Mechanics: Amazon.ca: Keith R. Symon: Books

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14 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
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3.7 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars You dont want to know how hard this book is, May 16 2004

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C. Bradley - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mechanics (Paperback)

This book is the standard undergrad book on Mechanics, and its because of the difficulty. You will spend many hours solving his homework problems, and he has NO worked examples that are useful. Like most books, the examples he does pick need to be significantly modified for the homework problems and for an undergrad this is especially hard. Especially since it's usually the first class an undergrad takes that introduces him to the 'upper-level' courses taken in Jr and Sr years.

I can only tell you to work out every problem you can and find any worked examples in these Schaum's Outlines you can. In the end, you will either want to leave physics or you will know your stuff.

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5.0 out of 5 stars All you need to know in classical Mechanics, Oct 31 2003

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Giant Panda (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mechanics (Paperback)

This is an excellent introductory text in classical mechanics, which bridges the gap between Freshman physics and advanced texts like Goldstein. It contains a good mix between equations and physical insight and understanding, providing many physical explanations to some concepts that are rarely found in other texts. Due to its considerable scope, the book is quite dense with information (over 600 pages). To keep the number of equations manageable, Symon resorts to skipping many straightforward steps in derivations and to leaving much "as an exercise for the reader". This is not a problem, for in most cases he leaves sufficient instructions that the careful reader can arrive at the same results, but make sure you have a pen and lots of paper nearby when reading it!

The level of discussion goes well beyond that of Freshman physics, and introduces more realistic complexities such as nonlinearity, precession, non-spherical shapes, etc. At the same time, it does not rely much on advanced mathematics, thus it is easily within the grasp of undergraduate students. Any mathematics beyond Freshman Calculus that is used is Freshman Calculus is explained in the text. The book covers many topics, among which I found the following to be well-presented:

1. Excellent explanation and philosophical definition of basic quantities like mass, force, and momentum.
2. A brief introduction to vector analysis and coordinate systems.
3. A brief (and excellent) introduction to tensors as they apply in physics.
4. A near complete analysis of the harmonic oscillator in 1, 2, and 3 dimensions, as well as coupled harmonic oscillators.
5. The pendulum and rigid rotations.
6. Moving and rotating coordinate systems.
7. Inertia and free rotation.
8. Central force problems
9. Newtonian gravitation and planetary motion.
10. N-body problem, with a thorough analysis of the 3-body problem (as far as can be achieved analytically).
11. Brief introduction to Lagrangian formulation [though I wish he included more solved examples in this section]
12. Wave and fluid dynamics.
13. Small vibrations, stability, and perturbation theory.

My biggest complaint about the second edition was the difficulty of the problems. That edition lacked easy problems with which to reinforce understanding of the text before tackling the harder ones. This problem was corrected in the 3rd edition, which adds a lot more (easier) problems to many chapters, and reorganizes the problems to follow the order of the text. This makes it much more useful, though I warn that some of the problems (especially the asterisked ones) are really hard! The answers at the back of the book are not perfect either and have some mistakes. The 3rd edition also added two chapters on special relativity and relativistic dynamics that I found quite useful and well-presented.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great undergraduate text! perfect Goldstein supplement!, Feb 28 2003

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Charzi "__washu__" (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mechanics (Paperback)

This book and Goldstein's Mechanics is all you will ever need as a practicing physicist. Symon's book has great detail and is written in a clearly understandable style that is perfect for a 2 semester course in mechanics at the advanced undergraduate level. It will also serve you well as a supplement to Goldstein's mechanics, with more examples and explicit detailed calculations, which show the steps that Goldstein sometimes glosses over.
Overall an excellent text, I have yet to see a better mechanics book at this level. I just wonder when a new edition is due out, its probably the only reason people don't use this text as THE STANDARD for all undergraduate mechanics courses.
In any event, if your studying mechanics this is the book to have!

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Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars No sense of wonder.
This book, like most undergrad mechanics books I've seen,
doesn't present the philosophy behind Newton's laws. Read more

Published on Feb 15 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Undergrad Mechanics Book
A very solid undergraduate Mechanics text. Symon is clear, concise, and to the point. If you want rambling drivel, go read something by David Griffiths. Read more

Published on May 29 2002 by Brian Copp