The CoriolisEffect
Euerything that moaesoner the surface of the eartfu-x4;s5sy,
air, animals, machines and projectiles-sidles to the right
in the LYorthern'HemisTthereand to the teft in the Sorthern
T IS A curious firct that all things
which move over the surface of tlie
earth tend to sidle from their ao-
rted paths-to
pointed paths-to the
the right
right in the
the North-
North-
ern Hemisphere, to the left in the
Southern Hemisphere. Since man has
managed to make himself one of the
most mobile of creatures, one might
think that so ubiquitous an effect m"ust
long lurve been a matter of common
knowledge. It has not been and still is
not, even in this errr of rapid speeds,
which accentuirte the sidling tendency.
Probably few people realize that ns they
drive down a straight highway at 60
miles per hour this all-pervrrding drift
would carry them off the road to the
right at the nte of some 15 feet per mile
wele it not for the frictional resistance of
the tires to any lateral motion.
This sidewise drifting tendency is
called the Coriolis effect, after the l9th-
cenfury French mrrthematician G. G.
Coriolis, who mircle the first complete
analysis of it. The effect is due simply to
the rotation of the earth, and it appears
in all motions as soon as we refer those
motions to any coordinlte system fixed
with respect to the earth (e.g., the lati-
tude-longitude grid).
There is really only one satisfactory
way to obtain a vivid impression of the
nature of the Coriolis principle. That is
to go to a carnivll. Every carnival worth
the nirme h:rs a Corioliirn coordinate sys-
tem: uiz., tlre merry-go-rorrnd.With only
a ferv balls irs lirboratory e<luipment and
two nssistiurts, one otr tir" merry-go-
rouncl with you and the other on the
ground, you cirn cirrry out many interest-
ing Coriolian experiments.
When the merry-go-round starts up,
you begin a game of catch. Things will
probrrbly go very poorly for several
throrvs (rvhich is the reason for your
trrking the precrrutionof etluipping your-
self rvith several balls). The ball will
seem to veer from its throrvn direction in
the most amirzing firshion. Let us say the
merry-go-round turns counterclockrvise,
rs cloes the earth rvhen vierved frorn
above the North Pole. If it makes one
complete furn irr l0 secontls, anrl yorr
throrv tlre I'1ll rrt ir speedof o0 fect per.
72
by James E. McDonald
second torvald an assistant standing 15
feet from you on the merry-go-round.'the
apparently curving ball will miss the as-
sistant by a little over six feet to the
right. When you throw a ball to your
other assistant,in the outer rvorld off the
merry-go-round, it will again seem to
drift rightward. This time,-however, by
great concentration you may be able to
fix your attention orr the nonrotating
framework of the outer world sufficientli
to sense thlt the ball is really moving ai
it ought to move, and you -ay e"ven
make proper allowance ior the merry-
go-round's rotttion so that the ball
reaches your assistant'shands.
tl.HE APPARENT strirngeness of the
I balls' behavior in thesJexperiments ject)
arises from the fact th:rt almosi inescap-
ably you take the merry-go-round is
y.our reference system. and in this system
the laws of dynamics in their ur.rai for-
simply do nol hold. No such difficulties
confront the assistant who stands out on
firm ground. He is not so compelled to
view these motions with respect to your
rotirting coordinate system. He will feel
certain that the balls have at all times
been moving in well-behaved fashion.
If he lias a little understancling of the
problem, he may be able to ex lain to
you that the drifting to the righi whiclr
you seem to see is really due to the fact
t h a t y o u r s y s t e r ni s t r r r n i r r go u t l r o n r u r r - g u n r ) e r ' .A l r l t t l e s h i p g u n n e r
der the movins b:Llls.
