Lectures on Classical Mechanics - J. Baez

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The lecture notes on classical mechanics by J. Baez are highly praised for their clarity and mathematical focus, making them particularly suitable for mathematicians. The notes cover both Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations, providing a comprehensive approach to the subject. Users appreciate the accessibility of the material compared to traditional mechanics textbooks, noting that complex topics like symmetry are simplified. Additional resources on Baez's website, including extensive notes on quantization, are also recommended. Overall, the content is considered an excellent resource for graduate-level study in classical mechanics.
jackiefrost
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Graduate course lecture notes - Excellent!

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/classical/texfiles/2005/book/classical.pdf"

jf
 
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Very good indeed, particularly as it's geared towards mathematicians, such as myself.
However, that is only the first few weeks' notes of one of the two courses on classical mechanics for which there are notes on his website.
Those notes lead with the Lagrangian approach, focusing on action priciples, but there is another set, based more on the Hamiltionian formulation.
Anyway, the lot of them can be found here:
http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/classical/
Also, check out the rest of his site (including many more notes, mostly on quantization), the 'This Week's Finds In Mathematical Physics' bit is pretty much legendary!

Matthew
 
These notes are wonderful. This is much easier than most mechanics textbooks! It makes many topics(like symmetry) easier to understand.
 

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