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Title: Mechanics (3rd Edition) by Keith R. Symon ISBN: 0-201-07392-7 Publisher: Pearson Education Pub. Date: 01 January, 1971 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $140.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.71 (14 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: No sense of wonder.
Comment: This book, like most undergrad mechanics books I've seen,
doesn't present the philosophy behind Newton's laws.
It's goal is to derive formulas so that the studnet can use them if the need comes. This isn't how you write good physics books.
It's because of books like these, that don't present the philosophy of Newtonian mechanics, studnets have such a hard time understanding the Theoy of Relativity. How can the students realize the shortcomings of Newtonian ideas, if they don't know what they are!!! I would like to say that some the problems are intersting, but again none of them make you think about the physics. Just, ok which formula will do the job? or which ODE do I solve?
A good alternative is: Barger and Olsson: 'Classical Mechanics: A Modern Prespective'. Stright to the point and intersting physical examples (archery, drag-racing, Newtonian Cosmology, space flight, etc.). It also takes on the Lagrangian formulation early.
Unfortunately that book is out of print, but, in some sense, an even better book has come: John R. Taylor "Classical Mechanics" (university press, 2003) currently in it's 'Pre-publication' form. It is a very clear and direct book covering in detail all important and involved points in classical mechanics.
None of these books site experiments, no matter how old/new, why should physicists be trained to swallow equations without experimental justification.
Rating: 5
Summary: All you need to know in classical Mechanics
Comment: This is an excellent introductory text in classical mechanics, which bridges the gap between Freshman physics and advanced texts like Goldstein. It contains a good mix between equations and physical insight and understanding, providing many physical explanations to some concepts that are rarely found in other texts. Due to its considerable scope, the book is quite dense with information (over 600 pages). To keep the number of equations manageable, Symon resorts to skipping many straightforward steps in derivations and to leaving much "as an exercise for the reader". This is not a problem, for in most cases he leaves sufficient instructions that the careful reader can arrive at the same results, but make sure you have a pen and lots of paper nearby when reading it!
The level of discussion goes well beyond that of Freshman physics, and introduces more realistic complexities such as nonlinearity, precession, non-spherical shapes, etc. At the same time, it does not rely much on advanced mathematics, thus it is easily within the grasp of undergraduate students. Any mathematics beyond Freshman Calculus that is used is Freshman Calculus is explained in the text. The book covers many topics, among which I found the following to be well-presented:
1.Excellent explanation and philosophical definition of basic quantities like mass, force, and momentum.
2.A brief introduction to vector analysis and coordinate systems.
3.A brief (and excellent) introduction to tensors as they apply in physics.
4.A near complete analysis of the harmonic oscillator in 1, 2, and 3 dimensions, as well as coupled harmonic oscillators.
5.The pendulum and rigid rotations.
6.Moving and rotating coordinate systems.
7.Inertia and free rotation.
8.Central force problems
9.Newtonian gravitation and planetary motion.
10.N-body problem, with a thorough analysis of the 3-body problem (as far as can be achieved analytically).
11.Brief introduction to Lagrangian formulation [though I wish he included more solved examples in this section]
12.Wave and fluid dynamics.
13.Small vibrations, stability, and perturbation theory.
My biggest complaint about the second edition was the difficulty of the problems. That edition lacked easy problems with which to reinforce understanding of the text before tackling the harder ones. This problem was corrected in the 3rd edition, which adds a lot more (easier) problems to many chapters, and reorganizes the problems to follow the order of the text. This makes it much more useful, though I warn that some of the problems (especially the asterisked ones) are really hard! The answers at the back of the book are not perfect either and have some mistakes. The 3rd edition also added two chapters on special relativity and relativistic dynamics that I found quite useful and well-presented.
Rating: 3
Summary: You dont want to know how hard this book is
Comment: This book is the standard undergrad book on Mechanics, and its because of the difficulty. You will spend many hours solving his homework problems, and he has NO worked examples that are useful. Like most books, the examples he does pick need to be significantly modified for the homework problems and for an undergrad this is especially hard. Especially since it's usually the first class an undergrad takes that introduces him to the 'upper-level' courses taken in Jr and Sr years.
I can only tell you to work out every problem you can and find any worked examples in these Schaum's Outlines you can. In the end, you will either want to leave physics or you will know your stuff.
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Title: Introduction to Electrodynamics (3rd Edition) by David J. Griffiths ISBN: 013805326X Publisher: Pearson Education Pub. Date: 30 December, 1998 List Price(USD): $108.00 |
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Title: Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences, 2nd Edition by Mary L. Boas ISBN: 0471044091 Publisher: Wiley Text Books Pub. Date: 06 April, 1983 List Price(USD): $106.95 |
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Title: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics by David J. Griffiths ISBN: 0131244051 Publisher: Pearson Education Pub. Date: 02 August, 1994 List Price(USD): $108.00 |
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Title: An Introduction To Mechanics by Daniel Kleppner, Robert Kolenkow ISBN: 0070350485 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math Pub. Date: 01 March, 1973 List Price(USD): $104.37 |
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Title: Analytical Mechanics (Saunders Golden Sunburst Series) by Grant R. Fowles ISBN: 0030223172 Publisher: Brooks Cole Pub. Date: 08 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $113.95 |
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