Mechanics: Volume 1 (Course of Theoretical Physics S)

All the books in the Landau series are great. I have the Quantum Mechanics volume (haven't read it but I know is not relativistic), the Classical Theory of Fields (I have gone through parts of it, basically it is about Electromagnetism and the General Theory of Relativity or the classical theory of Gravitation), this one brings good passages in GR. I also have the one about Statistical Physics (haven't read it) aaah and also the one on Quantum Electro-Dynamics which should be great, I have gone through it lightly. BUT, I do have thoroughly studied and gone through The Classical Mechanics Volume which is the one I am reviewing here. IT IS A DELIGHT! It is clear, short, to the point and it brings many done exercises as examples of applying the Theory, Lev Landau was a genius Physicist from the Soviet Union and in this book it really shows it. One of the things I most remember about the book is the proof he does about the Jacobi identity, this identity is easily shown to be satisfied when using commutators in Quantum Mechanics by using Matrix algebra, but here Landau does it for Poisson Brackets which is not so easy and he does it marvelous so good! Recommended eyes closed!

Arguably, everything that could possibly be said about the L&L textbook on classical mechanics (L&L-I for short) have already been said here in these reviews and elsewhere. But I would like to add my voice to the crowd that really likes this textbook. I am fond of classical mechanics, and I hold a host of "classics" in the field in my personal library: L&L-I, Goldstein, Kibble, Siegel & Moser, Sommerfeld, Arnold, Lanczos, Whittaker, and Mach, besides some general relativity texts (you may be missing Abraham & Marsden and Gallavotti's "The Elements of Mechanics" from the list, but I am not -- I miss the exquisite text by Sudarshan & Mukunda). In every one of these texts I can find something that I dislike---excessive rigour, lack of figures, verbosity, crazy exercises, etc. (sometimes in combination...)---, but I can hardly find any fault in L&L-I. The choice of topics in L&L-I is just exactly (imho) what a working physicist must know by heart. Some complain that it does not deal adequately with nonlinear dynamics, chaos, etc., but this critique is unfair: the book does not cover all you may want know about classical mechanics, but definitely covers everything you *must* know about classical mechanics. Moreover, it was written ~70 years ago, way before the "chaos revival" of the 1980's. Recently, I came across at the library with a little book that I found well written, concise, rigorous, and with a very nice blend of classical and modern subjects: " Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Mechanics ," by M. G. Calkin. Nowadays, if I had to teach a second course on classical mechanics for undergraduates I would use L&L I + Calkin (despite the somewhat picky review by Robert Weinstock on Calkin's textbook on Am. J. Phys. 66(3), 261-262 (1998)]. P.S.: The printing quality is very uneven and disappointing. Some of the smaller printing (in the exercises) is barely readable. The book is not a cheap $9.99 paperback, so the puny printing quality is unacceptable. Guess what: printed and bound in China... I will feel lucky if the ink does not contain lead, mercury, wasted nuclear material, etc. Attention, editorial houses: come printing your books in Brazil!

This book is not for someone to learn classical mechanics from. In a nutshell this book shows where the symmetries of physics and the conservation laws come from. This book is not meant to show what happens when you fall off the roof. Symmetries and conservation laws play a big role in Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Field theory, plus various other branches of physics. All the formulations in this book use Action integrals, the Lagrangian and the Hamiltonian. Learning this book can save a lot of frustration when the things this book covers show up in more advanced physics courses. It is also a good reference book to use when the things in this book do show up in later physics courses and you need a good review. To explain it the best way I know how, this book is the nuts and bolts of what is going on behind the scenes of physics. Why Newton's equations act they way they do. This book adds the maturity to what you already know about classical mechanics and more advanced physics. Most of the physics you take from now on depend on the formulation of the ideas of this book in one way or another. Some of the formulations of QM. depend on the Hamilton-Jacobi equation which this book covers. Simply put this book is the level of maturity you need to be at to move on to more advanced physics courses. This book does an excellent job of covering these topics. It has the solutions to almost all the problems in the book making it the perfect book for self study. This book covers just the right amount of material and no more, so there is no fluff. The book is written in such a style that it is a easy read. It has just the right balance between understanding concepts and the mathematics. This book is the bridge to the next level of physics. This book gives the right background so in the future you do not memorize a bunch of equations without understanding how they came about. The ideas in this book permeate all of physics, not just Classical Mechanics. Some previous exposure to Action integrals, the Lagrangian and the Hamiltonian are really a must. Again this is not a book to learn how to do Mechanics from, but the why, Newtons equations act the way they do.

