Book

The perfection point / John Brenkus.

Summary:

What's the fastest a human can run the 100-meter sprint? What's the longest a human can hold his breath? What are the limits of human performance? Until 1954, common wisdom and scientific knowledge considered a sub-four-minute mile an impossible feat--but today the world record stands at 3 minutes, 43 seconds. Records are a mark of how well people have done, not how well they can do. What's the actual limit? In this thought-provoking book, John Brenkus, co-creator of ESPN's Sport Science, ventures across the sports world to provide an in-depth look at the absolute limits of human performance. Beginning with the current world records for a variety of sports, Brenkus finds the perfection point for each--the speeds, heights, distances, and times that humans will get closer to but never exceed.--From publisher description.

Record details

ISBN: 9780061845451 (hbk.)
ISBN: 0061845450
Physical Description: xiii, 242 p. ; 24 cm.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: New York, NY : Harper ; c2010.

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:

Introduction: Finding the limits -- Raw speed: how fast can a human run? -- Pumping iron: the limits of pure strength -- Swimming: how fast can someone swim the 50-meter freestyle? -- Performance-enhancing substances: a digression -- Driving for dough: what's the farthest someone can hit a golf ball? -- Hang time: how high can basketball take the dunk? -- Breathing lessons: what's the longest someone can hold his breath? -- The last slugger: hitting the longest homer -- The marathon and the mile: the limits of the legendary distances -- Epilogue: Are perfection points reachable?