Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- LIST OF EXAMPLES
- PREFACE
- TO THE TEACHER
- AN INTRODUCTION TO MECHANICS
- 1 VECTORS AND VECTORS KINEMATICS—A FEW MATHEMATICAL PRELIMINARIES
- 2 NEWTON'S LAWS—THE FOUNDATIONS OF NEWTONIAN MECHANICS
- 3 MOMENTUM
- 4 WORK AND ENERGY
- 5 SOME MATHEMATICAL ASPECTS OF FORCE AND ENERGY
- 6 ANGULAR MOMENTUM AND FIXED AXIS ROTATION
- 7 RIGID BODY MOTION AND THE CONSERVATION OF ANGULAR MOMENTUM
- 8 NONINERTIAL SYSTEMS AND FICTITIOUS FORCES
- 9 CENTRAL FORCE MOTION
- 10 THE HARMONIC OSCILLATOR
- 11 THE SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY
- 12 RELATIVISTIC KINEMATICS
- 13 RELATIVISTIC MOMENTUM AND ENERGY
- 14 FOUR VECTORS AND RELATIVISTIC INVARIANCE
- INDEX
PREFACE
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- LIST OF EXAMPLES
- PREFACE
- TO THE TEACHER
- AN INTRODUCTION TO MECHANICS
- 1 VECTORS AND VECTORS KINEMATICS—A FEW MATHEMATICAL PRELIMINARIES
- 2 NEWTON'S LAWS—THE FOUNDATIONS OF NEWTONIAN MECHANICS
- 3 MOMENTUM
- 4 WORK AND ENERGY
- 5 SOME MATHEMATICAL ASPECTS OF FORCE AND ENERGY
- 6 ANGULAR MOMENTUM AND FIXED AXIS ROTATION
- 7 RIGID BODY MOTION AND THE CONSERVATION OF ANGULAR MOMENTUM
- 8 NONINERTIAL SYSTEMS AND FICTITIOUS FORCES
- 9 CENTRAL FORCE MOTION
- 10 THE HARMONIC OSCILLATOR
- 11 THE SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY
- 12 RELATIVISTIC KINEMATICS
- 13 RELATIVISTIC MOMENTUM AND ENERGY
- 14 FOUR VECTORS AND RELATIVISTIC INVARIANCE
- INDEX
Summary
There is good reason for the tradition that students of science and engineering start college physics with the study of mechanics: mechanics is the cornerstone of pure and applied science. The concept of energy, for example, is essential for the study of the evolution of the universe, the properties of elementary particles, and the mechanisms of biochemical reactions. The concept of energy is also essential to the design of a cardiac pacemaker and to the analysis of the limits of growth of industrial society. However, there are difficulties in presenting an introductory course in mechanics which is both exciting and intellectually rewarding. Mechanics is a mature science and a satisfying discussion of its principles is easily lost in a superficial treatment. At the other extreme, attempts to “enrich” the subject by emphasizing advanced topics can produce a false sophistication which emphasizes technique rather than understanding.
This text was developed from a first-year course which we taught for a number of years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and, earlier, at Harvard University. We have tried to present mechanics in an engaging form which offers a strong base for future work in pure and applied science. Our approach departs from tradition more in depth and style than in the choice of topics; nevertheless, it reflects a view of mechanics held by twentieth-century physicists.
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- An Introduction to Mechanics , pp. xv - xviiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010