Newtonian Mechanics

I came to this book as an undergraduate, with plenty of past experience in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, mathematics, and physics. Having used newton's laws of motion in analysis as if it were second nature I was curious about what this book had to offer but did not expect to learn anything new. I was blown away. The first 6 chapters just discuss the philosophy behind the three laws. If you thought you understood them before, think again. This book was not just eye-opening, it was enlightening. I was understanding these laws in ways I never even imagined these laws had been intended. Far from just being just another look at Newton's laws this book really studies the physics behind the "Applied Mathematics" approach that I had learned mechanics from. It also teaches you the philosophy of science and makes the CRUCIAL distinction between the deductive and inductive processes of the Scientific Method - something that FEW even among the top graduates seem to recognize these days, and yet it is all-important to ANY aspiring scientist. For that reason alone, I'd recommend that you by the book and read the first few chapters at least, regardless of your field.

This is an excellent text, especially its challenging problems and also the wonderful explanation of historical contexts. This 1st edition (743 pages) was published in 1971 and is the most appropriate one to use for a more leisurely course that covers both mechanics and some history of mechanics. Definitely less daunting than "An Introduction to Mechanics," by Kleppner and Kolenkow, 1973 - which has more difficult problems. The 2nd edition (310 pages) was published in 1986 and was renamed "Introduction to Classical Mechanics," by A.P. French and M.G. Ebison, Kluwer Academic Publishers. This latter updated edition is much more compact and drastically removes most of the historical and discursive material. More emphasis is placed on rapidly developing the principles and applications, thereby achieving the same depth but reducing the number of pages by more than half; unfortunately, it's also much more expensive - characteristic of Kluwer books. It seems to be more often used in British universities.

I worked through French's challenging problem sets in Newtonian Mechanics while I was in the military and found out that I could "do physics." I immediately returned to school to earn my physics degree. A lot of authors mention in their prefaces that the best way to learn physics is to do problems. I agree. Reading the text of this book is easy for anyone who desires enough to do it. Working the problems (always the tougher and less convenient half) will pay dividends in confidence and deeper understanding. This book--like the rest in the MIT physics series written by French--has all of the answers to the problems in the back of the book that allows independent study. The book is well-motivated and gives a lot in return but asks a lot of the student in his or her maturity and perseverence.

I think it's THE book of mechanics for Physics' students. Itcovers from basic mechanics (kinematics, newton laws...) to sometopics of classical mechanics. It has many clear demonstrations that are not found in other books for engineers (like Resnick, Tippler...) and contains excellent examples. It has a high level but is very easy to understand. French style, that combines history, original observations, clearity and high-level topics makes you love Mechanics.