Book Description
John Taylor has brought to his new book, Classical Mechanics, all of the clarity and insight that made his Introduction to Error Analysis a best-selling text.Classical Mechanics is intended for students who have studied some mechanics in an introductory physics course, such as "freshman physics."With unusual clarity, the book covers most of the topics normally found in books at this level, including conservation laws, oscillations, Lagrangian mechanics, two-body problems, non-inertial frames, rigid bodies, normal modes, chaos theory, Hamiltonian mechanics, and continuum mechanics.A particular highlight is the chapter on chaos, which focuses on a few simple systems, to give a truly comprehensible introduction to the concepts that we hear so much about.At the end of each chapter is a large selection of interesting problems for the student, 744 in all, classified by topic and approximate difficulty, and ranging for simple exercises to challenging computer projects. Already in its Second Printing, Taylor's Classical Mechanics is a thorough and very readable introduction to a subject that is four hundred years old but as exciting today as ever. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Great book
This book is well written and is easy to learn from whether taking a Classical Mechanics class or learning it on your own. Unlike some books that expect you to know Differential Equations, this one sets it up for you along the way.
It also has 11 chapters for a mechanics class and six bonus chapters that can be used as supplementary material.
I would recommend this book for future students.

An excellent text
This textbook is comprehensive, clearly written, well-paced, and thoughtful. Taylor clearly is an experienced professor and understands well how to convey material to students. Whether this text is required for your intermediate/advanced undergraduate classical mechanics course or you are someone who wishes to brush up on mechanics, this is the book.

Clear, thorough, and enjoyable
"Classical mechanics" is a brilliant book, certainly one of the very best at this level. The author doesn't save space when a thorough introduction to a topic or problem is needed. Very often an intuitive explanation is given first, followed by a formal exposition, and then comes the real gem - a qualitative discussion of the mathematical results which brings physics again in the picture with full force. The chapters on oscillations are outstanding, same as the exposition of generalized coordinates and generalized forces. Of course, not every detail in derivations has to be given, and it is the choice of what to include and what to skip that makes the flow of exposition logical and coherent. This book is a joy to read, it is excellent for self-study.

Very clear
Though I can't compare too much with other mechanics books, as a current undergrad I think Taylor's book is excellent compared to other physics texts I've had. The text is very clear and readble, with several examples and enjoyable problems.

The best of them all
The five "reviews" before mine are all from undergraduate physics majors at Amherst College.All five students were in the same class, which used a pre-publication edition of Taylor's book.I think their reviews reflect these facts, and say more about the students than they do about the book.

That being said, I also used pre-publication editions, but as a professor teaching the class.Before this book I had used the other "standards" (Marion and Thorton, etc).Taylor's book is by far the best of all of them.In fact I enjoyed it so much that I gave the author a lot of feedback about the material covered in the chapters and the problems.I wouldn't have spent all that time on the book if I didn't believe it was one of the best physics books I've ever read.

I use the book in the Jr-Sr mechanics course at Bates College.Since our students have already had a semester of classical mechanics from the book by Kleppner and Kolenkow, I begin with Chapter Six in Taylor's book (Calculus of Variations).The presentation is meticulous, the concepts are explained clearly and correctly (not always the case in other books), and the examples are carefully chosen.The problems are carefully chosen and carefully worded.Sometimes they present new material, e.g., the Thomas Precession, the rapidity, etc., using examples that clearly illustrate the essential points.

I also have taught the first six chapters and they are very refreshing and well-written.They are at just the right level for a student coming out of a calculus-based introductory physics course and, in addition, give a wonderful discussion of air resistance and viscious forces as they apply to automobiles, oil drops in the Millikan experiment, and many other practical situations.The examples are quite interesting and informative, and it was refreshing to read Taylor's original treatment of this important yet often short-changed subject.

Although this is a "first" edition, it comes after several pre-publication editions, all of which were class tested.Consequently, material that students found hard to understand was rewritten, hints were added to some of the problems, and essentially all the typographical errors were discovered and corrected.So the book has none of the drawbacks usually associated with first editions.

I especially enjoyed the optional chapter on Chaos.It is one of the best presentations of this potentially confusing subject I have ever read.

I have assigned chapters for independent study to undergraduate senior thesis majors.All of them have commented on how helpful the book was to them and how easy it was to understand on their own.

In a post-use review in the American Journal of Physics (April 2004, Vol. 72, Issue 4, p. 559), Professor Gayle Cook said "I find this a superb text.The clarity and readability of the book is so much better than anything else on the market that I confidently predict it will soon be the most widely used book on the subject."The rest of her review is very informative and well worth reading.

Finally, to get an idea of the the clarity and excellence of John Taylor's work, be sure to look at the reviews on amazon.com of his book "An Introduction to Error Analysis." ... Read more

Book Description
In this text, the author constructs the mathematical apparatus of classical mechanics from the beginning, examining all the basic problems in dynamics, including the theory of oscillations, the theory of rigid body motion, and the Hamiltonian formalism. This modern approch, based on the theory of the geometry of manifolds, distinguishes iteself from the traditional approach of standard textbooks. Geometrical considerations are emphasized throughout and include phase spaces and flows, vector fields, and Lie groups. The work includes a detailed discussion of qualitative methods of the theory of dynamical systems and of asymptotic methods like perturbation techniques, averaging, and adiabatic invariance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Wonderful
This book is an excellent introduction to the world of classical physics for NON-PHYSICISTS.While some physicists will no doubt find it accessible, there is considerable reduction of physical concepts in order to get to the heart of the ideas underlying the formalism.Also, the material goes beyond what most physicists (non-theoreticians) will find practical.

He focuses largely on a geometric presentation, in the language of differential geometry, symplectic geometry, differential forms, Riemannian manifolds and includes a large amount of algebraic necessities.This is not a cookbook for learning how to solve classical mechanics, nor is it a math book per se, but it is a wonderful collection of introductions to a vast amount of useful mathematical formalism that permeates the physical literature.I would strongly recommend it to someone needing a thorough supplementary mechanics text, one that relies on very little physical insight and focuses on the geometric and algebraic structures underlying them.

