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My Analytical Mechanics class this quarter has one required textbook:

  • "Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems" by Thornton & Marion

and three recommended readings:

  • "Mechanics" by Landau and Lifshitz
  • "Classical Mechanics" by Goldstein
  • "Modern Analytical Mechanics" by Pellegrini & Cooper

Due to time constraints, I won't be able to read all of them, so I am wondering if any of you are familiar with these books and would be able to make suggestions as to which I should read this quarter. These books seem to cover the same topics, though perhaps from different perspectives and cover different aspects of those topics.

Or would you suggest that I stick to the required book, and refer to the recommended books when I get confused? It seems my professor uses a lot of the same notation and terminology from Landau's book during his lectures, so that book is probably also a "required" to some degree.

Qmechanic
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user279043
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1 Answers1

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I'm not familiar with "Modern Analytical Mechanics" by Pellegrini & Cooper so I can't comment on that one but I'm very familiar with the other two books you mentioned.

Landau's books are generally excellent but tend to be shorter in length and sometimes very dense. Nearly every paragraph has some profound insight that you'll miss if you don't ponder carefully over it for a while. I definitely recommend them but not for a first exposure to the topics they cover.

I "grew up" with Goldstein's book. It was the book I used in my undergraduate years and it's a book I've gone back to many times over the years just for the pleasure of reading it again. I like its choice of topics and how detailed its coverage of those topics is. It's also generally very well written, with clear explanations. It's not as terse as Landau books can sometimes be but it also does not waste words explaining things in a way that's too verbose.

In summary, I'd highly recommend Goldstein's book for your first exposure to the more formal treatment of Classical Mechanics. Later, when you're a little more seasoned, you should definitely read Landau's.

One last comment. I don't like Marion's book on Mechanics. If I was teaching CM at that level, I'd choose Goldstein instead as the required book.

wltrup
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