It was there, at Michigan State University, says Lamb--now a professor of preventive medicine and health at Ohio State University in Columbus--that "a charismatic professor convinced me we could save the world by studying exercise physiology."
To the public, and even to many scientists, the term "sports science" has everything to do with sports, and very little to do with science. But those involved in the burgeoning discipline--a self-designated group of researchers whose specialties range from biomechanics and neurology to psychology and sociology--say that's a limited perspective.
They say their work extends far beyond the kind of fluid dynamics studies that show why a knuckleball is hard to hit or the vision research that helped Kansas City Royals designated hitter George Brett change from a minor leaguer with hitting problems to a future Hall of Famer.
Instead, says Brian Sharkey, president of the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis, ...