The chapters are very well self-contained for the most part so you can skip to topics you find more appealing without feeling lost.Also, his presentation style is very clever, in case you're a fan of quick thinking and novel presentations (who isn't?).

The prerequisites are familiarity with somewhat advanced calculus and "mathematical maturity".Basic knowledge of group theory would also make it an easier read.

A unique, masterful and enjoyable book for graduate student in physics
The book is full of little enjoyable details (jewels). Arnold is one of the few mathematicians which approaches problems with a very geometric point of view. In his interview with S.H. Lui he mentions how algebraic picture has dominated the research in mathematics and how he has tried to counter that. One can see the trace of his ingenuity all over this book. What some may call as handwaving in math circles is indeed called as physical (or geometric) intuition in physics community and is being actively encouraged.

The chapters on oscillations (chap. 5) and perturbation theory (chap. 10) are very instructive. For example, parametric resonance is discussed concisely in chapter 5 which you won't be able to find it anywhere else. where can you learn about "Arnold's tongues" better than in Arnold's book?

There are so many appendices at the end of the book. They are often very specialized and I don't recommend you to read them on your first read.

In conclusion, I recommend this book to any physics graduate student. In fact, I hope one day it will be used as a text book for courses in classical mechanics.

I would recommend foundations of mechanics by Marsden
I have to admit that I haven't thoroughly read through this text. But judging from the first 10 pages, there is a lot of mathematical handwaving. In contrast, foundations of mechanics (hereafter FOM) is far superior in that it provides all the necessary background beyond calculus and linear algebra to the reader, and is logically consistent so far in my reading. I want to mention that there are certainly complete and excellent texts out there on functional analysis, differential geometry, and topology, but many texts include way more stuff than you would want to know. In particular, it is my humble opinion that once you get to a certain point of knowledgeability of a subject like algebraic topology, you have enough of a taste for it that to learn more of the subject would only help if you were to go into research. Therefore a book like FOM provides a concise and practical treatment of those various advanced mathematics topics.

Best book on CM
Best book on CM (based most on symplectic formulation). Extremely clear if one has enough patience to follow exactly the author's way and to work out the proposed stimulating problems. Contains an original way of introducing differential forms, integration of differential forms and homology/De Rahm's thm.: you fully get in the subject in few pages ! The first part does not make use of symplectic formalism but is also quite original and stimulating. The level is last yr. undergr. 1st yr. graduate. Very useful if used with E. ott (Chaos in Dynamical Systems) for studying nonlinear dynamics.

Encyclopedic
Extremely stimulating, uses Galileo to motivate Newton's laws instead of postulating them. Treatment of Bertrand's theorem is beautiful, but contains one error (took me 2 years before I realized where..). However, I know of only one physicist who successully worked out all the missing steps and taught from this book. I know mathematicians who have cursed it. I used/use it for inspiration. The treatment of Liouville's integrability theorem, I found too abstract, found the old version in Whittaker's Analytical Dynamics to be clearer (Arnol'd might laugh sarcastically at this claim!)--for an interesting variation, but more from the standpoint of continuous groups, see the treatment in ch. 16 of my Classical Mechanics (Cambridge, 1997). In my text I do not restrict the discussion of integrability/nonintegrability to Hamiltonian systems but include driven dissipative systems as well. Another strength of Arnol'd: his discussion of caustics, useful for the study of galaxy formation (as I later learned while doing work in cosmology). Also, I learned from Arnol'd that Poisson brackets are not restricted to canonical systems (see also my ch. 15). I guess that every researcher in nonlinear dynamics should study Arnol'd's books, he's the 'alte Hasse' in the field. ... Read more

Book Description

For thirty years this has been the acknowledged standard in advanced classical mechanics courses. This classic book enables readers to make connections between classical and modern physics - an indispensable part of a physicist's education. In this new edition, Beams Medal winner Charles Poole and John Safko have updated the book to include the latest topics, applications, and notation, to reflect today's physics curriculum. They introduce readers to the increasingly important role that nonlinearities play in contemporary applications of classical mechanics. New numerical exercises help readers to develop skills in how to use computer techniques to solve problems in physics. Mathematical techniques are presented in detail so that the book remains fully accessible to readers who have not had an intermediate course in classical mechanics. For college instructors and students.

Customer Reviews (22)

Could be worse...
Goldstein has very hit and miss moments in the book. Sometimes he is incredibly clear and sometimes he leaves a big question mark over your head with drawn out text. He could have been much more concise in his explanations as he tends to ramble on making a large chunk of text unreadable. However, every graduate student will learn the Kameltonian ;) and appreciate the way Goldstein can present a problem. I would recommend this in conjunction with Landau's text on mechanics.

Powerful, somewhat old-fashioned
This is one of the most common books used in advanced undergraduate classes in mechanics. It covers the fundamentals of the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalism, and many applications are analyzed in great depth. The book is written very carefully, and is full of insightful comments along the way. Due to this reason, the book may look a bit heavy for some readers, but time-conscious readers should be aware of the fact that many of these comments can be skipped without damage. On the other hand, those who do read all the comments learn a lot.

Unfortunately, the book is a little bit old-fashioned (the first version of the book was conceived in the late 1940s), and I believe some of the comments and lines of reasoning would be written a bit differently today. For example, the book gives the impression that Newton's laws are more fundamental than the action principle, while it is more useful to think the other way around. The presentation of field theory in the last chapter is brief and somewhat cumbersome. Nowadays, that field theory is a standard tool of modern physics (it is essential for elementary particle physics and very useful in condensed matter physics), I would prefer a book that puts more emphasis on field theory and its various applications.

