Professor Baker's Recent Book, "The Pendulum: A Case Study in Physics", Goes to a Second Printing - March 2006.

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As part of it's first release of The Pendulum: A Case Study in Physics by Dr. Gregory Baker and Dr. James Blackburn in July 2005, The Oxford University Press offered the following observation: "The Pendulum describes one physical system – the pendulum – and it's manifestations in classical and modern physics. While being a technical work, this remarkable study is set within the context of the technological, historical and cultural developments to which the pendulum has contributed."

Copies of the book soon sold out, leading to a second printing in March 2006. According to Dr. Baker, the book took approximately six years to write. In addition to extensive mathematical analysis and computer simulation work, the research process involved a trip to Europe with visits to several museums containing interesting pendulum artifacts.

Dr. Baker serves as professor of physics and mathematics at Bryn Athyn College. His research interests include chaotic dynamics, statistical mechanics, and the interface of religion and science. Professor Baker is the author of more than forty publications, twenty of which have appeared in peer reviewed scientific journals, and author or co-author of three books, Chaotic Dynamics: An Introduction (Cambridge, 1990,1996), Religion and Science: from Swedenborg to Chaotic Dynamics (Solomon, 1992), and The Pendulum: A Case Study in Physics (2005).

Read reviews of The Pendulum

"Pendulums simple, compound, chaotic, and quantum are described and analyzed in this concise book. Setting the tone, the small ample oscillations of a simple pendulum with no friction are modeled with differential equations. Time series graphs and phase plane diagrams are introduced for the simple pendulum and used later in the book for more complicated pendulums, especially the chaotic pendulum. Good historical and cultural background enliven the book, as do detailed drawings of historically significant apparatus such as the torsion pendulums used by Cavendish for his experiments on Earth's gravity and by Coulomb for his experiments on the fundamental electrostatic force. Chapters on modern topics are supported with excellent use of graphs, diagrams, historical background, and differential equations...Fascinating aspects of the Foucault pendulum, Newton's Cradle, and other well-known pendulums are provided." — CHOICE

"A book devoted thematically to the history and physics of the pendulum is most welcome. Gregory Baker and James Blackburn do an excellent job of weaving physical explanations with literary quotes and amusing anecdotes from the history of science. The authors have written their account for undergraduate physics majors. The book offers a tour of different incarnations of the pendulum. An enjoyable theme and variations, it is well suited for use as a resource or as a recommended text in an advanced course on mechanics." — Science