We don’t often think of it this way, but the everyday work of scientists frequently comes down to sewing, welding or hammering together simple materials like elastic, metal tubes and plastic to create the devices that will allow them to conduct their experiments.
Mechanical engineer Jason Moore knows this all too well. To conduct an experiment on the mechanics of bicycle-riding, he even used a sewing machine.
Moore’s doctoral dissertation on the complex mechanisms by which a rider balances atop a bike required him to build a research bicycle at the University of California, Davis. We filmed Moore for our story about the science of riding a bicycle. In this slideshow you can explore some of the bike’s components and the work that went into creating them: