Recommended Resources For Self-Studying Classical Mechanics – Profound Physics

100 Best Classical Mechanics Books of All Time (Updated for 2021)

Learning classical mechanics doesn't have to be hard

What if there was a way to learn classical mechanics without all the usual fluff? What if there were a book that allowed you to see the whole picture and not just tiny parts of it?

Thoughts like this are the reason that No-Nonsense Classical Mechanics now exists.

What will you learn from this book?

Get to know all fundamental mechanics concepts - Grasp why we can describe classical mechanics using the Lagrangian formalism, the Newtonian formalism, or the Hamiltonian formalism and how these frameworks are connected.

Learn to describe classical mechanics mathematically - Understand the meaning and origin of the most important equations: Newton's second law, the Euler-Lagrange equation and Hamilton's equations.

Master the most important classical mechanics systems - Read fully annotated, step-by-step calculations and understand the general algorithm we use to describe them.

Get an understanding you can be proud of - Learn about beautiful and deep insights like Noether's theorem or Liouville's theorem and how classical mechanics emerges in a proper limit of special relativity, quantum mechanics and general relativity.

No-Nonsense Classical Mechanics is the most student-friendly book on classical nechanics ever written.

Here's why.

First of all, it's is nothing like a formal university lecture. Instead, it's like a casual conservation with a more experienced student. This also means that nothing is assumed to be "obvious" or "easy to see".

Each chapter, each section, and each page focuses solely on the goal to help you understand. Nothing is introduced without a thorough motivation and it is always clear where each equation comes from.

The book contains no fluff since unnecessary content quickly leads to confusion. Instead, it ruthlessly focuses on the fundamentals and makes sure you'll understand them in detail.

The primary focus on the readers' needs is also visible in dozens of small features that you won't find in any other textbook

In total, the book contains more than 100 illustrations that help you understand the most important concepts visually.

In each chapter, you'll find fully annotated equations and calculations are done carefully step-by-step. This makes it much easier to understand what's going on in.

Whenever a concept is used that was already introduced previously there is a short sidenote that reminds you where it was first introduced and often recites the main points. In addition, there are summaries at the beginning of each chapter that make sure you won't get lost.

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University Physics I: Classical Mechanics

Reviewed by Mitchell Stephenson, Assistant Professor, University of Montana - Western on 1/29/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Gea-Banacloche's text reviews the classic topics of physics (linear and angular kinetics and kinematics) in a linear manner before delving more deeply into more advanced topics of waves and thermodynamics. This is a great opportunity to prepare students for the basics of Physics II by integrating the latter topics into the context of the former. Importantly, the author briefs the students on a suggested approach to the text, guiding them through a valuable study strategy that relies on the exercises and practice problems contained within.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I feel that it would be difficult for a physics textbook to be biased or error-filled unless the author was unable to use their own calculator! This text is well-designed, accurate, and uses realistic examples. Importantly, the simplified descriptions of phenomena and effects are more than adequate without being wordy.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Classic topics and examples in physics have changed little over the past decades, but this text does manage to stay relatively modern with clean, well-justified examples and problems. I would suggest that many of the examples could be expanded and related to physics students can observe and experience without substantial equipment or resources. Notably, biomechanics textbooks contextualize these phenomena to the human body, providing more relatable material examples to students.

Clarity rating: 5

If there was a single strongest value of this text, it's clarity is certainly a prime contender. Too often, physics textbooks are mired in clauses and details that distract from the problem at hand. This text not only circumvents this risk, but also writes in an approachable, yet professional demeanor that communicates directly to the student. Other authors should take note at how the first person, directive narrative simplifies sentence structure and eases the transition into equations.

Consistency rating: 5

Formatting, referencing, topical depth, and voice are all reliable throughout the text. I find this particularly impressive given the active narrative the author relies upon throughout.

Modularity rating: 5

The Chapter/section/subsection organization often found in engineering publications author in Latex lends itself well to the text's modularity without excessively subdividing topics into too small elements. The presentation of the topics are interlaced, but not in a way that requires frequent navigation. This text also excels at it's modular value; I can envision portions of this text being used for multiple topics and courses in applied physics courses without undermining its educational and reference value.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization of this text surprised me slightly; it was not the organization I would have defaulted to, yet its narrative is beautifully constructed and cuts a linear logical path through multiple topics. The author does a wonderful job linking sections and chapters together, providing transitions helpful for student understanding without undermining the modularity of the text.

