Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
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Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
1–10 of 21 posts
Re: Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
#2I really like the idea of introducing classical mechanics and methods of numerical solution alongside one another. I do feel that physics at the undergraduate level fetishizes pencil and paper to the detriment of understanding how complex a classical system really can be.
I am also ecstatic about the choice of not-Fortran for representing the algorithms.
Makes me tempted to try and write a "Structure and Interpretation of Neutron Transport"
Re: Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
#3I LOVE this book. I've had a hard copy for years. I always felt kind of lonely, though - it's such a niche topic that I had trouble finding anyone else interested enough to actually work through it :) So it's great to see it on the front page of HN.
Its software, scmutils, includes an emacs-like editor and execution environment called Edwin. Here's an oooold blog post I wrote about using GNU Emacs with scmutils instead: http://ai.redsymbol.net/2007/06/using-gnu-emacs-with-scmutil...
Re: Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
#4I LOVE this book. I've had a hard copy for years. I always felt kind of lonely, though - it's such a niche topic that I had trouble finding anyone else interested enough to actually work through it :) So it's great to see it on the front page of HN. Its software, scmutils, includes an emacs-like editor and execution environment called Edwin. Here's an oooold blog post I wrote about using GNU Emacs with scmutils inste…
Depending on how much code is in this book I may be interested in porting it to work with Racket. I am very interested in investigating Lisps and Lisplikes for numerical work, so I'd be happy to work through it in parallel with you, if you're still looking for a partner.
Re: Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
#5Could the material in this book be reasonably accessible to somebody who has no calculus experience?
Re: Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
#6Could the material in this book be reasonably accessible to somebody who has no calculus experience?
No, not at all. The first equation is an integral.
Re: Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
#7Could the material in this book be reasonably accessible to somebody who has no calculus experience?
No, not at all. The first equation is an integral.
Classical mechanics bears approximately the same relationship to calculus that calculus does to first-year algebra. You have to have a very good grasp of calculus to appreciate, or even survive, classical mechanics.
Re: Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
#8Could the material in this book be reasonably accessible to somebody who has no calculus experience?
The pre-reqs for the accompanying class include both single and multi-variable Calculus, as well as differential equations.
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-01-single-variable...
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-02-multivariable-c...
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-03-differential-eq...
It's a long road, but a very rewarding one. Good luck.
Re: Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
#9I really like the idea of introducing classical mechanics and methods of numerical solution alongside one another. I do feel that physics at the undergraduate level fetishizes pencil and paper to the detriment of understanding how complex a classical system really can be. I am also ecstatic about the choice of not-Fortran for representing the algorithms. Makes me tempted to try and write a "Structure and Interpretati…
I've taken several courses in classical mechanics, and I've never seen anyone give a proper treatment of complex (really, chaotic) systems unless the entire course in devoted to it. The ideas are so different and time-consuming that it just cannot be introduced alongside simple classical mechanics.
That said, numerical simulations of simple systems (harmonic oscillators, perturbed oscillators, etc.) can be a helpful partner to analytical study.
Re: Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
#10I once took the MIT class on which this book is based:
http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/6946/index.html
If anyone's interested, my problem sets solutions are here: http://www.cag.csail.mit.edu/~namin/mechanics/
The class was definitely out of my comfort zone in terms of the physics, but I loved the scheme system that allowed us to focus on the concepts, and leave the grunge to the computer. It's liberating to have an unambiguous notation, but it doesn't replace intuition.