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Re: classical mechanics text suggestions



Carl E. Mungan wrote:

new question 3. What are good ways in general to explore possible
textbooks for a course one is newly teaching?

I would encourage you to look at Gerry Sussman
and Jack Wisdom, _The Structure and Interpretation
of Classical Mechanics_

Title page:
http://mitpress.mit.edu/SICM/book.html

But you should start with the preface:
http://mitpress.mit.edu/SICM/book-Z-H-5.html

You can read the entire book on the web if you want.
The preface is priceless, even if you don't want
to wade through the entire book.

The preface explains what's wrong with traditional
texbooks in the area. This will put you in a
tremendously stronger position to select a text.

I don't think it would be much fun to teach an
introductory course to typical students using
SICM. It's pretty much a book by wizards for
wizards. The book introduces a lot of notation
and a lot of sophisticated ideas early on, and then
applies them to examples. It would take an unusually
sophisticated and motivated student to put up with
that. Learning proceeds from the known to the
unknown. One needs a book that
1) starts with some easy examples
2) treats them with the _minimum_ amount of
technology and terminology at first
3) (without compromising correctness!)
4) and gradually introduces more sophistication.

I've seen lots of books that try to be "pedagogical"
but don't get the ideas right. We now have one
book (SICM) that is gets the ideas right but isn't
particularly pedagogical. Maybe there's a best-
of-both-worlds book out there somewhere.

For heavens sake stay away from Landau & Lifschitz;
it's the worst of both worlds.