The earth ls a sphericrrl nren.y-go- miles lwav irnd fires l shell at 2,5d0
rorrnd, irrrd rrll of tlre Cor.iolis<lrifis ivc
observe when rve use terrestriirl coordi-
nate systems are due ultimntely to the
f r r c t t h i r t t h e e : r r t h , l i k c t h e m e r r y - g o - War I the shells of the giant German
round, is trlwirys spinning out from under
our dynamical systems. To be sure, there
are certirin subtleties that enter into
some Coriolis effects, but at bottorn the
whole thing is just the mer.ry-go-r-ouncl Coriolis dritt to the righI amounting to
iderr. To an observer conscioirsbf Nerv-
ton's second hw of motiorr. the allptrent
"acceleration" (deflection frtrm rr siriright
prrth) of rrn object movirrg ou". th"
earth suggests that some lolce is irctirrg take the case of a rocket fir-eclfrom the
on it, and he is strongly ternlrted tJ
speak of the C<-rriolis"foice." Fir con-
venience, meteorologistsirnclotliers u,ho
are concerned with the Coriolis efiect do
treat it us a force, and their ectultions
work-out all right. What they sdt dorvn
as a force in the Newtonian Lquation is
actually a correction for the arrparent
acceleration. The pure dynamicist looks
at it in a differeni way:'he likes to re-
gard these motions as oicurring in obedi_
ent Nervtonian fashion in whit he calls
"inertial space."
OW let us look at some interesting
examples of the Coriolis effect, as ii
applies to projectiles, flight, vehicles,
ocean currents and even our weather.
The Coriolis efiect is greatest near the
North and South Poleslwhere the earth
turns most_rapidly under a moving ob_
and decretses to zero at the Equa-
^also
tor. The magnitude of ,the effect
depends directly on the speed of the
movtng oDJect.
In middle latitudes of the Northern
Hemisphere a bullet fired with a velocity
of 800 feet per second at a target 40b
feet arviry will drift one-tenth of "an inch
to the right (without considering wind
effects or any other interference)". That
is, in the half-second during rvhich the
bullet is in flight, the rotiiion of the
earth hls shifted the bull's-eye bv about
one-tenth of an inch. This ii not serious
to a pistol mirrksman, but the efiect can
make rluite_a djfierence to a long-range
whb takFs
derrd itim rtt the bridge of t destroyer 20
feet
per seconil rvill miss the clestroyer com-
pletely, lrecirusethe lirterrrlCoriolis drift
rvill be more than 200 feet. In World
-which
gun crrlled Big Bertha, bom-
6arded P:rlis fr6m a firinq site some 70
milcs away, took three minutes to reach
their destination, and they underrvetrt ir
almost l ftrll mile-an eiror for whiclithe
Germirn bnllistics exper.ts crrefully al-
lowerl-
For a really dramatic effect rve c:rn
North Pole ancl aimecl at, say, Nerv York
C i t y . A s s r r r r r i r r gf o, r t h e s a k e o f s i r r r p l i c -
itv, that ttre rocket tritvels lt I constirnt
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CATALOG SHEET
MERRY-GO-ROUND EXPERIMENT demonstrates Coriolis drift. Seen
AVAILASLE
from above, the merry-go-round rotates counterclockwise. In the top draw-
UPON REQUEST
ing a man at P attempts to throw a ball to a man at Q. The rotational motion
of the man at P (short arrou), however, cauees the ball to head in the direc-
tion PE. In the bottom drawing the man at P has moved to P', the man at Q to
H O U G H A V E . C T E V E I A N3
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observers on the rnerry-go-round the ball appears to have described a curve.
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74
A MP T IF IE R S
G e n e r o lP u r p o s e
S t r o i nG o g e
R E C OR D E R S
One-,Two-,
ond
Four-Chonnel
or
MISSILE flying{ror'.the North pote (A} to^New_york (B) with a speed of
a mile per second would_land near Ch.icaijo ( C ) unless tfie'Corioiis effect were
taken into account' In the 55 rnintrtes tliat it would take the missile to reach
tlre latitude of New York the earth would have rotatJ ,"-ii. about 15
S I N G I , E .C H A N N E I . "*i.
sPeedof :r mile pcr second,it will be in Chicago to New York and flew at 600
flight for irbout55 minutes.Durirrg g aall
l miles per hour without changing its
of this
ot this tirne
tirne the
the target,
tarcet. Ncrv
Ncrv York
Yor.kCitv.
eitv
Citv heading-worrldmiss New York by several
rvill
\ v r r r be
u u tlaveling
rtirveltng a
at-i8 miles
t ro m p".
