This is the fifth edition of a well-established textbook. It is intended
to provide a thorough coverage of the fundamental principles and
techniques of classical mechanics, an old subject that is at the base of
all of physics, but in which there has also in recent years been rapid
development. The book is aimed at undergraduate students of physics and
applied mathematics. It emphasizes the basic principles, and aims to
progress rapidly to the point of being able to handle physically and
mathematically interesting problems, without getting bogged down in
excessive formalism. Lagrangian methods are introduced at a relatively
early stage, to get students to appreciate their use in simple contexts.
Later chapters use Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods extensively, but
in a way that aims to be accessible to undergraduates, while including
modern developments at the appropriate level of detail. The subject has
been developed considerably recently while retaining a truly central
role for all students of physics and applied mathematics.This edition
retains all the main features of the fourth edition, including the two
chapters on geometry of dynamical systems and on order and chaos, and
the new appendices on conics and on dynamical systems near a critical
point. The material has been somewhat expanded, in particular to
contrast continuous and discrete behaviours. A further appendix has been
added on routes to chaos (period-doubling) and related discrete maps.
The new edition has also been revised to give more emphasis to specific
examples worked out in detail.Classical Mechanics is written for
undergraduate students of physics or applied mathematics. It assumes
some basic prior knowledge of the fundamental concepts and reasonable
familiarity with elementary differential and integral calculus.
