billiards and pool books

• physics of pool
• reviews of Dr. Dave's book

physics of pool

What books are available concerning the physics of pool?

See the Pool and Billiards Physics Resources section of my website. It lists and provides links to many general interest and technical articles and books dealing with the physics and understanding of pool principles.

reviews of Dr. Dave's book

Information on Dr. Dave's book can be found here: The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards

from George Fels' Billiards Digest May '08 article:
[The article starts with a review of Freddy "The Beard" Bentivegna's stuff.]

The other instructional opus highly deserving of "props" this month is "The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards," by BD's own David "Dr. Dave" Alciatore, a mechanical engineering professor. Dr. Dave is one of our most popular instructional columnists and one of the leading posters on the "Cue Chalk Board" forum on BD's Web site, no doubt due to his incredible generosity when it comes to sharing his knowledge. (How many cue-game publications do you suppose there are whose writing staffs include a physicist, a lawyer, and two graduate engineers?) Except for their apparent mutual Italian heritage and love of pool, he has nothing in common with Bentivegna. The latter's instruction comes from decades of high-stakes play, instincts, observations, and the teachings of older players. Alciatore's work, by contrast, largely depends on good old-fashioned science. The nuances of spin, cling, squirt, swerve, and "squerve" (the dreaded combination of squirt and swerve) have never been analyzed and explained as masterfully.

Because my father hounded me about taking physics all the way through high school, I avoided the subject as though it were snake venom, and am thus probably not the ideal subject for teaching on this plane. Dr. Dave writes well on pool's basics, but it's not until Chapter 4, "Spin and English," that his instruction really begins to sing. And he's equally masterful at integrating his scientific knowledge with on-the-table playing instruction. "Illustrated Principles" introduces over 80 playing principles, plus more than 250 illustrations and photographs. There's also a companion CD, with the same title, containing over 150 video clips and 20 technical proofs of his teachings.

I've lost track of all the stories I've heard of players who got angry with other players for sharing the game's secrets. The late Charlie Cacciapaglia of Rockford, Ill., one-time mentor to Hall-of-Famer Dallas West, was furious with his charge for becoming a successful pool teacher. And the immortal Willie Mosconi, who spent his entire adolescence in the Great Depression and needed the suckers to stay ignorant so he could help keep his family afloat, was notoriously closed-mouthed about dispensing advice; indeed, "always play with better players" and "practice the circle drill" are his only known instructions after all those years in the limelight. Those were two Italians who clearly didn't want to share the joy. Be glad that today we have two who do.

from Amazon.com:
If you think the best pool players are leather-jacketed badasses who quit school at 12 to shark sailors out of their paychecks, think again. Pool involves complex physical principles that aren't taught until long after the delinquents have departed the academy. "Dr. Dave," both a professor of mechanical engineering and a Billiards Digest columnist, has written a textbook-style how-to that focuses on the game's fundamental principles. It's loaded with excellent color diagrams, decent photographs, and useful sidebars. He's a Web geek, too--there are dozens of cross-references to his site, where free videos demonstrate the lessons on the page. (The site even offers technical proofs!) There's so much information packed in here that learners who prefer a prosy approach may be put off. It's written clearly, though, and for the nuts-and-bolts crowd--make that the graphing-calculator and circuit-board set--it's hard to imagine a better primer. Reminiscent of Jack Koehler's excellent The Science of Pocket Billiards (1989). Pool is for nerds--and that's cool.

See also: Amazon.com customer reviews.

from BigRigTom:
Dr. Dave's Book is THE BEST POOL BOOK I have ever read. It is one of the few that combined with Dr. Dave's website can claim the right to say it is the RIGHT way to view many of the concepts in pool physics. I don't know if Dr. Dave was the 1st to recognize the 30 degree rule but his book was the 1st time I had ever heard it and like Billy Bob I had to try it a few times to really understand it but once I did get it through my thick head ....WOW!...what a difference it has made. I too recommend that book and the web site to others when I see them actively pursuing the improvement that we all strive for.

I remember telling Dr. Dave directly that his book put an end to a lot of searching by me for the CORRECT way to shoot many of the shots in pool. I still only get it right sometimes but thank to Dr. Dave I know when I have done it wrong. I can not say enough good things about the information Dr. Dave has made available to the world of pool and billiards players and when people disagree with his points he has always displayed the patience of a saint while respecting the views and opinions of others...regardless of how ridiculous some of those views have been at times.

Keep up the good work Dr. Dave, you are an inspiration to us all.....well most of us. There are still a few knuckleheads out there like those guys that laughed at Columbus when he sailed off into the sunset.

from caedos:
This may be hands down the best physical presentation of a pool text I've ever seen. By that I mean this: paper weight and gloss, sectioning, cross-referencing, supporting online media, graphics, and a separation of text in pieces directed to different reader needs (not unlike the 'For Dummies' where a section is for a 'rule of thumb' or 'important!' note).

from New2Pool:
Dave's book is easy to understand and the style suites me very well. I like to know how things work and his book does a good job of explaining what is going on to make a shot work. One thing I was surprised at was the aesthetic quality of the book. Dave's book looks and feels better than most books. The paper quality is superb and the illustrations are very clear.