Soccermatics: Mathematical Adventures in the Beautiful Game Pro-Edition (Bloomsbury Sigma)

Soccer is the most mathematical of sports--riddled with numbers, patterns, and shapes. How to make sense of them? The answer lies in mathematical modeling, a science with applications in a host of biological systems. Soccermatics brings the two together in a fascinating, mind-bending synthesis.

What's the similarity between an ant colony and Total Football, Dutch style? How is the Barcelona midfield linked geometrically? And how can we relate the mechanics of a Mexican Wave to the singing of cicadas in an Australian valley? Welcome to the world of mathematical modeling, expressed brilliantly by David Sumpter through the prism of soccer. Soccer is indeed more than a game and this book is packed with game theory. After reading it, you will forever watch the game with new eyes.

David Sumpter is a professor of applied mathematics at Uppsala University in Sweden, where he runs the Collective Behavior Research Group. Originally from London, he studied his Ph.D. in mathematics at Manchester and held academic research positions at both Oxford and Cambridge. This is his first book. He lives with his wife and two children. In his spare time, he trains a successful soccer team of nine-year-old boys. He lives in Uppsala, Sweden.