Although we are about to celebrate the Canada Winter Games, many of the sports featured are not sports we might normally associate with winter.
Take, for example, the game of squash which is featured at these Games. It is a sport that I personally enjoyed playing for a number of years. Watching high-level players compete is just as interesting and sometimes amazing.
Squash is a very simple game. It involves a room or enclosed court, two players, two racquets and a squash ball. But despite the simplicity of the game, it is constantly changing.
For example, the equipment is constantly improving. Thanks to advances in materials science - the scientific discipline that examines the structure and chemical properties of new substances - we have new composite materials that make racquets lighter and stronger than they used to be.
When I started playing squash 30-plus years ago, racquets were made of laminated wood or bamboo. Now they are advertised as "100 per cent graphite," which is actually not quite true as there are some resins and other materials involved in the manufacture. But they are definitely not made of wood anymore.
Carbon fibres have changed many aspects of sports.
The new racquets have larger heads and more hitting surface, which is only possible because of the new stronger and stiffer frames. The strings have to have enough tension for the ball to rebound. The strength of a wood frame, even laminated, prevented the head size from getting too large as they would break under the tension. A carbon racquet doesn't suffer from this problem.
Science has also improved the running shoe. They are now gel- filled, flexible polymer, high-tech designs that are both lighter and more springy, helping some of us get around the court a little quicker. They don't really make us slow old folks move that much faster but they certainly make it easier. They take much of the shock out of rapid foot movements and changes in direction.
More important, though, than the changes in equipment and such are the underlying principles of the game itself. Almost all sports - in the final analysis - are a case of applied physics. Hitting a squash ball in mid-flight is a study in trajectories, impulse and momentum.
The racquet must swing with exactly the right trajectory to intercept the trajectory of the ball, taking into account a myriad of minor details such as the distance to the wall, floor and opponent.
The momentum of the racquet must be transferred to the ball in a moment of impact, providing sufficient impulse to change the direction of the ball to the desired new direction.
And the new direction is a study in mathematics or, more accurately, in trigonometry. Getting the angle just right means the ball goes exactly where you want it to in the court and away from your opponent.
Since squash is played on an enclosed court and all four walls are in play, the possible angles and directions are impressive. Everything from a side-wall boost to a drop shot is possible. Even the occasional backhand off the back wall will come into play.
And while advances in chemistry are the basis of the materials for the new types of racquets and shoes, chemistry also explains why the transfer of energy as the ball hits the racquet or the wall results in the ball getting hotter as the game goes on.
The energy has to go somewhere and the only place it can is into the air inside the ball. This heating of the ball occurs through adiabatic expansion and means that not only do the contents of the ball get hotter but the internal pressure increases. As a game of squash progresses, the ball becomes more lively with better bounce. This can often fool novices as the ball isn't where it is supposed to be.
Of course, biology, kinesiology, and psychology all have their parts in sports - the human side of things. For example, squash uses muscles that I haven't stretched in any other activity and after the first couple of vigorous games, well, you know that they are there.
It is also very much a game of the mind as the rules prevent players from interfering with one another during the game and more importantly with your opponent's ability to take a particular shot.
In the end, though, I enjoyed playing a good game of squash. It is great exercise and, when playing, my mind is fixed on the moment - getting to the next ball and making the shot. But when I am sitting back and watching, it is sometimes fun to think of the science involved.
During the Winter Games, the players won't be thinking about the science though. They will be concentrating on the next shot.
