The Figure Skate: A Research into the Form of Blade Best Adapted to Curvilinear Skating

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

What makes a blade good for figure skating? How curved should it be?

Henry Eugene Vandervell, the father of English figure skating, asked these questions over a century ago and used his knowledge of mathematics, physics, and skating to answer them. This book presents an account of his experiments and calculations. The results strongly influenced the development of figure skate blades. Most of today’s blades are not far from Vandervell’s recommendations.

Only a handful of copies of The Figure Skate have survived. This new edition makes Vandervell’s work widely available and accessible. It includes the full text of the original work, a new introduction describing Vandervell’s life, and commentary explaining his calculations. Everyone interested in the science behind figure skating will enjoy this book.