lles p e r s,.",,,id
econd hundred miles to the south (assuming no
throughsolar-syitem space (the speecl of lllowance for any wind). And.if ihe
the earth's movemen, arouncl the sun) slme pilot tried t-o fly in a similar wrv
and rvill irlso be turning with tlre rotrr- from Senttle to New york, he wouli
tion of the earth at the rrite of 15 degr.ees find himself down in South America bv
of
:rf longitude
lrngitrrde per hour. horrr. As the resu-lt resu"ltof the time he crossed the meridinn throusit
these motions the rocket, at the end of Nerv York! In acturl flights a pilot con_
55 minutes, rvill come to earth in some tinullly brrnks his plune slightly left_
cornfield in northeastern Illinois, not far rvrrld, in our.hemisphere. to compenstte
flom Chicaqo! for Coriolis drift. It'shoulcl be nodd that,
The ealthbounrl observers rvho liirve large as these cleviations clue to the rota-
b e c n p l o t t i n g t h e r r p p a l e r r tp r r t h o f t l r i s tion of the ertrth are, they are still small
rocket rvith tlreir rirdar nctrvork will siry coml)lred to the effects o[ cross_wirrds
that it traced out a graceful curve rvhicir nolmally
sta-rteclout straighi south in the longi- .en_counteredin irctual {lights.
The pilot's Coriolis corrections o."'[h.,,
tude of Nerv York City, but .rr""r.E.l crbscurcdby the jockeying necessirryto
steaclil.y w,estrvarl, an'iving in Illinois c o m p e r r s a t el 0 r w i n d d r i f t . T o c o m D e n _
lrom ir tlircction irborrt I I ile[rees e:rst s:rte l'or the Curiolis drift and keeo a
o [ n o r t h . A l c s s l r l o v i r r c i r r ol b i c r v e r o r r t !0,0001ound jet fighter on ,r strai'ght
i n i r r t e r p l r r r r e t a rsyl ) r r c er v i l l s c e t l r l t t l r e terrestnll course rrt 6O0 miles nt,r hour
e f f e c t .i i c n t i r e l v i r e s r r l t o I t l r e e i r r t l r leqrrires a leftrvrrrd force of rihorrt 55
itself havins turned out fron'r uncler.the pounds in miclcllelatitudes of the North_
moving rocket. e r n H e m i s p h e r . eT. h i s t h e p i l o t m u n : r g c s
This is an iclenlized cirse; in rrctual b y ^ m . a n i p r r l l l i o r ro f t h e . p l : r n e ' su . i n g s .
situations the Coriolis effect is nruch less Raihond cirl.srrre much more massive-
eviclerrt, becuuse other forces such rrs s o t l r e C o r i o l i s r e : r c t i o ni n t h e i r .c : r s ei s
irir lesistirnce,neglectcd in this example, g r e : t l e r . A 5 0 O - t o r rl o c , o m g t i v em o v i n I
RECORDING SYSTEMS l l s o r t c t o u r n o v i r r go b j c c t s .F u r t l t c r r n i , r c . r r t 6 0 m i l e s p e r h o u r d e v e l o p sa l r L t e r r i i
r e c o r d s b y i n k l e s s . h e a l t e d the n'rotion of a
projectile fir'ed from anv l ) l ' e s s u l eo n t h e r a i l s r t r n o r r n t i n gt t r l l r o r r t
place on the earth other thirn the Pole.s 30() pounds in middle LLtitriles.This
rvoulcl be influenced not only bv the has given rise to the story thrt the rvheels
Coliolis cffect lrrrt iLlsobv tire irritiitl on tnrins weur uneven[. Srrcha result
i r n P s [ 1 1 I5l o m t h e c i r c r r m p o l r t rr o t r r t i o r r < ' o r r l dh a n l l y b e d e t e c t e d o n c o : r c h e so r
lreight crrls, rvhich for rrrilrolding r.eir-
An airplane experiences Coriolis sons have no definite right or left"sicles,
M o s s o c h u s e rrvere
clrifts rvhich rvould lercl to astonishing
e r r o l s i n l o r r g f l i g h t si I r r o c o m p e n s r r t i o i
s made for tl-ren. A jet fighter thrrt
and tlre Engineer.irrgDepartment of the
Union Pacific Rrrilro-rrd
iurthor that even in the case of locomo-
his inlormecl the
sct out otr ir great,circle hctcling front tive rvheels the difference of rve:rr on the
 Shqre
BAEnUe
Prestige!
