  The Rattleback is a very popular science toy shown to students all over the
world to demonstrate the non-triviality of rotational motion. When spun on a
horizontal table, this boat-shaped object behaves in a peculiar way. Although
the object appears symmetric, the dynamics of its motion seem very asymmetric.
When spun in the preferred direction, it spins smoothly, whereas in the other
direction it starts to oscillate wildly. The oscillation soon dies out and the
rattleback starts to spin in the preferred way. We will construct and go
through an analytical model capable of explaining this behaviour in a simple
and intelligible way. Although we aim at a semi-pedagogical treatise, we will
study the details only when they are necessary to understand the calculation.
After presenting the calculations we will discuss the physical validity of our
assumptions and take a look at more sophisticated models requiring numerical
analysis. We will then improve our model by assuming a simple friction force.
