Landau and Lifshitz Course - any particular order?

osnarf

Hi everyone,

I'm currently working through volume 1 - mechanics. I'm planning on doing the whole series over the course of the next few years, but there are a few topics I'd like to get to before others. I was just wondering if they are meant to be read one after the other, or if they were just numbered as they were written (or maybe both are true?). Specifically im wondering about the theory of elasticity, electrodynamics of continuous media (after reading the classical theory of fields), and physical kinetics.

I would really like to get to the theory of elasticity as soon as i can because they constantly claim things to be results of this theory in my engineering classes, and I'd very much like to see how. So are there any of the other books I should do first after mechanics before theory of elasticity, or can I go straight to it? I'm curious also about the other two volumes I mentioned above.

Thanks for your help

Edit: also, if you know of any math prerequisites besides mv calc on the level of calculus on manifolds, ODEs, and calculus of variations that are required, please let me know. Thanks again.

osnarf

77 Views, no replies - somebody must know, lol. Maybe the post is too long. summary from above:

Are they meant to be read in order 1 to 10 or can you skip around?

Thanks again

fourier jr

I'm definitely no expert, but I would say vol 1 should probably come before vol 3 since it introduces lagrangians & hamiltonians, which are fundamental in parts of quantum also. maybe vols 2, 6 & 8 are more or less independent of that, and could maybe be done together, since a lot of it is different names for the same sort of things. the rest I'm even less sure about; like I say, I'm no expert. If others answered I wouldn't have even tried...

Daverz

I only have the first 4 volumes. I think you could get away with reading 3 before 2. Also, I'm guessing that no other volume depends on 4.

Be careful: when Elsevier (spit) bought out Pergamon, the quality of printings went markedly down. The fine print can be unreadable in some of these pressings.

drkatzin

I've only read 1,2, and parts of 3 and 5 so far, but this is what I think:

You should read 1 before any other book.
2, 3, and 5 could be read concurrently. 5 requires some quantum eventually. I read 2 by itself, and now I'm reading 3 and 5 at the same time.
3 should be followed by 4; 5 should by followed by 6, then 7. After finishing all that, move on to 8,9,10 in order.

That's my plan, but not necessarily the only solution.