degleesa-rrdtraveled along its orbit sorue59,000nriles.WitIi1 t[e coordilate You'r.l say with pride, "I'm a Boeing
:l_lt:ru of the earth rhe rnissile would appear to descr.ibethe trajectory A,C,. engineer!" For Boeing men meet the
highest standards and enjoy the pres.
within tlre coordi'are_systerrr-of the sun and all th.eplanets, it Hiould ip1r"u.
to descrilre the path AC' igruy tine running diagonally ocrorr'rioro r*o pogcs tige of engineering leadership. They
). rvork on such vital and challenging
p r o j e c t s a s g u i d e d n r i s s i l e s ,s u p e r s o n i c
flanges of tl.reright and left whcels is too could develop. Hence there would be no research, the stilltlassified 8.52 eight-
small to be measured. jet heavy bomber, the six.jet 84? me-
opporturrity for the build-up of the in_
dium bomber, and other revolutionary
tense cyclones and the lnrge inticyclones programs.
\f/HY lS SO universrl (one should thut control and give vaii:rbility'to otir.
ty sll, "so terrestlial") an effect not Ae a Boeing engirreer, you'll share
weatlrer, and oui weather rvoultl bc asaignments rvith men who have pio.
readily allp:trent in our. ever.ydiry lc- mucli less changenble than it is. This is neered some of the most excitins new
t i v i t i e s ? ' l ' l r e r r n s r v c li s t l r t t f o r m , r n v precisely the sihration in the Tropics, d e v e l o p m e r r t si r r b o t h c i v i l i a r r a n d m i l i .
moving objects the tender.rcy towarcl i 'r,"ru iary aviation.
where the Coliolis efiect is r"ro o.
lateral drift is <1uiteeasily corurteracted small. In that almost Coriolis-free beft Boeing has cxcellent openings, right
as the motions ploceed. Thus in the case irny atmosplreric pressure pr, now, for experienced and junior
di{ferences
of the clr speed;ng dorvn the highway produced by heatiirg of the air rrt the engineers for sircraft
rrt 60 miles per hour. the poterrtlal 15 gr'ollnd rnd a are
re q quickly
u i c k l y ismootlred
mootlred o o DESIGN o RESEARCH
out,
u t , ::rrrd
rrrd
feet o[ shift per rnile is prevented by the t.[re
t l r e region
r e g i o r rhas
l r r r srvell
r v e l l earned
e r r r n e dthe
o DEYELOPMENT o PRODUCTION
t l r c name
r r i r m eol:
ol
frictional lesistarrc.e o[ tlrc tires to latenrl "the doldrums." Hrrlricrneq o TOOLING
Hurricanes :rnrl and rrr- ty-
motion. p l r o o r r sr r e v e rf o r m c l o s e rt o t l r e E r t u i r t o r also for scrvo-mechanism and elec-
A rvalking rnan makes corrections for tronics designcrs and analysts, and
tharr about five degreesof latitude.
for physicists and mathematicians
the CorioliJe{Iect easily and quito un- Avvay from tlie Erluator, horvever, with advanced degrees.
consciously. O,n frictionless ice that pre- the case is very different. There the Your choice of locations-Seattle in
vented his making any small lateral cor- Coriolis acceleration causcs rvinds to the Pacific Northwest, orWichita. Kans.
rections ( l>ut sornehorv still rtermitted veer around and ltlorv nt right angles to Boeing provides generous moving and
Irim to rv:rlk!) rr nr,rn rvirlkirrg rrt four 'parll-
tne p.l:tt"."_graclient,
pressure gracltent, inste.rd insterr of travel allowances, givee you special
miles pel lrour rvorrld drift flom lris in- lh: training, and pays a good salary that
lel wrthrvith rt.it. TheI he result is the pattern of
tended straigl.rt path by about 250 feet grows with you. Enjoy a rewarding,
strong lorvs and highs anci cir.cular
long,.range career in a rompany that
at the end of one mile. Lost ^a ltolar ex- movement that is responsible for chr-rnges h_aas 6b e e n g r o w i n g s t e a d i l y f o r 3 5 -yyeeaarrss..
