Classical Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum
- Downloads：6852
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-11 14:53:15
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Leonard Susskind
- ISBN：0141976225
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
A Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2013
A world-class physicist and a citizen scientist combine forces to teach Physics 101—the DIY way
The Theoretical Minimum is a book for anyone who has ever regretted not taking physics in college—or who simply wants to know how to think like a physicist。 In this unconventional introduction， physicist Leonard Susskind and hacker-scientist George Hrabovsky offer a first course in physics and associated math for the ardent amateur。 Unlike most popular physics books—which give readers a taste of what physicists know but shy away from equations or math—Susskind and Hrabovsky actually teach the skills you need to do physics， beginning with classical mechanics， yourself。 Based on Susskind's enormously popular Stanford University-based （and YouTube-featured） continuing-education course， the authors cover the minimum—the theoretical minimum of the title—that readers need to master to study more advanced topics。
An alternative to the conventional go-to-college method， The Theoretical Minimum provides a tool kit for amateur scientists to learn physics at their own pace。
A world-class physicist and a citizen scientist combine forces to teach Physics 101—the DIY way
The Theoretical Minimum is a book for anyone who has ever regretted not taking physics in college—or who simply wants to know how to think like a physicist。 In this unconventional introduction， physicist Leonard Susskind and hacker-scientist George Hrabovsky offer a first course in physics and associated math for the ardent amateur。 Unlike most popular physics books—which give readers a taste of what physicists know but shy away from equations or math—Susskind and Hrabovsky actually teach the skills you need to do physics， beginning with classical mechanics， yourself。 Based on Susskind's enormously popular Stanford University-based （and YouTube-featured） continuing-education course， the authors cover the minimum—the theoretical minimum of the title—that readers need to master to study more advanced topics。
An alternative to the conventional go-to-college method， The Theoretical Minimum provides a tool kit for amateur scientists to learn physics at their own pace。
Reviews
John
，
The book is beyond my current understanding of physics， but the first couple of chapters were really understandable and beautifully written。 The book contains a lot about the common fields of physics like Newton's laws， Kepler's laws， Electromagnetism， potential energy， kinetic energy， Hamiltonians， Lagrangians， Curl， Divergence etc。Susskind has a different way of thinking about concepts。 I liked the chapter on energy， where I also learned that basically every type of energy can be defined as ei The book is beyond my current understanding of physics， but the first couple of chapters were really understandable and beautifully written。 The book contains a lot about the common fields of physics like Newton's laws， Kepler's laws， Electromagnetism， potential energy， kinetic energy， Hamiltonians， Lagrangians， Curl， Divergence etc。Susskind has a different way of thinking about concepts。 I liked the chapter on energy， where I also learned that basically every type of energy can be defined as either kinetic energy or potential energy。 。。。more
Ze Hua
，
I'll come back to this after I revise math :（ dnf but it's not you baby it's meupdate: ok but now that I look at an actual textbook this book is way too compressed from the lagrangian onwards I'll come back to this after I revise math :（ dnf but it's not you baby it's meupdate: ok but now that I look at an actual textbook this book is way too compressed from the lagrangian onwards 。。。more
Dan Seitz
，
No rating not because it's bad， it's not， but this is more of a workbook than a read about physics， and I didn't do the exercises。 Still interesting， but definitely for people actively learning physics。 No rating not because it's bad， it's not， but this is more of a workbook than a read about physics， and I didn't do the exercises。 Still interesting， but definitely for people actively learning physics。 。。。more
Reza Katebi
，
I am an astrophysicist and I just picked up this book to read for fun。 It is really engaging and it covers fundamentals nicely。 Even if you are a physicist already like me， you are going to enjoy Susskind's approach。 I am an astrophysicist and I just picked up this book to read for fun。 It is really engaging and it covers fundamentals nicely。 Even if you are a physicist already like me， you are going to enjoy Susskind's approach。 。。。more
Mary Kaener
，
just not what i was looking for。 almost impossible to read on the kindle， the formulas & diagrams are ridiculously small。
Don Durack
，
