Classical Mechanics (European Physics Series) - Softcover

Kibble, T. W. B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470473959 ISBN 13: 9780470473955

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 1973

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

Tom Kibble is Senior Research Fellow and Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He has published many articles on theoretical particle physics and cosmology. Frank Bershire is also at Imperial College London. He is Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Mathematics, and has published on dynamical systems, waves and fluids. He was elected as Imperial College Teaching Fellow in 1996. Both authors have long experience of lecturing to physics and applied mathematics students.

Review:

"This volume, by Kibble and Berkshire, has proved to be a successful book ... the written content and presentation are all excellent."

..." the student who requires a good book on the older aspects of Classical Mechanics together with a brief introduction to newer ideas will find the third edition useful."

"Classical mechanics by T Kibble and F Berkshire is tailor-made for budding theoreticians. It lays the groundwork for relativity and quantum theory, quickly progressing beyond Newtonian mechanics to the alternative formulations of Joseph Lagrange and William Hamilton."

About this edition

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 1973
• ISBN 10: 0470473959
• ISBN 13: 9780470473955
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 254