Physics 3344 Spring 2009

Course References

I may add more to these as we go.  The library should have all of 
them.  Please also note the list of recommended references in Marion and Thornton.


Mechanics References

J. R. Taylor, Classical Mechanics, University Science Books, 2005.
This is a new text, and I haven't had a chance to look at it much.  But it's
gotten such good reviews, I made it a recommended text for our course, and
put one on reserve.  It covers the same material in pretty much the same
format, but it can be helpful to see the same topic covered a few different
ways.  If you do use this text, let me know whether you like it better than Marion.

R. Feynman, R. Leighton, and M. Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics,  
Addison-Wesley, 1963.

This is one of the best textbooks ever written, with very intuitive
discussions.  It's a great place to start if you find Marion obscure
on some topic.  (It's also a good place to learn about E&M and Quantum.)

G. R. Fowles and G. L. Cassiday, Analytical Mechanics,
Saunders, 1999.

K. Symon, Mechanics, Addison Wesley, 1971.

W. Yourgrau and S. Mandelstam, Variational Principles in Dynamics and Quantum Theory,
Dover, 1979.

S. Borowitz, Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics,
W. A. Benjamin, 1967.

R. Feynman and A. Hibbs, Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals,
McGraw-Hill, 1965.

These last two are quantum texts, not mechanics, but are a good place
to see the direct connection between quantum mechanics and the 
principle of least action in classical mechanics.


Math References

R. Shankar, Basic Training in Mathematics, Plenum, 1995.

M. Boas, Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences, Wiley, 2005.

J. Marion, Principles of Vector Analysis, Academic Press, 1965.

R. Snieder, Mathematical Methods for the Physical Sciences, Cambridge, 2004.

The first two seem like very good general references for the math you'll
need for the physical sciences.  The latter two are just a couple more examples
of the many texts with similar titles you'll find in the library; let me know
if you find any others that are particularly useful.
 

Advanced References

H. Goldstein, C. Poole, and J. Safko, Classical Mechanics,
Addison Wesley, 2002.

This is the standard text for the graduate version of this course.


A. Fetter and D. Walecka, Theoretical Mechanics of Particles and Continua,
McGraw-Hill, 1980.

L. Landau and E. Lifshitz, Mechanics, Pergamon, 1960.

The Landau and Lifshitz series (translated from Russian) is a good
place to go in general if you like the feeling of having your head
explode. 

R. Weinstock, Calculus of Variations, McGraw Hill, 1952.

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