Classical Mechanics: An Undergraduate Text Paperback – 13 April 2006

This is a book on classical mechanics that goes direct to the point. It;s highly understandable and clear, however, if you have never studied mechanics and you learn well from this book only, I would be surprised! However, if you have solved exercises in mehcanics and physics in general and have read some mechanics, calculus and differential equations then reading this book is a pleasure since it's strict and defines what has to be defined. With that I mean that some books just explain you what things are in terms of the physical interpretation and then write a formula. But sometimes you dont really understand why or for what purpose a definition is needed. But this book tells you directly what you are looking for in every chapter or field of mechanics and then strictly defines the concepts to finally write the formula, or derive it, thus there is no ambiguity. Also, you know why the definitions or theorems have to (is useful to) be defined in that way. This is extremely important in mehanics since you really need to know what a point mass, a frame of reference and so on is if you want to think about how to solve problems and also about the significance of the result.Also, and perhaps surprisingly for such a strict book in terms of theory (even if not very advanced mathematics are used), most of the exercises relevant to exams and real life basic problems are clearly solved and explained by the author. In sum, not for the beginner that struggles with elementary calculus, but still understandable enough for someone that has understood something at the level of "Thomas Calculus" which is an undergraduate book in applied maths or mathematical methods.Anotehr thing to think about is that this book is up to date. It gives clear and precise introductions to some hot topics like theory of small oscillations, non-linear oscillations and phase space, and, importantly, starting from teh very basics guides you to the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalism and Noether's theorem. What else can you expect from an undergraduate level book! Magnificent. Finally, like with anything else, I wouldn't learn from this book only and I would try to read others also like, for example, "Vector mechanics for engineers" or any other that you might find useful. The one I mention lacks up to date information and maybe notation but has plenty of other good things also.Well done to the author and the department of applied maths in Manchester.

This is a welcome text in Classical Mechanics aimed at the undergraduate embarking on a first degree in Physics or Engineering. The author is very skilled in taking the student through a series of stages of increasing complexity without an overly rigorous approach to the math. He starts at the very beginning without supposing much prior knowledge of mechanics. It does however ramp up fairly rapidly and the student will be expected to be familiar with calculus. This is a full text on the subject in hand but does not cover a detailed explanation of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian forms, vectors, and tensors. The student would be advised to supplement this text with others that specialise in the more advanced topics. Nevertheless, it is easily followed with examples and exercises and solutions. I would have been very happy if such text had been available when I embarked on a physics degree. Fully recommended.

Perfect for first year uni maths. Much better than the course notes provided by the lecturer...

* Target Audience, H.N.D, Undergraduate, Grad, Masters?This book is aimed at or around second-year of a Mathematics degree. Engineering degrees would find a selection of chapters a help too.* What's in it?1. Newtonian Mechanics of a single particle, The Algebra and calculus of vectors, 2. Velocity, acceleration and scaler angular velocity 3. Newtons laws of motion and the law of gravitation 4. Problems in particle dynamics, 5. linear oscillations, 6. Energy conservation, 7. Orbits in a central field, 8. Non-linear oscillations and phase space, Multiple particle systems, 9. the energy principle 10. the linear momentum principle, 11. the angular momentum principle, 12. Lagrange's equations and conservation principles, 13. the calculus of variations and the Hamilton principle, 14. Hamiltonians equations and phase space, Further Topics, 15. the general theory of small oscillations, 16. vector angular velocity and rigid space kinematics, 17. rotating reference frames, 18. tensor algebra and inertia tensor, 19. problems, appendix, answers* The best bits?The book is divided into single particles and multiparticle systems, it is possible to read this without knowing all this much before this book, but it will take a LONG while to get it. The support to this covers gravity equations in a form of straying into simplified celestial mechanics, this requiring the comprehension of formal mathematical symbolic forms, which can take a while to grasp in themselves. A slimmed-down series of basic equations with objects in motion, without the effects of air resistance, but fluid forms are attempted. The major attack is to explore and explain the energy principle of Conservation of kinetic and potential energies in systems, Energy conservation in a conservative field, Conservation of angular momentum, conservation of linear momentum. conservation in rectilinear motion, Then fitting these into Lagrangian style equations and conservation principles, then culminating into how to apply Euler-Lagrange equation in mechanics is a triumph. This explains tensors, Variations principles, matrices and alternative forms, hamiltonian space, to a less detailed way.I have left a shed load of supporting stuff which would take pages to list, but its all a big help when you chug-chug along taking it in.* SummaryThis is a marvellous book which I humbly recommend. It's taken me over 4 months of daily reading to grasp comfortably. I will go over these again to ram this home. But if I met the author, I would say thanks very much for this book that both challenges and is satisfying.Just an update, but its binding isn't secure; the front laminate of the cover binding is peeling off. I have read it for 5 months now on daily reading and study.I would read this book first, and may I suggest this to concentrate A Student's Guide to Lagrangians and Hamiltonians (Student's Guides) by Patrick Hamill (Author). It's great for the association of these topics and a great introduction to Calculus of Variations too.