This is a text on Hamiltionian and Lagrangian Dynamics, aimed at the student who has just finished the calculus sequence. Such a student has probably heard of relativity and quantum mechanics, but has not heard of Hamiltonian or Lagrangian Dynamics. A natural reaction to something new is If it's so important, why haven't I heard of it before. Such a student deserves an answer. Hamiltonian and Lagrangian Dynamics are important because they make problems easy that would otherwise be very, very painful. Also, it is these ...
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This is a text on Hamiltionian and Lagrangian Dynamics, aimed at the student who has just finished the calculus sequence. Such a student has probably heard of relativity and quantum mechanics, but has not heard of Hamiltonian or Lagrangian Dynamics. A natural reaction to something new is If it's so important, why haven't I heard of it before. Such a student deserves an answer. Hamiltonian and Lagrangian Dynamics are important because they make problems easy that would otherwise be very, very painful. Also, it is these formalisms, not that of Newton, that still has meaning in quantum mechanics. And, on a spiritual level, this material explains the underlying reasons for why things are the way they are, in both quantum land and on the classical level. A very large amount of physics ends up tracing its way back to this material. This book distinguishes itself from others by developing Hamiltonian mechanics before Lagrangian mechanics. The Hamiltonian is more or less what you would call energy, so it is closer to the intuition than the Lagrangian, so it puts the reader on firmer ground intuitively and schematically than the usual approach. this subject. And so many of the exercises are unusually artistic in the sense of asking the student to draw pictures, or accompany calculations with drawings. This the reason for the subtitle A Coloring Book for Young Physicists. I don't mean that this is meant for elementary school age students. But I do mean that this book is intended to be a core intimate exploratory experience, like a coloring book can be. Find out what things are, and find out what they feel like on the tip of your crayon. There is a split in the literature of classical mechanics.
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Add this copy of Hamiltonian and Lagrangian Mechanics to cart. $162.42, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Authorhouse.
