The first systematic treatise on the physics of
billiards, now available in English...
Learn more about this book, including how to
order your copy.
Early billiard cues did not have leather tips. They just ended in a
small flat, circular face. The shooter was limited to center-ball hits,
and the game must have been rather dull and predictable.
At the dawn of the 19th century, enter one Captain Mingaud, something
of a political misfit, and as will be seen, perhaps a sort of precursor
to the modern pool-hall degenerate...
The very cool
website of Professor David
("Dr Dave") Alciatore on pool and billiards