Classical mechanics reference book

[Amar.alchemy]

Hi All,

Kindly suggest me an alternative book for "Classical Mechanics by Goldstein". I am finding it little bit difficult to understand so if i can find any alternate book which is little less complicated than Goldstein it will be helpful for me. I am concentrating on the below mentioned topics and particularly to problems in CM:

Conservation laws; central forces, Kepler problem and planetary motion; collisions and scattering in laboratory and
centre of mass frames; mechanics of system of particles; rigid body dynamics; moment of inertia tensor; noninertial frames and pseudo
forces; variational principle; Lagrange’s and Hamilton’s formalisms; equation of motion, cyclic coordinates, Poisson bracket; periodic
motion, small oscillations, normal modes; special theory of relativity – Lorentz transformations, relativistic kinematics, mass-energy
equivalence.

Thanks :smile:

[George Jones]

You might try Classical Mechanics by John R. Taylor,

http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Mechanics-John-R-Taylor/dp/189138922X.

[Norman]

You might try Classical Mechanics by John R. Taylor,

http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Mechanics-John-R-Taylor/dp/189138922X.

I would second this book. I used the preprint version when I studied classical mechanics and taught from this for an undergraduate classical mechanics class. As a supplement to Goldstein it would be good. I do not think it covers Poisson Brackets, however.

[Amar.alchemy]

Thanks for reply :)
Kindly give ur opinion on "Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems - Marion, Thornton". Does this book serve my purpose which i have mentioned in my first post?? (Becoz i have soft copy of this book, so will it be as helpful as John R Taylor's book?

[George Jones]

Thanks for reply :)
Kindly give ur opinion on "Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems - Marion, Thornton". Does this book serve my purpose which i have mentioned in my first post?? (Becoz i have soft copy of this book, so will it be as helpful as John R Taylor's book?

Marion and Thorton is a standard mechanics book that is a little lower level than Goldstein. If you already have a(n) (illegal?) copy, then you should see if it's useful as a supplement to Goldstein. Poisson brackets are relegated to a single exercise.

[Amar.alchemy]

Thanks George :)

[Pinu7]

A book I'm currently reading is
Classical Dynamics: A Contemporary Approach- Jose & Saletan

This is a book at a level between Goldstein and Marsden or Arnold. This book gives a LOT of physical insight, however, I found that the logic can be hard to follow.