Spinning Tops The "Operatives' Lecture" of the British Association Meeting at Leeds, 6th September, 1890

"Spinning Tops" by John Perry is a discourse on the science of spinning objects, especially tops and gyrostats, written over a century ago. Perry starts with a story about a classroom discussion where he makes the case for studying spinning tops in science. He shows how the behavior of tops teaches us more about mechanics and movement, like how the Earth spins. Through fun experiments and by questioning common ideas, Perry shows how amazing spinning things are and how they connect to other parts of science.