by the kind of sports. The section on football includes articles on ranking college football teams; counting the number of defensive formations an NFL team can deploy; and evaluating a method for reducing the advantage of the winner of a coin flip in an NFL overtime game. The section on track and field examines the ultimate limit on how fast a human can run 100 meters; ranking college track and field conferences; ways to determine the winning team in a cross-country race; the effects of wind and altitude in a 400 meter race; and modeling the biomechanics of running and walking. The section on baseball has essays on ways to measure the performance of baseball players; deciding if humidifying baseballs reduces the number of home runs; and the probability of batting streaks.