Classical Classical Mechanics: Kleppner-Kolenkow vs David Morin?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on choosing between two physics textbooks, Kleppner & Kolenkow (K&K) and David Morin's book, for a deeper understanding of mechanics. The original poster seeks a text that offers theoretical insight and a robust set of problems. Initial impressions suggest K&K is less in-depth compared to Morin's work. One participant recommends AP French’s Newtonian Mechanics for a more physics-focused approach rather than a mathematical one. However, the original poster finds the previous discussions on the topic unhelpful and requests personal experiences with the books. Another contributor shares their experience, stating that K&K excels in theoretical explanations, while Morin provides superior problem-solving techniques and insightful footnotes. The consensus suggests starting with K&K for foundational theory, then transitioning to Morin for advanced problems and deeper insights.
warhammer
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Hello,

I am confused between the two books. I am looking for a text that would provide sufficient theoretical insight into the topics and provide a good set of problems that would help me understand the topic well enough. What would be your suggestion?

PS- Taking a cursory look at both the books I found K&K less deep than Morin's.
 
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warhammer said:
Hello,

I am confused between the two books. I am looking for a text that would provide sufficient theoretical insight into the topics and provide a good set of problems that would help me understand the topic well enough. What would be your suggestion?

PS- Taking a cursory look at both the books I found K&K less deep than Morin's.
You can try AP French’s Newtonian Mechanics if you want to study Mechanics as physics and not as mathematics.
 
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gleem said:
Thank you. I have already taken a look over the mentioned thread but found it not in relevance to my concerns for it dealt with IPho. Moreover, the replies did not lend enough credence which book should one go for.

However if you have had experience of using the books or one of the two, maybe you could give me an insight into which book I should go for?
 
Sorry I have no experience with either one. Did you look at the reviews on Amazon?
 
KK is an introductory mechanics book. Morin is a step ahead and teaches Lagrangian mechanics. Both are notorious for having difficult problems.
 
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I revised my classical mechanics couple of years ago, and I used both books,
My main source was K&K, which was superb in explaining the theory ( better than Morin's), but when it came to problems and problem solving techniques, Morin was better ( Also I like to add, the footnotes on Morin are rather enlightening, and the poetry is amusing).
So my advice, study from both books, starting from K&K first, and then read the relevant material from Morin to get more insight, and do as much problems from both.
 
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