plorers are reported to have strong rn our weather. You'll be proud ro be a memlier of
tendency to circle sterdily toward the On other planets, where tl-re :rngulirr the great Boeing "team."
right near tl.re North Pole :rnd to the left velocity of rotation is different fronr-that
near the South Pole; this marz very well of tl.re earth, the Coriolis efiect is cor- WRITE TODAY TO THE ADDRESS BELOW
be due to the Coriolis efieci, *hi"h i, OR USE THE CONVENIENT COUPON
respondinglydifferent. Jupiter and Sat-
responding
tbout 50 per cent stronger at the Poles urn must have very mrrked
mnrked Coriolis
l---- ---I
than in middle latitudes. It is said that effects, beeause each rotates about two
even the penguins in the Antarctic wad- :rnd a half times more r.apidly than does ! tOlff C.SANDERS, I
srltrEriginccr-pcrsonnrl
dle in arcs to the left, but this the au- the earth.. Their atmospf,eres of hyclro- I DEPT.C.5 I
thor will have to see to believe. gen, methane and amrironia must have I BoelngAlrplaneCompany,
Seatile11,Wash. I
ll
very steep pressure gradients, if their E n g i n e e r i n go p p o r i u n i l i e s a i B o e i n gi n l e r e s i
; l
AMONG ALL the physical phenom- winds compare in st;ength with ours. m e , P l e a s es e n d m e f u r l h e r i n f o r m a l i o n
fL 6n1 in which the Coriolis effect plays In contrast, the atmosphere of Venus is Nqme
a role, the most striking is the weather. probably very calm, because Venus ro-
Were it.not for the Coriolis effect. rvinds tates much more slowlv than the earth-
on the earth would rush directly from perhaps once in about 30 terrestrial Cltv ond State
higher-pressure areas to lower-piessure 1
days.
ones, and no strong "highs" or "lows"
Just as the motionsof the atmosphere

75

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TheHeilondReseorch
Corporotion superimposed, in fact,
l3O EostFifth Avenue, Denver 9, Colorsdo
de endoble
inslrumenls
exhibit the Coriolis efiect, so also do the
more ponderous movements of the great
ocean cun'ents. To simplifv the piJture
a- bit, let us assume thit the derisity of
the sea is uniform. The oceans are not
perfectly level, for the rvinds shift the
waters and give them a gentle relief.
Since wirter fows downhill, the natural
tendency of the oceans' water is to flow
trom regions where the mean sea_level
is relatively high to those where it is
lower. But as soolr as the water tries to
move- in so forthright a fashion, the
Coriolis drilt causes"the moving water
to veer off to the right (in the N"orthern
Hemisphe-re). trveitually the currents
flow steadilv along the contour lines,
with the rvater surTacesloping ,lp*".d
to the right irs one looks inihe"diriection
of flow. In practice, of course. internal
ecldy-stresses rvithin the ocean irnd the
winds blowing across the sea surface
..?.djfy, this trinrl. Brrt the general nrle
still holds
Lest the reirder mistakenly conclude
tlrat he shoukl hitve slroited these
oceanic hills and virllevs on his last sea
vo_virge. it shotrld be mentiorred that the
total differencc of metn height across
even the fastest-moving pnii, of the
Culf Stream system is oily'about a foot
and a hall in some 80 or d0 miles. Even
this modest slope is only partly due to
Coriolis effects, the t"-"ir,.1", iesulting
from the sort of hor.izontal .l""siii
gradients we have agreed to overlooli.
Yet, slight as such suti"ce slopesmav be.
they.constitute a mirjor frrctoi in tne ar_
nitmics of the oceun-cur-renrs.
