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Contents: Introduction,Conservation of angular momentum,Review of the elementary principles,The two-body force problem,Transformation theory of dynamics,Poisson brackets,Hamilton-Jacobi theory,Relativistic mechanics,Dynamics of rigid bodies,General exercises,Appendix-1,Appendix-2,Index

Classical Mechanics or old Mechanics deals with the laws of motion that are applicable to systems that could be called 'macroscopic in the modern sense. Its failure to describe the motion of microscopic systems led to the formulation of quantum mechanics, and at a later stage to the formulation of relativistic quantum mechanics.

 

For complete understanding of modern physics, a perfect knowledge of classical mechanics is very essential. Neglect of classical mechanics or failure to grasp its fundamental concepts has always led to frustration and failure in the field of physics. Recent discoveries about the nature of the earth and its surroundings, the launching of satellites and rockets, has further increased the importance of the subject since celestial mechanics is based on classical mechanics. I have, therefore, sufficiently emphasized the importance of classical mechanics.

 

The contents of the book contain a series of lectures which the author had been giving to the M.Sc. and Ph.D students in physics for the last over ten years. The chapters are arranged in a sequence in which the subject matter was taught to the students.

 

The pre-requisite for the study of this book is an undergraduate course on mathematics with a particular knowledge of differential equations, integral and differential calculus.