Interface rating: 4

The text is adequately hyperlinked and consistently structured. The Latex-like formatting is sometimes wasteful, but does organize sections and subsections consistently. Figures are generally clear, although some do suffer from slight aliasing. It would be helpful to link to other sections in their references, and provide a "return to index" link at the end of sections for easier navigation when using the text modularly. I do find the in-text web addresses a bit cumbersome, and wonder if an embedded hyperlink would be preferable if combined with referenced web addresses included at the end of the chapter for those who print the text.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

This text is cleanly and clearly written with no grammatical or reference errors in the text or equations (the latter is a relatively rare commodity in the available physics OER, sadly).

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Examples are free of any cultural considerations, although I could argue that the bias towards contrived physics examples may alienate some biologically-interested students. Some examples are invaluably contextualized to biomechanics, but I feel that the more challenging the mathematical example, the more likely the author falls back on to cliche examples outside of the reach of human experience.

Comments

Overall, this is a wonderful text that is valuable in multiple contexts. I hope the author considers expanding their corpus of OER!

Recommended Resources For Self-Studying Classical Mechanics – Profound Physics

Classical mechanics is likely the topic most people would start with when learning physics. This is because classical mechanics is the most intuitive branch of physics for a lot of people (especially for those trying to self-study).

Most importantly, however, learning classical mechanics provides you with the essential tools you’ll need when you go further on your physics journey.

From classical mechanics, you’ll learn the important mathematics of how physical systems are modeled as well as stuff like Lagrangians and Hamiltonians, which come up EVERYWHERE in more advanced physics.

On this page, you’ll find my top 3 recommended reads on classical mechanics and who they are best suited for as well as a tool I created to help you choose the perfect self-study resource tailored just for what you’re looking to learn.

How To Find The Perfect Self-Study Resource For You (The Classical Mechanics Self-Study Tool)

Now, finding the right learning resource that suits you perfectly is extremely difficult. There are thousands of different books and other stuff out there and going through them all is literally impossible.

That’s why I’ve created a free tool that will help you find a self-study resource tailored specifically for your learning style and goals (whether it be a textbook or a video course, for example). The tool can be found below (it may take a few seconds to load).

My Top 3 Book Recommendations For Classical Mechanics

There are countless books on classical mechanics out there, but here I’ve distilled them to my top 3 picks (believe me, it wasn’t an easy choice!). These are the top 3 books on classical mechanics that have helped me the most:

Theoretical Minimum by Leonard Susskind (click to check current price on Amazon) – This is my recommendation for beginners who want more of a quick read that focuses mostly on the underlying theoretical principles of classical mechanics and explains them in an intuitive and insightful way.

Physics For Scientists and Engineers 9th Edition w/ Modern Physics by Jewett & Serway (click to check current price on Amazon) – This book is for anyone wanting to learn more of the real-world applications of physics as it includes tons of practice problems and engineering applications. Solutions to the practice problems can be found for free here.

No-Nonsense Classical Mechanics by Jakob Schwichtenberg (click to check current price on Amazon) – This is my #1 recommendation overall as it covers almost all topics quite thoroughly, but does it in a way that’s easy to understand even for beginners. It also compares the different formulations of classical mechanics really nicely.

Down below I’ve included more information on each of these books and why they are my favourites.

Why I Picked These 3 Books & Who They’re Best Suited For

Here, I’ve explained why I picked these 3 books above as well as who I’d recommend them to as well as what areas of classical mechanics they cover so that you can find the best one for your personal needs.

Theoretical Minimum by Leonard Susskind

I would recommend Susskind’s Theoretical Minimum for anyone who is more of a beginner and just wants to know the bare minimum of what classical mechanics and theoretical physics (which is the main focus of the book, Susskind being a theoretical physicist himself) is all about. That’s sort of the whole point of the Theoretical Minimum book series.

The book is quite a quick read (only a little over 200 pages long), but it does cover the basics of Lagrangians and Hamiltonians really well as well as some of the applications of these.

This is exactly the book I first read when I began to learn Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics and even now I still sometimes refer back to it, simply because of the excellent and insightful way Susskind explains everything.

I’d say all you need to understand this book is a basic high school -level knowledge of math and physics.

You might not even need that or almost any previous knowledge, since the first 75 or so pages cover quite well everything you have to know about the basics (the necessary math, Newton’s laws, motion in general etc.).

