Lagrangian Mechanics For The Non-Physicist (The Modern Physics Series)

Theoretical physicist here - this book is a great journey through the world of Lagrangian Mechanics. The themes are good, the examples are interesting, and most importantly, it's all basically correct. It lacks some rigor, but I don't think the author is going for that. There certainly is an aspect of Lagrangian Mechanics that should be focused on awe and wonder, and this books picks out that thread extremely well.I have to say that - despite the title - I don't know who the audience is. If you are not a physicist, it doesn't seem to me that you'd have the background to follow the book. You at least need several semesters of calculus, and a differential equation course would be helpful too. So who are the non-physicists this book is targeting? I can see an interested undergraduate, or working graduate student, using this book as a study guide *for sure*, but again - not in fields other then physics.Still, I don't want to take away from the quality of the book as a text - it reads the way my colleagues and I talk about Lagrangian Mechanics, which is a great thing!

Great book, everything is clearly explained, includes step by step equation manipulation so you can follow along, gives very good examples, draws appropriate parallels so you can call upon previous knowledge you might have. The only suggestion would be to have numbered each equation to help with following the derivations (but I guess the lack of numbered equations forced me to really understand/follow each step). Overall great book for both variational calculus & Lagrangian mechanics. Thanks Ville! ChrisI should add, there are minor typos in the formulas in a few places but the Appendix Longer Calculations seems to have it all correct. Ie: pg 211 vs pg 382

My goal in Graduate School was a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics, but that was sidetracked by the Vietnam draft. My year was the first they drafted Graduate students. That was not the end of my world, and other doors opened up for me. But that did not stop me from having the nagging itch to at least be able to visualize what I had hoped to learn in a QFT course.Along the way, I purchased numerous books on the subject, but each started assuming I had a conceptual picture of how the pieces fit together. Then, they proceeded to dive into the advance math swimming pool, leaving me on the poolside trying to understand how it all worked. While my studies produced some observations, the visual picture I sought was not happening.Ville's two volumes are the books I have been seeking for over Fifty years. His approach explains the conceptual framework up front and then shows how the mathematics implements that framework. I have lost count of how many times in reading his books, I have had lights going off with the insights that my Graduate courses should have taught me. I now go back and reread chapters in other books that I have struggled with and finally understand what they are telling me.What about Ville's title "...for nonphysicists"? It might seem it is filled with hand-wavy discussions intended for casual readers, and not for those who truly want to understand the subject. But his books are much more. He begins each section with a qualitative description of how the pieces fit together. And if that is sufficient, you can stop there and feel you have accomplished something.But using that framework as a roadmap, he then goes through the mathematical model that implements Lagrangian Mechanics and Field Theory. While you do not need to work through the calculations in detail, you see the equations that are the starting point of many other texts and finally understand their motivation.In short, Ville's efforts have resonated with my picture-oriented approach to Advanced Physics, and enabled me to visually understand what I have always known had to be there. So many Physics instructors start off with the math and never truly explain the framework surrounding the Physics game. In short, you cannot play a sport without understanding the rules within which the game is played. This is what Ville has provided.Ville has achieved his goal of making the foundations of advanced Physics accessible, and I have not seen another set of books that does so as effectively. If that is your goal, it will be money well spent to purchase both volumes.

Expanded coverage of topic for people with some background already. Would get five stars if it had an index.

I am retired EE and felt that this book is written for folks like me who for one reason or another chose a different technical path in their career for whatever the reasons are but always had a great admiration for physics as a discipline and wanted to learn more.There are many books out there discussing this subject so what makes this stand out?First it is not a standard text but written to help guide the reader and not to show off what the author knows which is typical of many text books.The physics is explained and questions like why is it important or why should i care about this or that is anticipated by the author thru out the book and answered in a most satisfactory way.I especially like the sections on Lagrangian constrains as most text books are very confusing for this section for the non expert. The author does a great job explaining and laying out the framework.The other area that I think it stands out is the discussion on Noether's Theorem /symmetry and conservation laws.Most books throws this section at the reader in a very dry or terse manner leaving the reader wondering how the theorem ,symmetry and conservation laws all come togetherThe author in this book took great pains to demonstrate it with wonderful examples including how probabilty is conserved in Quantum mechanics. That treatment of this is rarely seen in books .In closing the physics and the following math is all explained in great detail and not left to reader to bridge the gaps.The only feedback to the author is that there is no index at the end of the book so in trying to search for a subject i had to flip back and forth . Also would be great to include a section on Poisson brackets /phase space /Gibbs Liouville theorem to make the text even better. Looking forward to some of the worksheets from the website to further test my understanding on this subject. Now on to the next book on Field Theory from the same author