!,0,,
JJ 'bS.
p)EOPLE ON tlre Plcific Co:rst :rr.e
I well acrluaintedrvith certain other
consequences of the Coriolis accelera_
tion, though not mitnv rellize tlris is
the cause.Coriolis driftls mninlv resl)on_ is.a.theory
sible for the notorious Califoinia iogs
and the colclness of the rvater on C,rii_ the Coriolis
fornia's beaches. Off the Cnlifornia coast.
where tlre prevrriling rvinds are from the
northrvest, the rvirrd stress and Coriolis
clrift genernllv combine to make the
coirstal rvaters sidle off in a southrvest- of the homing
erly direction. As rvrrter is transoortecl
irway frorn tlre shore torvanl the south- speetl
west, the deficit must be made uD some_ Coriolis
horv. The rvater moving offsho,; is re-
placed by rvater r.isingfiom helorv. This
uprvellirrt lrrirrgs up- rvrrter frorn cold
stnrtrrly.irrgat deptlrs as great rs severirl tect slight
h u n < l r e <l le e t . A s r Lr e s r r l tt h e r e i s i r c o o l tion, irnd
strip of rvirter along the Californirr coast,
on the :tlreirclv speed, it mrry be able to serrseiis qeo.
cool California Current florving clown
from the north. In surnmer. thE u,irrrn
moist Pircific air streaming ir-r from the
Iiorthrvestis cooled br the-coiLstirl
rvrrter, t-rrcesirr the ntirirrteelectromotive for.ccs
rild this is rvhat formi the foes for rvhicli
C l l i f o r r r i r r l e g r e t s t o b e [ : r n i o r r sA
. s i r r r - t l r l o u g h t h e e a r t h ' sn r a g r r e t i cf i e l d ,
ilirr situation lrrevrils off the coust of
Pelu ar-rdparti of the' rvestern corrst of
Af ricir.
Some gerokrgistsbelieve the, Cor.iolis rretic poles
effect ciruses ii river to er.ocleone of its
banks faster than the other. The Russian
scientists P. A. Slavsov and Karl von
Baer reported. that river valleys in
Si_
belia tend to have steep walls on their
rjght.side and gently sioping *"11,
on
their left side. Si'milai asymmEt.ieshave
been observed in some Aiaskan ,iu".r,
i,.,
the Missouri River and i., u .rr-r.lr".
streams^onLong Island. This surrrrosecl
oT
ettect ot the Coriolis drift is ,orn"ti_.,
crilled Baer's law. But students
effect have not all been willing ; ;;t.il,
of the
ute it to the Coriolis infuence. Even
in a river a mile wide flowing at
the fast
rate o_f ffve miles pe. hour" in
latitudes of the No^rthern Hemisphere.
*idJi;
the Coriolis drift to the right ;;fJ;;l;
! p . t h e r v i r t e ro n l v a l i t t l e , i r o . . t f , " , , i i " .
inch. higher- at [he right b"nk
ih,;,r- ;;
*t, bank. possibly such a slight
:l-: rlif_
in height might cause sig"nificunt
::L"1""
clrfferencesin erosion over
gJological
periods of time, but the rluesti-on is"still
unsettled.
-fhl;
is as gootl a place us any to cor_
::", T".p,ersistent- misconception rhat
the Lioriolis lcceleration ciruses tlre
water to run out of a rvashbowl
in a
clockrvise direction in the No.th".r,
Hemisphere and counterclockrvise
irr
the Southern Hemisphere. The Coriolis
rnfllrence is so small at the velocitv
of
rvater in a washbowl, the time invoivecl
is so short and other factors are
so
numerous (hands, noncirculirr
borvl_
shapes, r_non) that one may fecl
ld
sure the Coriolis effect is never in cbntrol
here. This is regrettable, U"",,,r* ii
ii
were, a rvashbowl rvould constitute
a
useful analoguc of a cyclone in the ai_
mosDnere.
E SHALL consider one rnore Dos_
sible caseo[ l Coriolis effect. Tllcrc
that some birds may be guicl_
ed in their migrations by sensitivilv to
acciler.ation to q"o#,,g_
netic latitude. H. L. yeaglev "n._l
o"f penfi_
sylvania Strrte College "hrrs recentlir
.
studied this amazing tf,eory in an effo,:t
to d,etermirrethe navigrting technirlues
pigeonl
When a biid-flies lt constrnt sr.ourrcl
in the Northern HemisnhEre. its
accelerution towrrd ihe .ieht
glows greater the farther north it flies.