Good contents but can be written clearer
I gave this book a 4-star because some parts of it are in fact not so clearly written, as some of the previous reviewers have pointed out. Yet it is probably the only book out there that explains classical mechanics at the level of sophistication and comprehensiveness suitable for an advanced physics student. This book is aimed at the graduate audience but in my opinion any undergraduate students with a solid introductory mechanics course should have no problem understanding most of the materials in this book though I have to admit that the authors did not do a very good job in explaining the concepts.

A distinct feature of this book is that it tries to teach classical mechanics in a way that illuminates many analogous approaches in quantum theory. By this I mean the theoretical constructions such as the Hamilton-Jacobi theory, Poisson brackets, canonical perturbation theory, relativistic field theory, and so on. This book is probably a must read for beginners of theoretical physics because some of the theoretical methods exploited here appear almost ubiquitously in other fields of physics. In the study of other subjects of physics, I was often reminded of the little bits of things I picked up from this book: variational principles, tensors and forms, symmetry groups, field theoretical ideas, etc.

Of course, the main goal of this book is to introduce the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations of classical mechanics. The book is actually strong in this aspect. The first few chapters I think are very well written, especially the chapter on central force which is the most thorough treatment I have seen. There are things one hardly sees in other books of this type, such as the Lenz vector which would find a beautiful use in the quantum Kepler problem. However, the book tends to lose clarity in the latter chapters. The three chapters on Hamiltonian mechanics can be much better written. The chapter on chaos serves as nothing but a really rough introduction. Readers interested in these areas will probably benefit better by looking at other books written exclusively on Hamiltonian dynamics or chaos.

After all this is a good book mostly because I haven't yet found any other book at this level that does a better job. If one finds it difficult to read I would suggest getting the book by Marion and Thornton which contains many step-by-step derivations and tons of examples and in my opinion serves as a great companion to this book. Another book at almost the same level is the legendary book by Landau which is extremely concise and get-to-the-point. So some people may like Landau's style better. However, in my opinion, no other books can really replace this one as a comprehensive treatment of classical mechanics.

Who publishes books like this?
Goldstein's Classical Mechanics is one of the worst books I have ever read on the subject. It is disturbing that it could have been published on the first place since it is full of very serious omissions and mistakes.

The classical mechanics is based on two basic experimental facts, which lie at its foundations: The Newton-Laplace principle of determinacy and Galileo's principle of relativity.These fundamental principles are never stated in the book. More over the authors are confused about such elementary notions as phase space and configuration space probably due to the fact that phase space could be identified with a tangent bundle or cotangent bundle of the configuration space depending weather we use Lagrangian or Hamiltonian formalism.

After the reading of this book novice reader might be under the false impression that the most of mechanical systems are integrable since all examples and problems stated in this book are of that type. There is no place in this book for Arnold-Liouville's theorem on integrability.

Even such elementary topics like the chapter on Rigid Body are full ofserious mistakes as mixing of the body and space coordinates. The authors prefer lengthy "intuitive" explanations to the few simple lemmas from the operator theory.

A short excursion to non-holonomic mechanics is disastrous and should be considered as totally wrong. The same goes for the chapters on canonical transformations, Hamilton-Jacobi theory and action-angle variables.

This list goes on and on.

The book in its present form is beyond repair and should not be used.

Introduction to Mechanics
Goldsteins Classical Mechanics is a standard reference in intermediate theoretical physics, suitable for second year theoretical, and third year experimental physics. Its contents include material beyond the scope of two periods, but most of the material can be covered during this time.
Classical mechanics is a mathematically modest treatment of mechanics, and the most advanced topic included is calculus of variation. However, most topics are given a rigorous treatment, and when this is not available a reference is given. Examples are somewhat sparse in the book as this is not a solution manual but a treatment of physical theory. However, working out exercises is essential for understanding the text and this is for many a turning-point, the exercises are not easy and do not simplify like problems of basic courses. But for those who work a great award awaits.
The last chapter of the book is an introduction to Chaos, with emphasis on aplication. For a more rigourous treatment differential geometry, the language of mechanics, and algebra is needed. However, it is clear that this would take the book beyond an introduction to mechanics, which it only is.
For those who have motivation and a good lecturer with notes to support the book, such as more examples, Goldsteins Classical mechanics is excellent. A note should be made, the book is probably too hard for sensible self-study, conversation and insight of others is invaluable. ... Read more

Book Description
This book is intended to provide a thorough coverage of the fundamentalprinciples & techniques of classical mechanics, an old subject that is atthe of all of physics, but in which there has also in recent years beenrapid development. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great book for those needing a good physics reference
This book covers a huge amount of classic physics techniques and theories.I bought it for the Hamiltonian section but I really like reading it.Note - I am not a physicist but I have a masters in math and do a lot ofreading for amusement in physics of all kinds. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Dreadful
Bought the book based upon the glowing reviews and got burned.

The book employs cryptic notation and lacks examples. It makes the simplest concepts confusing.

If you are a physics professor and already know the subject inside and out and want a book to torment students with -- this book is the one.

A very nice classic book.
I just bought this wonderful book recently for my recent theoretical mechanics course and I must say its a jewel. Although its not in the same level as Goldstein's classical text book (a long and very precise description of classical mechanics), Corben's book examines with Dover-like detail the basic concepts surrounding the laws basic physics (everything, from Lagrange's equations to rigid body systems). Packed with useful examples (most of them textbook like motions in a central force field), Corben's "Classical Mechanics" is a great reference in any intermediate course.

