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# Classical An Introduction to Mechanics by Daniel Kleppner and Robert J. Kolenkow

by bcrowell
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 Emeritus Sci Advisor PF Gold P: 5,598 Author: Daniel Kleppner and Robert J. Kolenkow Title: An Introduction to Mechanics Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/An-Introductio.../dp/0521198216 Prerequisities: Table of Contents: 1. Vectors and kinematics - a few mathematical preliminaries 2. Newton's laws - the foundations of Newtonian mechanics 3. Momentum 4. Work and energy 5. Some mathematical aspects of force and energy 6. Angular momentum and fixed axis rotation 7. Rigid body motion and the conservation of angular momentum 8. Noninertial systems and fictitious forces 9. Central force motion 10. The harmonic oscillator 11. The special theory of relativity 12. Relativistic kinematics 13. Relativistic momentum and energy 14. Four-vectors and relativistic invariance.
 Sci Advisor P: 8,792 I came across this wonderful book in the library by chance. I had already read Halliday and Resnick then. Kleppner and Kolenkow is one of my favourite books. Right up there with the Feynman lectures. Just thinking about it makes me happy. I hope to own a copy one day:)
C. Spirit
Thanks
P: 5,661
An Introduction to Mechanics by Daniel Kleppner and Robert J. Kolenkow

 Quote by atyy I came across this wonderful book in the library by chance. I had already read Halliday and Resnick then. Kleppner and Kolenkow is one of my favourite books. Right up there with the Feynman lectures. Just thinking about it makes me happy. I hope to own a copy one day:)
Too bad you don't live near me I have an extra copy because I got one a long while back then thought I lost it had to get a new one for class then found it again and was stuck with two. Cheers =D!
P: 8,792
 Quote by WannabeNewton Too bad you don't live near me I have an extra copy because I got one a long while back then thought I lost it had to get a new one for class then found it again and was stuck with two. Cheers =D!
=D With today's price tag, I had half a mind to add "after I strike gold".

Edit: Hmm, seems to be not terrible actually at USD 45. I somehow remembered it as USD 300!
C. Spirit
Thanks
P: 5,661
 Quote by atyy =D With today's price tag, I had half a mind to add "after I strike gold". Edit: Hmm, seems to be not terrible actually at USD 45. I somehow remembered it as USD 300!
Wow when did you last see it
HW Helper
PF Gold
P: 3,289
 Quote by atyy Edit: Hmm, seems to be not terrible actually at USD 45. I somehow remembered it as USD 300!
Your memory is right - it was hugely expensive in 2005 or 2006 when I first looked into getting a copy. Then it changed publishers and was down to only $75 when I bought a copy in 2010. Now it's$45 (and still in hardback), a great deal considering that many paperback textbooks cost more than that.
 P: 184 I've been using this book to teach myself classical mechanics, and I love it!
C. Spirit
Thanks
P: 5,661
 Quote by guitarphysics I've been using this book to teach myself classical mechanics, and I love it!
Some of those end of chapter exercises really make you want to rip your hair out don't they =D? I remember there was one in chapter 4, near the end, about a moving wall, a stationary wall, and a ball bouncing back and forth between the two that made me consume like 6 full cans of coke in one sitting before I got it. God this is such a good book!
P: 184
 Quote by WannabeNewton Some of those end of chapter exercises really make you want to rip your hair out don't they =D? I remember there was one in chapter 4, near the end, about a moving wall, a stationary wall, and a ball bouncing back and forth between the two that made me consume like 6 full cans of coke in one sitting before I got it. God this is such a good book!
Yes, they do :), but that's one of my favorite things about this book. The problems are really original and Kleppner knows how to make you think!
 P: 61 I've really been considering looking into this book. A few months ago I came across an old edition (early 60's) of Halliday & Resnick's combined Physics vol I-II. It is an enjoyable book to work through, but I often wonder if I would be getting more out of a book like Kleppner and Kolenkow's. I am a mechanical engineering student and do wish to really get a solid foundation on these topics. Any thoughts?
 P: 3,243 I used this book for a course that used Alonso and Finn, I never looked at Alonso and Finn. :-) Though I didn't do every exercise in the book, the exercises I did do were nice and interesting. And some still ask me questions on my posts I did on the assignments back from 2006-2007, (6-7 years :-), time passes by).
P: 184
 Quote by mindheavy I am a mechanical engineering student and do wish to really get a solid foundation on these topics. Any thoughts?
I'm not sure if I'm the right person to be giving you advice because I'm only 16, but this book has given me a really thorough understanding of mechanics. I feel like a have a really good foundation on all these topics now, so my advice is to definitely get this book. However, be prepared to work hard.
Mentor
P: 11,868
 Quote by bcrowell The book shows its age (38 years!) in many ways. It presents various examples of applications of relativity, but they are all extremely old and dusty. [...] To my taste, the treatment of special relativity is dreary and slavishly traditional, with too little geometrical insight.
Is the edition on sale now (dated 2010 on amazon.com) simply a reprint of the 1973 edition (which I have), or has it been updated?

I happened to look at its treatment of relativity just now, to see how it handles "relativistic mass." It does introduce "relativistic mass" in connection with relativistic momentum. However, in practice it almost always uses "rest mass" from that point on in derivations, examples, and exercises, usually (but not always) labeling it as m0 and identifying it as "rest mass." This is for the 1973 version; has it changed at all?
 C. Spirit Sci Advisor Thanks P: 5,661 I have the 2010 copy jtbell and it doesn't look any different from the older edition as far as I can tell. It may be my bias leaking in here but considering it's the greatest mechanics textbook ever written I doubt there was much reason to change anything in the older copy :D.
 Sci Advisor HW Helper PF Gold P: 4,139 The relativity section needs to be updated: include spacetime and energy-momentum diagrams [instead of just "spatial" diagrams] and dump ict. Except for that, it is a great textbook.
 P: 4 Please consider CLASSICAL MECHANICS by John Taylor. Check out the reviews on Amazon.com- they are phenomenal. I ordered the book recently and have gone thru the 1st 3 chapters so far. All the reviews on this textbook are true! It is EXCELLENT! (While in college many yrs ago we were brought up with MECHANICS by Keith Symon. The problems are next to impossible to solve which can be VERY discouraging.)
 P: 239 Would this book be appropriate for someone that is fairly advanced mathematically (calculus on level of Apostol/Spivak, some diff. geometry, analysis 1, abstract algebra 1&2, etc.), but has never taken a physics course?

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