Boomerang - Boomerang (English spelling)

Japanese: ブーメラン - ぶーめらん(英語表記)boomerang
Boomerang - Boomerang (English spelling)

A hunting tool used by Australian aborigines. It was used to catch birds and small animals such as pheasants, ducks, and pigeons. It is a flat wooden stick shaped like a "U" that is thrown at the prey and is known to return to the thrower if it misses. It has a cross section similar to the wing of an airplane, and it has been experimentally confirmed that it first flies straight toward the prey, then changes direction, rises, then descends, and falls in a spiral state near the thrower. During flight, the boomerang continues to fly while tilting its center like a top. It is thought that the air resistance generated at that time changes the lift caused by the shape of the wing, causing this movement. Some boomerangs do not return to the thrower, and similar types of projectiles are found in the upper Nile region of Egypt, so they have been attracting attention from ethnologists since early on as a sign of a very ancient culture. The origin of the boomerang is thought to be a tool like a throwing stick, but in some areas, iron throwing knives are used. In ancient Egypt, it was used as a weapon.

[Takao Nakamura]

"Why does the boomerang return?" by Rogelgist (included in "Physics Walks", 1972, Iwanami Shoten)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

オーストラリア先住民の間で使われた狩猟具。キジ、ノガモ、ハトなどの鳥や小動物をとらえるのに用いた。「く」の字形の平らな木の棒で、獲物に向かって投げ、命中しない場合には投げ手の近くに戻ってくることで知られている。飛行機の翼に似た断面をもち、最初、獲物に向かって直進し、やがて向きを変えて上昇したのち下降し、きりもみ状態で投げ手の付近に落ちることが実験的にも確かめられている。飛行中のブーメランは、こまのように中心を傾けながら回転して飛び続ける。そのとき生じる空気抵抗が羽根の形によって引き起こされる揚力に変化を与え、このような動きをするのだと考えられている。ブーメランには投げ手のところに戻らないものもあり、似た形態の飛び道具はエジプトのナイル川上流地域にもみられるので、きわめて古い文化の名残(なごり)を残す目印として民族学では早くから注目されてきた。ブーメランの起源は投げ棒のような用具だったと思われるが、鉄製の投げ小刀が使われている地方もある。古代エジプトでは武器として使われた。

[中村たかを]

『ロゲルギスト著『ブーメランはなぜ戻る』(『物理の散歩道』所収・1972・岩波書店)』

出典 小学館 日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について 情報 | 凡例

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