Previous knowledge required: Multivariable and Vector Calculus (partial and total derivatives, multiple integrals, differential equations, cross and dot products, divergence and curl, vector integral equations), Basics on Tensor Calculus, Calculus of Variations (definition of variation), Linear Algebra (matrix manipulations -addition, multiplication and inversion-, determinants, minors, linear transformations: translations, rotations and reflections), Basics on Classical Mechanics (momentum, angular momentum, energy). Didactical level: 5 Mathematical level: 8 Mathematical rigurosity: 6 Physical rigurosity: 10 Physical view: 10 Degree of conciseness: 10 Level of revision: 10 Solved problems: Yes Proposed problems: No Note on quantitations: Didactical level: 0 = the author does not care about the reader, he/she just writes for his/her own understanding; 10 = the book is so easily read that almost anybody can learn from it, with nearly no effort. Mathematical level: 0 = no equations given (book for the layman); 10 = the most advanced mathematical language used for the subject given in the book (book for the higly advanced expert). Mathematical rigurosity: 0 = innacurate exposition of equations (it means, the equations are fine, but the author does not care about any underlying mathematical subtleties); 10 = abstract presentation of equations, with rigorously detailed exposition and demostration of theorems (mathematical book on physics). To give more details: a 6 means a typical book that a Nobel Prize physicist would prefer, and a 10 means a typical book that a Fields Medal mathematician would prefer. Physical rigurosity: 0 = divulgative book; 10 = pinpoint detailed description of the physical concepts involved in each situation described in the book. Physical view: 0 = pure abstract mathematics, with no comments on the underlying physics; 10 = comments on the physical concept that almost every equation implies. Degree of conciseness: 0 = too explicative (or too dry) for its level; 10 = the exact number of equations and comments are given to expound the subject. Level of revision: 0 = no revised at all, full of errors; 10 = meticulously revised, no perceptible mistakes left in the book.

Like the title says this book provides a new perspective that allows very commonly defined quantities to arise naturally. However, this is the translation from Landau's work so the original texts are much thicker and I am sure much is lost in the translation. This is also a graduate or higher text and it difficult to follow at times but the more ways you can understand something the better.

The volume 1, Mechanics, (of the Series in Theoretical Physics by Landau, Lifshitz and collaborators) is a classic of the classics: extremely clear and to the point. Every student and researcher should read it and have it in his/her library. I already had a copy from the time I was a student, on the other hand this new edition has a small biography of Landau written by his student, friend and collaborator Lifshitz. That is the reason I got this third edition, the biography reflects the unique feeling students in general had for Landau and the greatness of Lifshitz that for all his life remained sensibly attach to his supervisor. We all treasure and learn from this book.

Amazon, you should be ashamed! This is a wonderful, elegant book, it's the text for my 2012 fall course on graduate classical mechanics, and probably for many such courses worldwide. Most students could really use a Kindle edition--but this one's horrible! Practically illegible, the equations in particular. The beauty has been ruined. For $42, you can surely do better. I'd planned on getting the whole Landau Lifshitz series on Kindle, but not until you get your act together. Please, please fix this -- notice this book is fifty years old and still the best. It will be for a long time to come, so it's well worth redoing.

First, I completely concur with all those who have suggested that this book is the pinnacle of mechanics. I have a copy of the soft-cover text that I have read (and reread) for years. "Brilliant" doesn't do it justice. If you are serious about understanding classical mechanics and seeing the connections between classical and modern physics, this concise text is a must-read. Loving the text as I do, I was excited to get a copy for Kindle. I justified the expense (on a book I already own) by noting the aging, dog-eared, well used character of my physical copy. How sadly disappointed I was with the purchase. While essentially the same as the original, the production of the Kindle edition uses odd type faces for the Greek/scientific notation that is inline (which is distracting and annoying to try to parse). Equations are simply scanned copies from the original (scalable vector equations would have been too much trouble, I guess). While this could have been OK, the publisher chose to scan the figures in grayscale (instead of b/w) and to do it at a remarkably low resolution. The result is that the equations are often too small to read inline with the text and zooming them just give you a larger, fuzzier version. Really less than ideal. In fact, I would say the production values on this one are the worse that I have seen for a mathematical/physics text on Kindle. So sad that this should be done to such an outstanding text. So 5 stars for the book, 1 for the kindle edition -> 3 stars overall.

Great, came as ordered and the print is decent.

Landau’s Course of Theoretical Physics is undeniably brilliant, but also extremely hard to read. He often solves problems in his own unconventional way, skipping steps and assuming deep physical intuition from the reader. While the insights are remarkable, the style can feel opaque and, at times, a bit outdated. Still, it remains a classic for those who appreciate its unique approach to theoretical physics.

The best book on classical mechanics. No extra sentence, the best in this series. A must read if you want to pursue physics.

A pesar de que el paquete tarde en llegar, por el precio valió la pena. A pesar de la cantidad de hojas, se nota la calidad del trabajo de Landau de

Il libro è sicuramente 5 stelle, ma il formato pdf non leggibile da webreader non va bene.