The rest of the book is then focused on Lagrangian mechanics and Hamiltonian mechanics as well as the applications of these formulations. Here are the exact topics that are covered in the book:

Also, you can find Susskind’s lectures on Youtube, which are basically condensed versions of the chapters found in the book (although the book includes a lot more stuff). The lectures go really well hand-in-hand with the book.

What I really liked about The Theoretical Minimum is that it includes tons of Susskind’s wonderful insights, which really make the concepts easily understandable. There are also quite a bit of examples to demonstrate how everything works in practice.

I suppose the only downside about this book is that it doesn’t have terribly many practice problems for you to do yourself (although there are some) since the focus of the book is mostly on the theoretical aspects and the underlying principles of classical mechanics.

All in all though, this book is absolutely wonderful for beginners (even for someone with more knowledge, it’s still a very insightful read) and I’d recommend it as a great starting point for anyone wanting to learn classical mechanics, especially for beginners who wish to learn theoretical physics.

Physics For Scientists and Engineers by Jewett & Serway

Physics For Scientists and Engineers by Jewett & Serway is pretty much a standard textbook in many colleges and it’s definitely clear why. This book has pretty much everything you’d need to know about classical physics (the book itself has over 1400 pages!).

The book is mainly aimed at people who are more interested in learning about applications of physics (to engineering, among other things) as well as those wanting to do lots of practice problems.

Now, my only downside with this book and the fact that it is mainly geared towards engineering applications is that it doesn’t cover some of the more abstract theoretical things in classical mechanics, like Lagrangians and Hamiltonians.

Otherwise, though, the book is absolutely wonderful. It includes everything from mechanics to electromagnetism and thermodynamics and it even has a decent bit about quantum mechanical applications, such as superconductors.

This is exactly what the book includes: Note that each of the numbered chapters (those numbered from 1 to 47) also have multiple sub-chapters.

Every chapter also has a ton of different practice problems with varying difficulties, which is what makes this book so great. There is probably well over a thousand exercises in total (no, I did not count them all).

Now, if you wish to actually get the book, I’d recommend getting the specific edition named Physics For Scientists and Engineers 9th Edition with Modern Physics (link to Amazon).

The 9th edition is among the newest ones and I’ve heard that it’s the best one of them. Personally, I have the 4th edition, which I got from my dad as it was his old college engineering textbook.

All of the editions do cover pretty much the same topics, the exercises and the overall structure may be a little different. The main problem with the older editions is that the solutions to exercises are very difficult to find anywhere on the internet.

So, my recommendation is to get the 9th edition. You’ll find the solutions to the practice problems easily for free online, such as from here.

No-Nonsense Classical Mechanics by Jakob Schwichtenberg

The goal of the No-Nonsense book series is to basically teach you the underlying principles of why certain theories exist and why they’re important, which is what many textbooks seem to miss. No-Nonsense Classical Mechanics (link to Amazon), in fact, does explain the deep principles underlying all of classical mechanics extremely well.

This book definitely is focused more on the intuitive reasoning behind all the classical mechanics concepts. It doesn’t just throw a bunch of math at you like many books do, but actually focuses on explaining why we need certain mathematical tools, for example.

Something I also love about this book is the fact that all of the derivations and calculations are done in a step-by-step fashion and nothing is assumed as “easy to see” or “left as an exercise for the reader”. This really makes this particular book stand out as a wonderful self-study resource since that’s what it seems to be aimed at.

It may seem I’m just praising this book, but to be honest, it deserves that.

No-Nonsense Classical Mechanics is just such an enlightening read and it works as a perfect overview of pretty much all important topics in classical mechanics. I think this book gives something to everyone, even to those already familiar with these topics, because of its beautifully insightful explanations.

Now, more practically, the main topics covered in the book are the Lagrangian, the Hamiltonian and the Newtonian formulations and also the applications of these (there are, however, also lots of more advanced topics in the book, such as symmetries, the Hamilton-Jacobi formulation as well as where the classical Lagrangian, T-V, actually comes from).

The main theme in the book is the comparison of these three big formulations and also explaining the underlying laws of nature behind each of these, such as where they come from and what principles the’re based on.

All in all, I’d highly recommend this book for pretty much everyone actually because of its insightful way of explaining ideas. Jakob Schwichtenberg being a theoretical physicist really makes this book quite eye-opening and makes this a fantastic read both for beginners as well as those already familiar with the topics.