Review of Classical Mechanics by Corben and Stehle
Although there have been several excellent intermediate and graduate textbooks on classical mechanics written during the last few decades, this book, which is pitched at the advanced undergraduate/beginning graduatelevel, is one of the best.The writing throughout is mathematically lucid,and the problems, though not large in number, are stimulating.While theimportant topics of advanced theoretical mechanices are not shorted,several interesting related subjects in general physics and theoreticalengineering are concisely treated. ... Read more

Book Description
The series of texts on Classical Theoretical Physics is based on the highly successful series of courses given by Walter Greiner at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Intended for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students, the volumes in the series provide not only a complete survey of classical theoretical physics but also an enormous number of worked examples and problems to show students clearly how to apply the abstract principles to realistic problems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Classical Mechanics
I have used some of Greiner's textbooks for my teaching and my students like them very much. Greiner's series of textbooks are comprehensive, comprehensible and contain a lot of non-trivial examples worked out in detail-something that is very important for the students. Just a few gripes-there are quite a number of typos and the notation sometimes does not conform to common English usage. Future editions should make the textbooks better.

good but not enough
This book belong to good german teaching tradition, but falls
below Golstein standard.It is a good text for the exercises
but do not expect deep explanation for generatrix function,Hamilton Jacobi resolution methods and Poisson brackets
relaion to differential geomery ... Read more

Book Description
This textbook covers all the standard introductory topics in classical mechanics, including Newton's laws, oscillations, energy, momentum, angular momentum, planetary motion, and special relativity. It also explores more advanced topics, such as normal modes, the Lagrangian method, gyroscopic motion, fictitious forces, 4-vectors, and general relativity.It contains more than 250 problems with detailed solutions so students can easily check their understanding of the topic. There are also over 350 unworked exercises which are ideal for homework assignments. Password protected solutions are available to instructors at www.cambridge.org/9780521876223. The vast number of problems alone makes it an ideal supplementary text for all levels of undergraduate physics courses in classical mechanics. Remarks are scattered throughout the text, discussing issues that are often glossed over in other textbooks, and it is thoroughly illustrated with more than 600 figures to help demonstrate key concepts. ... Read more

Book Description
This best-selling classical mechanics text, written for the advanced undergraduate one- or two-semester course, provides a complete account of the classical mechanics of particles, systems of particles, and rigid bodies. Vector calculus is used extensively to explore topics.The Lagrangian formulation of mechanics is introduced early to show its powerful problem solving ability.. Modern notation and terminology are used throughout in support of the text's objective: to facilitate students' transition to advanced physics and the mathematical formalism needed for the quantum theory of physics. CLASSICAL DYNAMICS OF PARTICLES AND SYSTEMS can easily be used for a one- or two-semester course, depending on the instructor's choice of topics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (48)

Best option for sophmore-level mechanis
I use this text in my spring sophomore-level mechanics class. There are no perfect texts for this level, but this is the best one out there. The book does assume that you either have a solid base of mathematics or are willing to learn during the course. That's typical in a physics class; you learn mathematics while learning physics, and so its a good introduction to the style of more advanced physics classes. While the chapter on nonlinearity doesn't fit well with the other chapters, and I wish Lagrangian's were moved later in the text, its still a better choice then most other texts for most students. Less mathematically prepared students could use Taylor's text, for example, and more mathematically prepared students should use Goldstein and landau, but this book aims at the middle of lower division physics majors.

Fantastic Textbook
I really like this book a lot. I never went to class for both quarters of my upper-division undergraduate mechanics class, and instead read Thornton and Marion religiously. I've heard friends express their dislike for it, but I think it is very clear and provides excellent perspective and insight. It is very mathematically rigorous, which I appreciate but others may not. The proofs given are typically very readable, although I often skipped over the sort of "obvious" things that the book shows in exquisite detail. Lots of great sections and topics, much interesting material covered, in addition to the basics. Highly recommended.

it gets the job done
it starts off well enough, but the chaos chapter is terrible. I did use multiple sources while i was taking an analytic mechanics course. The best part of the book is the well assorted bunch of problems.

I doubt students using this text can tackle dynamics
I doubt students using this text will be as capable in tackling dynamics problems as one would assume. Give the Physics student fed on a regular diet of this book one of those swirling, mechanical-arm problems and they'll probably be dead in the waters. This is probably one of those books that create the illusion of mastery rather than develop real skills.
Springer has a real good series on classical mechanics nowadays. That's my tip.
Disclaimer: gave up on this book and never really used it, because I think it sucks and life is too short.

worst textbook I ever had
This book is one of the reasons why I am now a math phd student, rather than a physics phd student.Unfortunately, physics departments stick to the same awful books, when they really ought to know better.It doesn't matter how much math you know--I was a senior math major.You can follow everything that is written in this book and still not learn much because the book hardly contains any real knowledge.Very little physical insight will be found here, unless you think about it for yourself and come up with your own explanations.The idea of actually understanding anything seems to be completely missing.The problems are often tedious, involving excessive computations (not that some of that isn't appropriate), with a few exceptions.Not a good textbook or reference.If you don't at least question this book, you will miss out, big time--I promise.

If you have the misfortune of having this as a text, please, at least try reading something else.Feynman's lectures cover some of the material at an elementary level.V. I. Arnold's Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics might be worth taking a look at, although it requires some mathematical sophistication for a full appreciation. ... Read more

Book Description
This book provides an introduction to geometric algebra as aunified language for physics and mathematics. It contains extensiveapplications to classical mechanics in a textbook format suitable forcourses at an intermediate level. The text is supported by more than200 diagrams to help develop geometrical and physical intuition.Besides covering the standard material for a course on the mechanicsof particles and rigid bodies, the book introduces new,coordinate-free methods for rotational dynamics and orbital mechanics,developing these subjects to a level well beyond that of othertextbooks. These methods have been widely applied in recent years tobiomechanics and robotics, to computer vision and geometric design, toorbital mechanics in government and industrial space programs, as wellas to other branches of physics. The book applies them to the majorperturbations in the solar system, including the planetaryperturbations of Mercury's perihelion.
Geometric algebra integrates conventional vector algebra (along withits established notations) into a system with all the advantages ofquaternions and spinors. Thus, it increases the power of themathematical language of classical mechanics while bringing it closerto the language of quantum mechanics. This book systematicallydevelops purely mathematical applications of geometric algebra usefulin physics, including extensive applications to linear algebra andtransformation groups. It contains sufficient material for a course onmathematical topics alone.
The second edition has been expanded by nearly a hundred pages onrelativistic mechanics. The treatment is unique in its exclusive useof geometric algebra and in its detailed treatment of spacetime maps,collisions, motion in uniform fields and relativistic precession. Itconforms with Einstein's view that the Special Theory of Relativity isthe culmination of developments in classical mechanics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

