In addition to being among the twentieth century’s major scientific figures, Sir James Jeans (1877–1946) was also one of the greatest modern science expositors. His classic introduction to mechanics endures as a clear and concise presentation of first principles.Although brief, it encompasses a remarkably wide selection of topics. Its subjects include rest and motion, force and the laws of motion, forces acting on a single particle, statics of systems of particles, statics of...
Albert Einstein characterized the work of James Clerk Maxwell as the «most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton.» Max Planck went even further, declaring that «he achieved greatness unequalled,» and Richard Feynman asserted that «From a long view of the history of mankind — seen from, say, ten thousand years from now — there can be little doubt that the most significant event of the nineteenth century will be judged as...
An accessible exposition of gravitation theory and celestial mechanics, this classic, oft-cited work was written by a distinguished Soviet astronomer. It explains with exceptional clarity the methods used by physicists in studying celestial phenomena.A historical introduction explains the Ptolemaic view of planetary motion and its displacement by the studies of Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton. Succeeding chapters examine the making of celestial observations and measurements and explain such...
"A remarkable work which will remain a document of the first rank for the historian of mechanics." — Louis de BroglieIn this masterful synthesis and summation of the science of mechanics, Rene Dugas, a leading scholar and educator at the famed Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, deals with the evolution of the principles of general mechanics chronologically from their earliest roots in antiquity through the Middle Ages to the revolutionary developments in relativistic mechanics, wave...
