HONORS CLASSICAL MECHANICS

Undergraduate physics students must often "unlearn" aspects of classical mechanics as they progress through college and graduate school. This book, by introducing classical mechanics as the limiting case in special relativity of an infinite speed of light, eliminates the need for such backtracking. Starting with time/space and energy/momentum, the book allows students to solve problems addressing modern topics of research in astronomy, cosmology, and particle physics. The text then derives Newtonian mechanics, and covers the full syllabus of a conventional introductory course, but at a deeper level of mathematical sophistication for topics such as rigid body and planetary motion. Extensive mathematical appendixes are integrated into the text, as are curated problems sets in each chapter. The book is intended as a long-overdue revision of both the curriculum and pedagogy of the traditional introductory honors classical mechanics course.