New?
Despite its name, I've seen no "new foundations" at all.Perhaps "new methods" would be better, but are they actually new?I learnt many concepts given in this book from a German book on engineering published at the beginning of the 20th century (including the "magical" i).The notation has been improved (dramatically, indeed), but I can understand why this formalism failed to succeed long ago, since most of the explanations in this book can be done more easily and intuitively with vectors and dyads--even Hestenes uses "tradicional" vectorial tools like cross product and pseudo-vectors very often. He is fond as well of topics we can find in old books on Mechanics, like ballistics and hodographs.Still, this is a valuable book for those who want to learn geometric algebra or to see Mechanics from a different point of view, even if, IMO, it is essentially a notational and computational trick.
Update: After re-reading it I would lower the rating to two stars: Lagrangianformalism is elementary and minimal, there is nothing on continuum mechanics, and it has some mistakes.

A problem with relativistic mechanics...
David Hestenes is a forerunner of the modern development of Clifford algebra. His current research activities can be followed in the site http://modelingnts.la.asu.edu/GC_R&D.html. Probably his most important book until now (written with Garret Sobczyk) was "Clifford Algebra to Geometric Calculus: A Unified Language for Mathematics and Physics" (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1984) also available at Amazon.com. This book on the new foundations for classical mechanics (second edition) was written as an introduction to geometric algebra. The term "geometric algebra" was coined to stress that this formulation of Clifford algebra is a unified language for physics and mathematics; it is not a matrix algebra (as used in quantum mechanics in the disguised forms of Pauli and Dirac matrices) as it uses a new property, the contraction, which makes it different from other associative algebras. A recent book on geometric algebra is "Geometric Algebra for Physicists" by Chris Doran and Anthony Lasenby (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003) - see the site http://www.mrao.cam.ac.uk/~clifford/.

Geometric algebra is a graded algebra based on the geometric product of vectors which reduces to the inner product (a scalar) when the two vectors are parallel and to the outer product (a bivector) when the two vectors are orthogonal. The geometric product is associative and can be used in spaces with any dimension (as opposed to the cross product of vectors which is not associative and can only be used in three or seven dimensions). Therefore, the geometric product is able to generate several graded algebras: (i) in two dimensions we recover the complex numbers as elements of a real algebra, not as elements of a field; (ii) in three dimensions we get a geometric algebra that is far better than the Gibbsian approach mainly due to the geometric role of rotors is reflections and rotations; (iii) in four dimensions we obtain the so-called spacetime algebra which is perfect for Minkowski spacetime within the context of special relativity - see the paper from Hestenes in American Journal of Physics (vol. 71, pp. 691-714, June 2003). Hamilton's quaternions are properly understood. Even as a new gauge theory of gravity on flat spacetime Hestenes' geometric algebra plays a very important role - see the paper from Hestenes in Foundations of Physics (vol. 25, pp. 903-970, June 2005). The clear and insightful approach that geometric algebra can bring to the Dirac equation is also remarkable.

My only problem with this book is due to Chapter 9 on relativistic mechanics. In this chapter Hestenes takes the usual approach that can be found in traditional four-vectors, by representing an event as a paravector, i.e., as a sum of a scalar and a three-dimensional vector (in Euclidean space). This kind of approach doesn't take advantage of geometric algebra (as in his article on spacetime algebra for Am. J. Phys.) because spatial vectors are not directly linked to an observer (and to its proper time) as they are in spacetime algebra where the so-called space-time split clearly leads to an invariant and proper formulation of physics. In Chapter 9, indeed, these paravectors induce a relativistic approach and not a proper approach. Nevertheless, apart from this remark, my overall comment on this book is very positive.

Doesn't stand on its own
While I found this a reasonably well-written text, I judge a book based upon how well it stands on its own - that is, can I read the book, work through the exercises, and acquire a grasp of the topic.While this is a much clearer and more accessible intro to geometric algebra than Hestene's "Clifford Algebra to Geometric Calculus", it is more the type of book which would accompany a class in GA, where the instructor fills-in the gaps, rather than a stand-alone text.The worked exercises are relatively few, and are typically of the nature:start with this, magic, more magic, resulting answer.It lacks sufficient explanation, is not self-contained, but this can be partially overcome with additional resources.

Great for physicists, okay for others
This is a great introduction to the Geometric (Clifford) Algebra.It'sfundamentally a physics textbook, however.Those readers whose only desireis to learn the Geometric Algebra might feel some frustration at having toseparate out the Geometric Algebra from the physics.Readers that preferlearning by exploring applications and examples will like this book; thosethat prefer explanations in the abstract will still enjoy many sections,but will have to make it through the more applied sections to get the fullstory.

Reading the book and working through the problems gives a firmgrounding in the use of the Geometric Algebra and teaches classicalmechanics besides.I could easily recommend this book as a physicstextbook on its merits in that area alone.

Excellent place to start learning Clifford Algebra.
A briliantly pedagogical introduction to Clifford Algebra as a unifiedalgebraic language for Newtonian Mechanics in three dimensions. The book isfull of applications and nonstandard approaches which simply cannot befound anywhere else. This is essential reading for anyone interested inClifford Algebras or who wants a deeper appreciation for classicalmechanics. This is a lot of book... ... Read more

Book Description
Gregory's Classical Mechanics is a major new textbook for undergraduates in mathematics and physics. It is a thorough, self-contained and highly readable account of a subject many students find difficult. The author's clear and systematic style promotes a good understanding of the subject; each concept is motivated and illustrated by worked examples, while problem sets provide plenty of practice for understanding and technique. Computer assisted problems, some suitable for projects, are also included. The book is structured to make learning the subject easy; there is a natural progression from core topics to more advanced ones and hard topics are treated with particular care. A theme of the book is the importance of conservation principles. These appear first in vectorial mechanics where they are proved and applied to problem solving. They reappear in analytical mechanics, where they are shown to be related to symmetries of the Lagrangian, culminating in Noether's theorem. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great for self study
This is the best mechanics textbook I've found for actually learning the subject. The text is well set out and easy to read and there are LOTS of examples with full solutions. Once I'd studied these I found I could do most of the problems. Another good thing is that the book gives the answers to ALL the problems, not just a select few which can be very frustrating. I give this textbook a grade A (and so do the Mathematical Association of America whose review has just appeared on their web site [...]).

