Classical dynamics of particles and systems.

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1. VT-BusinessMay 2025
   The first two are pretty much what you need. Comprehensive!

   - Engineering Mechanics: Statics & Dynamics by Meriam and Kraige - Vector Mechanics for Engineers: Dynamics by Beer and Johnston - Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics by Meriam and Kraige - Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics by R.C. Hibbeler - Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems by Thornton and Marion

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2. godelskiOct 2016
   There is a classical mechanics missing in the grad school section. One of the primary books used is by Goldstein.

   I also recommend Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems by Marion and Thornton.

   As was mentioned in another post Linear Algebra is a must, and I think David Lay's book is a great one to start with.

   As the author mentions, to learn physics you MUST DO PROBLEMS.

   On another note I can't seem to find anyone that has mnemonic techniques for learning equations. So if anyone comes across a good method I'd like to hear it. And I'm not just talking about something like "low d high minus high d low, square the bottom and away we go". But to more complex equations, like memorize "memorize Einstein's field equation." A method that could potentially work for any arbitrary equation.

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3. gjsteinDec 2019
   I know "Getting Things Done" by David Allen is a book the HN crowd occasionally loves to hate, but I came across it at the right time in my life and was the impetus I needed to reorganize my life and put systems in place to ensure that I ... well ... started to really get things done. Since then, I've built up my Emacs ecosystem to support a GTD-derived workflow and I've never looked back.

   Also on my list are the already-mentioned "Getting To Yes" and "Nonviolent Communication". I also really enjoyed "Good for You, Great for Me" by Lawrence Susskind, which is a slightly more real-world take on the ideals put forth in "Getting to Yes".

   I also studied Physics in College and my course on Classical Mechanics was really the impetus to continue down that path for a while. Textbook was "Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems" by Thornton and Marion.

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4. SteuardAug 2018
   I should probably write this up more formally somewhere. But have a look, and it would be cool if you'd give me credit somewhere if you use these notes in your own stuff (I'm Steuard Jensen, and I'm a professor at Alma College). For each course below, the books are listed in roughly my order of preference. This is far, far from being every book for each course or even every popular one, but it's a start.

   Intro Physics (Mechanics, E&M, waves, etc.):

   * Six Ideas That Shaped Physics, by Tom Moore: Conservation laws first, and a nice conceptual approach (and can incorporate "modern physics" along the way).

   * Matter and Interactions, by Chabay and Sherwood: Integrated VPython programming, and uses "true" relativistic mechanics right from the start (and quantum's built in, too).

   * Physics for Scientists and Engineers, by Randall Knight: As close to a "traditional" intro book as you can get while still paying attention to physics education research. It's very good, though I feel like the latest edition has veered back a bit to a bit more traditional order, perhaps to make it smoother for old professors to switch.

   Uncertanity/Error Analysis: (Essential for understanding experimental physics)

   * An Introduction to Error Analysis, by John Taylor: Such a beautiful little book!

   "Modern Physics": (Is a class whose content mostly ends before 1950 really "modern"?)

   * Six Ideas That Shaped Physics (Units R and Q), by Tom Moore: A very nice first introduction to both special relativity and quantum physics. Might need some supplemental content if you have time for more advanced quantum/nuclear stuff.

   [* Special Relativity, by Tom Helliwell: I learned out of this, and it was very good. I haven't taught out of it.]

   [* Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles, by Eisberg and Resnick: I learned out of this, but haven't taught out of it. Comprehensive.]

   Intermediate Classical Dynamics: (I haven't taught this one!)

   * ?Classical Mechanics, by John Taylor: I've heard very good things about this one.

   [* Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems, by Thornton and Marion: I learned out of it. It was fine.]

   Intermediate Electromagnetism:

   * Introduction to Electrodynamics, by David Griffiths: Truly excellent introduction to analysis of electric and magnetic fields using vector calculus and partial differential equations.

   [* ?Classical Electromagnetic Radiation, by Heald and Marion: I learned out of this. Not my favorite book, but it did the job.]

   Intermediate Quantum Mechanics:

   * A Modern Approach to Quantum Mechanics, by John Townsend: Inspired by Sakurai's graduate text, Townsend starts by studying spin and Stern-Gerlach experiments in depth using Dirac bra-ket notation, and then progresses to time evolution and position space. The chapter on the path integral formulation is fun but optional, and there's good stuff on perturbation theory and scattering and some hints toward field theory. (This may work best if students had a strong "Modern Physics" course first that studied wavefunctions in some depth.)

   [* Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, by David Griffiths: I haven't used this myself. An excellent quantum book with a more "traditional" organization, starting with wavefunctions and only later talking about Dirac notation and spin.]

   Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics:

   * An Introduction to Thermal Physics, by Daniel Schroeder: A fantastic, multi-pass blend of statistical mechanics and classical thermodynamics. It starts with basic classical definitions of thermal concepts, then introduces explicit state counting in medium-sized systems with the help of Excel, then discusses classical thermodynamics in depth, and finally goes into a full discussion Boltzmann factors and statmech.

   * Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics, by Frederick Reif: This was (for me) the least bad of the books that I used to teach myself undergraduate statmech while I was in graduate school. (I foolishly arranged to avoid the class as an undergrad.)

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5. randletJul 2014
   We used a combination of Goldstein (a classic as another poster pointed out) and Marion & Thornton's Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems (which was good but not great).
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