Mechanics: Next Level After AP French

[WiFO215]

I didn't want to steal the topic of the person below. I have completed using AP French and am looking for the next level of mechanics. I have a decent background of math (Calc. of Variations, ODEs (no PDEs), Fourier Series, Linear Algebra. Is the next step Goldstein/ L&L or should I go through something like Symon or Taylor first?

 

[Erythro73]

I didn't want to steal the topic of the person below. I have completed using AP French and am looking for the next level of mechanics. I have a decent background of math (Calc. of Variations, ODEs (no PDEs), Fourier Series, Linear Algebra. Is the next step Goldstein/ L&L or should I go through something like Symon or Taylor first?

I would suggest you read Goldstein.

Taylor (I don't know Symon) is a very good introductory book (he's very smooth on Lagrangian/Hamiltonian) but stays at the surface of the topics. He's comparable to Griffiths : he explains very well what he does, talk about concepts, but doesn't go too far. We used in the first year of University in physics.

On the other hands, Goldstein goes way further than Taylor, but still explains very well too. It has a lot more topics in it, but you need a good background in maths and to be independant (there's no answers in the back!). It was used in second year of University where I'm from. I think your level of maths is sufficient to read it.

 

[WiFO215]

Thanks.