A large dissapointment
I used this text for my advanced freshmen mechanics course and found it absolutely abysmal. What happens is that most of the time where a discussion on physical implications is needed, a mathematical approach is used. For example in my class we usedchapter 7 as our introduction to angular momentum and orbits, and gregory introduces the idea of angular momentum as a number that results from an integration of the equation of motion. Although this might be a valid approach it provides little to no sense of why or how things work the way they do. This on top of the fact that i was constantly having to check to see if the answer in the back was right made my life much harder. Id suggest buying kleppner and kolenkow for a good physical intuition along with a high caliber of math and problems, or taylor. The upside is this book does have generally good problems, i just wish the text would give you the background neccesary to do them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Classical and Computational Solid Mechanics (Advanced Series in Engineering Science)
The authors are very keen on this area. The book is suite for the researcher.

Fung's Solid Mechanics
I was an acquaintance of Professor Y.C. "Burt" Fung when he wrote his classic Solid Mechanics book - "Foundations of Solid Mechanics." He had just left Cal Tech to work in the field of Biomechanics at UC San Diego. This book contains much of the same material, updated to the present time, with very nice historical writings about the founders of Solid Mechanics.This is an excellent reference for anyone that considers themself a solid mechaniker.

Elasticity reference
I found it to be an excellent reference for Elasticity and Inelasticity material.It is a good addition to my library.

Bible for solid mechanics
A great bible in solid mechanics created by 2 excellent masters from China, which have fundamantal contributions to contemperary mechanics and FEM.
In first part, you will read the complete methodology in classic solid mech. While in second part, the outline of FEM has been demonstrated clearly. ... Read more

Book Description

Featuring state-of-the-art computer based technology throughout, this comprehensive book on classical mechanics bridges the gap between introductory physics and quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics and optics—giving readers a strong basis for their work in applied and pure sciences.Introduces Mathcad, using it in to do mathematical calculations, solve problems, make plots and graphs, and generally provide more in-depth coverage and a better understanding of physics. Pays special attention to such topics of modern interest as nonlinear oscillators, central force motion, collisions in CMCS, and horizontal wind circulation. For physicists and astronomers.

Customer Reviews (12)

I liked it.
I"ve used an older library edition of this text for self study.And it is a good readable book.The subject was developed thoroughly.The other reviewers (probably the same guy reviewing over and over again) are pretty harsh.I did not spot out too many typos, and I've read the entire thing (all but the last couple of chapters, which I'm working on now).It's a good solid book, that I'm looking to buy now for my shelf.

Good book!!
This is a very good book. Understand that there are many typos. However, there is one person from Holland who has edited a list of printing error from ch1~14,e-mail frenken@phys.leidenuniv.nl. Or, you can do a Google search to find the website. Don't think it is that mathematical. For those who found difficulty reading it, I will suggest spend some time on "div,grad,curl and all that,3/e" by h.m.schey. Then, you will have better understanding regarding what is force, field and most of it ,the vector calculus.

GOOD BOOK
It is very mathematical book. I have trouble reading it but I liked it at the end when I understood everything in it.

One of the best books in mechanics
I am in a Ph.D student in Physics. I used this book as a reference. There are some cool diagrams in the book. It is ve ry Mathematical. You will like it if you are good in Math.

Decent Book. Lots of examples
I used this book as a reference when I was taking a mechanics course at Stanford. Contrary to many other reviewers, I actually liked the book because it gives a lot of examples and cover some interesting topics that other textbooks do not mention. Overall, it is a comprehensive introduction to mechanics. ... Read more

Book Description
This monograph draws on two traditions: the algebraic formulation of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, and the geometric theory of classical mechanics. These are combined in a unified treatment of the theory of Poisson algebras of observables and pure state spaces with a transition probability. The theory of quantization and the classical limit is discussed from this perspective. A prototype of quantization comes from the analogy between the C*- algebra of a Lie groupoid and the Poisson algebra of the corresponding Lie algebroid. The parallel between reduction of symplectic manifolds in classical mechanics and induced representations of groups and C*- algebras in quantum mechanics plays an equally important role. Examples from physics include constrained quantization, curved spaces, magnetic monopoles, gauge theories, massless particles, and $theta$- vacua. The book should be accessible to mathematicians with some prior knowledge of classical and quantum mechanics, to mathematical physicists and to theoretical physicists who have some background in functional analysis. ... Read more

Book Description
This book presents contributions on the following topics: discretization methods in the velocity and space, analysis of the conservation properties, asymptotic convergence to the continuous equation when the number of velocities tends to infinity, and application of discrete models. It consists of ten chapters. Each chapter is written by applied mathematicians who have been active in the field, and whose scientific contributions are well recognized by the scientific community. ... Read more

Book Description
The material for these volumes has been selected from the past twenty years' examination questions for graduate students at the University of California (Berkeley), Columbia University, the University of Chicago, MIT, State University of New York at Buffalo, Princeton University and the University of Wisconsin. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

My new bibles
All of these books titled "Problems and Solutions on (subject): Major American Universities Ph.D. Qualifying Questions and Solutions" are invaluable tools for a physics graduate student, in my experience.When doing homework assignments, studying for exams or the qualifying exam itself, most graduate students should be elated to have an arsenal of solved problems at their disposal.I have purchased nearly every one of these books and I use them often.The biggest books (mechanics, quantum, and E&M) are fantastic resources for qualifier problems and examples. When I show these books to my fellow students, they immediately ask me where they can get a copy of their own.