Yeirgley suggests thrrt if, throrrgh sorne
delicrrte sensorv or-grrn.the birtl.-c:rncle.
cliffer.eni.esin this lcceler.rr-
cirn contbine tl-ris infor.rnrrtion
rvith an tccurirte estimate of its grouncl
g n t p h i c r t l l i t t i t r r d e .I f , r r t t h e s , r n r et i n e ,
rtrrothtr sensor.yorg:rn rvitlr the neces-
siLrv electricirl'propierties senses difier.-
generlted bv virtue of the bircl's motion
tlrerr
t l r i s p l r r s t l r e l r i r - d ' se s t i i r u t e o f i t s s r r e e t l
rvorrld provide :r brisi:,for sensing'geo_
rnilgnetic lrtitude. Norv, since tlre*niag_
of tlre errr.tlrure rlispl,rccl<l
sorne l0 <lcgreesfrom tlre geogr,iplric,rl
 poles, the parallels of geomagnetic lati-
tude form-a grid with"the p"arallels of
geographical latitude, and wiih this qrid
it is theoretically possible to navisatj.
Most pfrlsicisti would regaid the
.
theory as of very low a priori pla'usibilitv.
Even assuming that a'bird's sen'sesaie
so delicate th;t it can detect tlie tinv
differences in Coriolis rrccelerationanll
magnetic field, these cnnnot be trans-
lated into latitude until the bird has com-
pared each efiect rvith a very precise
estimate of its ground speed.- Further-
more, the bird iust so.niho* allow for
the effect of cross-rvinds, which is nor-
mally much greater than the Coriolis
drift. As if this rvere not enough. the bird
rvoulcl have to defy relativity theorv.
which says that it could not clistinsuiih
the efiecis of the normol ot-orpi".l"
electric fteld from those induced bv the
bird's motion through the earth's mag-
netic field. Yet despite thcse difficulties.
certain leatures of Yerrglev'stheory seem
to have been borne o"i bv his exiensive
strrcliesrvith lroming pigeons.
If fruther' ."r""."X ihdulrl confirm the
rnagnetic-Coriolis theory of bird navi_
g i r t i o n , t l r e s o h r t i o no f t l i i s t l . , t , pm v s t e r v
of the animal world will be ."ih"i rnu..
a s t o n i s h i n gt h r r r rt l r c o r i g i n a l m v s t e r y . I t
worrld_certainlybe startling to lerrrnihtt
this efiect has been used }iy generations
of golden plovers and Aicti"c terns to
hold true to their coursesas thev flv over
thousands of miles of tracklesi o'""",rr.
Whether the birds are really thrt
clever or not, we may be rluite suie that
they inexorably tend to drift as thev flv.
All things that move over the turf^"" 6f
our _ spinning earth, whether birds,
winds, rivers, oce:rn crrrrents, explorers,
cars, trains, bullets or rockets, ire in-
evitably subjected to this efiect as we
view them in our terrestriirl coordinate
systems. Even r,vhen man gets away
from his planetrrry home :rnrlltakes orit
better-behaved coordinlte svstems irr
interplanetrrry space,he will not be rrble
to omit consideration of the Coriolis ef-
fect from his dynamics. For the solar
system itself, aiong with all its neirr
neighbors, is slowly- brrt srrrelv rotating
:rround the Irub of our girltxy. somc
30,000 light-vears arvay. Undoubtedly
a precise analvsis of the waddling of
Ant:rrctic penguins rvould show not only
Coriolis effects due to the earth's circum-
polirr lotation, ancl similar but smaller
effects clue to oul pltnet's annual circuit
arouncl the sun, bnt also a tinv Coriolis
d r i f t t l r r e t o t l r e s t : L t e l vr v l r i r l o l ' o r r l s o l r r r '
system about tl.re ceirter of the galaxy.
Hele we find ourselves in somewhat
the surne situation ns Archimedes with
his earth-n'roving lever-all roe need to
demonstlrrte oui point is a suitable co-
ordinirte svstent.

Iames E. NlcDonald is as-

sistantprofessorof plrysics
0t Ioua Statc College.