Now that's what I call a pendulum (chaotic pendulum from Dice World ) Not surprisingly, science writers tend to focus on the exciting stuff. Apart from anything else, we get a lot of the less shiny bits at school, and most of us probably don't want to hear any more. You don't get far doing a popular science book on pendulums, say. But this is a bit of a shame, because science writing isn't just about explaining concepts, it's also about context, and the difference between the 'facts' of school science and the fuzzy reality of science as it truly is. So let's take the plunge. Two favorites of the physics world are springs and pendulums, both examples of objects that undergo regular motion. Galileo is supposed to have first considered pendulums while watching a lamp swinging on a chain at Pisa cathedral. Up to then, no one had thought about the significance of a pendulum’s swing, because their ideas of motion were based on the ancient Greek concept ...