One criticism: The index is sparse.It seems as though many problems are not listed under obvious key words.However, I have a suggestion for those that are also frustrated by this. Whenever I encounter an interesting problem, I go into the index and look under all of the obvious key words. If the problem is not listed, I add the problem number to the index in that spot.In all of my copies of these books, I am creating a comprehensive index.It takes time, but it is almost instructive to do this editing for it makes one more familiar with the book.

One other thing:I haven't found many errors, but I have found a few. Usually they are not apparent until one is working through the little details of a problem.

If you are a student in physics, I suggest that you get your hands on these books.

Studying for your exams???Buy this book!
Work and understand all of the problems in this book and you will pass your Physics Ph.D. qualifying exam in Mechanics.I did it!

Way to Go..
This is by far, in my opinion, the best book for Mechanics. I was looking for a cheap, good book. And what I got, is simply THE BEST! There were alot of examples...explanations, etc.. And best of all, written by 27 Physicists?? How's that for a personal tutor who charges app. [...]???

AWESOME!!!
This mechanics book is awesome.The problems on Hamiltonian and Lagrangian dynamics are clear and excellent in preparing students for exams.Also, for undergrads, this book provides great tutoring in angularmomentum and special relativity. ... Read more

Book Description
This textbook on continuum mechanics reflects the modern view that scientists and engineers should be trained to think and work in multidisciplinary environments. The book is ideal for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students. The book features: derivations of the basic equations of mechanics in invariant (vector and tensor) form and specializations of the governing equations to various coordinate systems; numerous illustrative examples; chapter-end summaries; and exercise problems to test and extend the understanding of concepts presented. ... Read more

Book Description
Devoted to the foundation of mechanics, namely classical Newtonian mechanics, the subject is based mainly on Galileo's principle of relativity and Hamilton's principle of least action.The exposition is simple and leads to the most complete direct means of solving problems in mechanics.

The final sections on adiabatic invariants have been revised and augmented.In addition a short biography of L D Landau has been inserted. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Good background Material
I bought this book as a background reference to some of my own work. The book helped to fill some of the gaps and it is an excellent reference.

Provides a new perspective on common concepts.
Like the title says this book provides a new perspective that allows very commonly defined quantities to arise naturally. However, this is the translation from Landau's work so the original texts are much thicker and I am sure much is lost in the translation. This is also a graduate or higher text and it difficult to follow at times but the more ways you can understand something the better.

Excellent
This book was recommended as a supplimentary text for our mechanics course.This book is 100% better than any other mechanics book I've looked at.The explanations are very clear, especially for non-inertial & rotational reference frames and the derevations for conservation of energy, momenta, and angular momenta (integrals of motion).

Includes extensive section on Euler angle derivation and tops.The examples in this text are quite difficult (more difficult than your typical undergraduate text), but they are all solved with partial work, so they are still helpful for studying.

Overall a clearly written text with good examples and excellent derivations.

Great book
It is wonderful book to learn the basics of mechanics. It will be best for the people who start to take fundamental physics course in college.

Not Useful for Learning
Way overrated.L&L lacks motivation and empiricism.Justifications behind their derivations are often specious.If you know the subject, it's a nice perspective.Otherwise, it's useless.Two stars, instead of zero, for their oustanding elegance.Based on previous raves, have read now V.1 and V.2 of their course of physics.Doubt that i will waste time on other volumes. ... Read more

Book Description
An outstanding volume in the McGraw-Hill series in pure and applied physics, Barger/ Olsson provides solid coverage of the principles of mechanics in a well-written, accessible style. Covering linear motion, energy conservation, Lagrange's Equations, Momentum Conservation and moving all the way through to Non-Linear Mechanics and Relativity, the text is comprehensive and appropriate for the two-semester course. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Short but has some interesting examples
This book, although short, is a fairly good overview of classical mechanics, which emphasizes more recent developments in the theory, such as chaotic dynamical systems. The authors do however remain concrete in their treatment, with real-world examples permeating the text. The details behind the theory of classical mechanics are presented very quickly in the book, and this might make the book difficult to read for students first exposed to mechanics at this level.

Chapter one is an introduction to motion in one dimension. After a brief review of Newton's laws, the authors solve some neat problemsdealing with damping forces, one being the frictional force on a drag racer, and the other with aerodynamic drag on a parachute. They also treat the undamped and damped harmonic oscillator, and the discussion is very standard. The authors are careful to point out that some force laws are too complicated to be solved analytically, but that computing methods can be used to solve the cases that are not. Computational approaches are now the rule rather than the exception in problems in mechanics, and this trend will continue in the future.

After a short discussion of energy conservation, the authors introduce motion in three dimensions and give a fairly detailed overview of vector notation. Their approach to tensors though is kind of antiquated, for it motivates them via the outer product, which is reminiscent of the dyadic approach that is currently "out of fashion". The authors also discuss the simple pendulum, but do not of course introduce the elliptic curve solutions that accompany this problem. Such a treatment, however fascinating, would drive this book to a height that would make it inaccessible to the audience of students it addresses. Coupled harmonic oscillators are solved using the normal mode approach.

Lagrangian mechanics is introduced in chapter 3, but not from the standpoint of variational calculus at first. Instead the authors choose to present this formulation via generalized forces. They include a discussion of constraints, and give as an example the simple pendulum with a moving support. Only later do they give the Lagrangian formulation via variational calculus, and do so rather hurriedly. Hamilton's equations are derived, and it is shown (again briefly) how Legendre transformations enter into the formalism of Hamiltonian mechanics.

Conservation principles are then thought of as fundamental in the rest of the book, and the authors use momentum conservation to discuss elastic and inelastic collisions in chapter 4. Angular momentum conservation is then used in chapter 5 to discuss central forces and planetary motion. Kepler's laws are also discussed, and Rutherford scattering is discussed. All of the discussion is pretty standard and can be found in most textbooks on classical mechanics.

