LONDON – Anyone who's ever read a Winnie-the-Pooh book or watched the cartoons will know what a childhood-improvingly great game Poohsticks is.
And if you do remember Poohsticks, you'll probably also remember the standard debate (or heated argument, depending on how passionate you were about finer points of the game) that concerned whether winning was a matter of skill or judgement.
It all seems so simple at first – find a small bridge over a stream; grab a couple of sticks; drop them into the water and see which one gets to the other side the quickest – but the truth is it's a deeply complicated sport in which the speed of the water, the shape of the bridge and – of course – the density of your stick play equally crucial factors.
If you don't believe us, ask science. Dr. Rhys Morgan, voracious Poohsticks player and director of engineering and education at the Royal Academy of Engineering, has recently waded in to the debate with a formula that finally proves Poohsticks is much more about judgement than luck.
The research – emailed to Mashable in a press release about the publishing of The Poohsticks Handbook: A Poohstickopedia – breaks down what constitutes the "perfect Poohstick" into key variables like cross-sectional area and drag coefficient. It combines everything together to create a mind-blowing stick formula that seems firmly on track to revolutionise the lives of children everywhere.
It turns out the "perfect Poohstick" (Pp) can be found by combining a large Cross-Section Area (A), a high Density (ρ) and a hefty Drag Coefficient (Cd) – basically a stick that, according to Morgan's research, is "tubby and long, fairly heavy (but not so heavy it will sink to the bottom of the river), with quite a lot of bark to catch the flow of the river like paddle." So there you have it.
As well as including Poohstick-winning advice like this, the Poohstickopedia book also includes a breakdown of the rules of the game and a list of 12 "Poohstick-Perfect Bridges" dotted around the UK.
“As The Poohstickopedia summarises: ‘Poohsticks is a game of sticks and rivers and bridges and friends and fun,'" said author Mark Evans. "But clearly you need more than that to fill a book so it’s also full of hints, tips and general Poohsticky advice (from warnings for Knights to the latest scientific advances in stick selection) as well as the history of the game and, most importantly, the rules - so that young players everywhere can make sure their elders and (supposedly) betters remain Poohsticks-legal and un-cheaty.”