Rigid body mechanics makes its appearance in chapter 6, wherein the authors discuss the rotational equations of motion of many-particle systems and rigid bodies. A very brief discussion of gyroscopic mechanics is given, but the authors make up for this by explaining the motion of boomerangs. The discussion is fun to read and should satisfy the curious reader as to why a boomerang returns. And, after a discussion of how to calculate the moment of inertia, the authors give a neat introduction to the physics of billiards and the superball. The latter is a popular physics demonstration and the authors show how its motion differs from an ordinary smooth ball.

The difficult (and controversial) topic of accelerated coordinate systems is treated in chapter 7. The four famous "fictitious" forces are introduced, and to develop the reader's intution on these, the authors give a nice example dealing with the manufacture of telescope mirrors. The casting of the mirrors is a neat illustration of the famous Newtonian water pail experiment. The motion of the Foucault pendulum is also discussed briefly. Then after a discussion of principal axes and Euler's equations, the authors give another neat example, this time dealing with the motion of tennis rackets, which illustrates the motion of a rigid body with unequal principal moments of inertia. The physics of tops is then discussed, and in a manner which makes the underlying physics more intuitive for the reader. The authors make an attempt to understand the motion of the famous tippie-top, but don't really do so. The tippie-top is another popular demonstration in the classroom but its physics has eluded the best attempts, and this treatment is no exception. The flip times that are calculated are not in agreement at all with what is observed in the demonstration.

Chapter 8 is an overview of gravitational physics, and the authors show the effects of a body moving in a non-uniform gravitational field, with an example dealing with the tides. Interestingly, the authors attempt to introduce the general theory of relativity, and do so more at a level of elementary mathematics and arm-waving arguments, but the treatment is suitable at this level.The authors show the difference between the orbits predicted by general relativity and the Newtonian theory, i.e. the famous perihelion advance.

A brief overview of Newtonian cosmology is given in chapter 9, wherein the authors discuss the expansion of the universe and the cosmic redshift. After proving the virial theorem, they discuss the effects of dark matter on the rotations of spiral galaxies and groups of galaxies, which is currently a very hot topic in astrophysics.

The special theory of relativity is treated in chapter 10, and the discussion is very standard. Readers are introduced to relativistic mechanics and some of the counterintuitive physics of the theory.

The last chapter of the book is an introduction to non-linear dynamics and chaos. It is defined as sensitive dependence on initial conditions, although this is not a strong enough condition. The Duffing oscillator is offered as an example of chaotic behavior and the transition to chaos is studied as a function of the driving frequency. This brings up concepts from bifurcation theory, such as the idea of a strange attractor. Numerical analysis plays the dominant role in these theories.

Not good for the new-bee but a fair reference for the vet
This book made me violently angry for the first semester, the lagrangianis presented well, and the Foucault Pendulum is ok if it weren't for allthe errors (not glaring missing d/dt in a couple places, if you know thematerial you pick it out quickly).NOTICE: IF YOU KNOW THE MATERIAL!! Howis a new CM student supposed to do that!!!I did learn well because of thetorture of surviving my CM class, the problems sets are pretty neat I willsay, but vague at times and a HUGE array of difficulties, from "what's2+2?" to problems that made me nauseous, and produced intantaneousnarcolepsy. In hindsight I learned quite a bit and its a neat litle handbook for the Grad, but man its painful for the new student.I agree WHOLEHEARTIDLY that saying "HEY! this is a tensor" is ridiculous, amath appendix would do WONDERS, or having the Feynman lectures nearby aswell.I'd say with some better editing and some more appendecies it wouldbe a good book, beware though the book is TINY and the price is meaty.

Needs more examples
I had studied "Classical Dynamics" by Marion more than 25 years ago. At the time I found Marion to be a difficult leap from the relatively easy first courses. Most of the critism, I suspect, comes from hitting thecold water for the first time. I thought the authors did a good job ofexplaining the concepts I wanted to review. I do not know how I would havefelt if this were a first reading as my textbook 25 years ago. The onesuggestion I can make is a plea for more example problems worked in detail.Like most physics students, problem solving is the most difficult task tomaster and seeing the techniques used by the masters are not to beunderestimated. Having spent years looking for the one book from which allis clear on first reading this one does not qualify. But it is a goodbeginning if you choose to stay in the water.

This book has too many errors
Of all the physics books, I have seen and used, this has the most errors in it. And they arn't just typeo's, this book also has conceptual errors in it. This book also has "unique" and sometimes cryptic ways ofproving, and presenting concepts. This apparitly apeals to Professors whoalready know classical mechanics, but for the first time sudent it is quitetroublesome. In short if you want a book you can trust, and you can learnthe first time around from, don't choose this one. It has to be the worstphysics text I have had inflected on me yet at this level.

Good, concise, compact and modern book.
Prof. Barger and Olsson show a new perspective in introducing the classical mechanics to junior level undergraduate in Physics.They successfully give a fresh treatment of mechanics by introducing the lagrangian in the earlier part of the book. Recommended for use in junior level mechanics physics. ... Read more

Book Description
For physicists, mechanics is quite obviously geometric, yet the classical approach typically emphasizes abstract, mathematical formalism. Setting out to make mechanics both accessible and interesting for non-mathematicians, Richard Talman uses geometric methods to reveal qualitative aspects of the theory. He introduces concepts from differential geometry, differential forms, and tensor analysis, then applies them to areas of classical mechanics as well as other areas of physics, including optics, crystal diffraction, electromagnetism, relativity, and quantum mechanics. For easy reference, the author treats Lagrangian, Hamiltonian, and Newtonian mechanics separately -- exploring their geometric structure through vector fields, symplectic geometry, and gauge invariance respectively. Practical perturbative methods of approximation are also developed. This second, fully revised edition has been expanded to include new chapters on electromagnetic theory, general relativity, and string theory. 'Geometric Mechanics' features illustrative examples and assumes only basic knowledge of Lagrangian mechanics. ... Read more