Theoretical overview of Classical Mechanics with the basics of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations。 A very useful companion to Susskind’s wonderful set of lectures on this topic。
Ferran Leal
，
Essential in my day to day with physics。
Victor Manuel
，
Almost 30 years had passed since my last contact with Langragians and Hamiltonians。 This is a perfect book to remember the basics in less than a week prior to continue with more in-depth stuff。
Sayed H Fatimi
，
Absolutely brilliant！ From start to finish， from the basics of calculus and trigonometry to the formulation of classical electromagnetism。 If you are looking for a thorough understanding of classical mechanics， whether you have a background in physics or not， this is precisely what you need to read。
Bernardo
，
When I studied engineering at university， I learned about calculus， complex analysis， Newtonian mechanics， electromagnetism， some fluids mechanics， bits of solid state physics， etc。 At the time I decided to take an engineering course mainly because I thought it would give me a better chance at finding a job than say， a physics course。 Sometimes I still wonder “what if I had taken physics”， but I don’t think I was clever enough to actually be successful as a physicist。 So I guess this book was in When I studied engineering at university， I learned about calculus， complex analysis， Newtonian mechanics， electromagnetism， some fluids mechanics， bits of solid state physics， etc。 At the time I decided to take an engineering course mainly because I thought it would give me a better chance at finding a job than say， a physics course。 Sometimes I still wonder “what if I had taken physics”， but I don’t think I was clever enough to actually be successful as a physicist。 So I guess this book was in part aimed at people like me。Now， on to the book。 The first half is mostly related with Newtonian mechanics， with the text moving slowly and including a lot of revisions （interludes， as the authors call it in the book）， mainly about calculus。 It’s all easy to follow。 The second half of the book picks up speed， as we get introduced to advanced mechanics， including the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations， and gets more difficult by the introduction of some abstracts notions。 Additionally， there’s also a nice appendix explaining forces and planetary orbits。I must say I have some issues with this book。 Namely， it could use better editing， as there are quite a few errors。 Fortunately， there’s an errata online （made by the authors）， which lists out these。 Another issue I have is related with the exercises presented throughout the book for the reader to solve。 Initially， these are simple and easy， but as we move on to advanced mechanics they start to get more difficult。 Frustratingly， these are solved online only up to the sixth chapter （there are eleven chapters in total）。This book was based on the lectures given by Leonard Susskind at Stanford。 The lectures are actually available on YouTube and I highly recommend watching these， not only because they are great， but also because they complement the book very well， covering the same topics。Even though I do have some issues with the book， as I have mentioned， I loved going through it。 The material is presented in a wonderful， intuitive way。 Moreover， it really is suited for people who had some kind of calculus and physics in college， but haven’t gone through it for a few years and might be “rusty”。 Basically， the book does what it says， teaching the “real stuff” with top level content。 I look forward to reading the next book in the series and the first one on modern physics， about quantum mechanics。 。。。more
Qingyang
，
So challenging to read as a pre-university student， but so powerful and insightful。 A privilege to read， and I definitely need to reread。 The most powerful idea is that there are different formulations of mechanics， （Hamiltonian， Lagrangian， Newtonian）， where each formulation has a central concept （energy， Action， force）。 This book gave me an idea of what theoretical physics looks like at university level。 Immensely grateful。
Brian
，
wish I read this before I lost my confidence in advanced physics classes
Pluto
，
Great， but I recommend watching in tandem with the lectures。 You also need to have learned Single/ multivariable calculus， and atleast ordinary differential equations。 This book goes into Calculus of variations in small part for understanding the euler-lagrange equation for advanced mechanics like lagrangian and hamiltonian。
Jen
，
“A number of years ago I became aware of the large number of physics enthusiasts out there who have no venue to learn modern physics and cosmology。 Fat advanced textbooks are not suitable to people who have no teacher to ask questions of， and the popular literature does not go deeply enough to satisfy these curious people。 So I started a series of courses on modern physics at Stanford University where I am a professor of physics。 The courses are specifically aimed at people who know， or once k “A number of years ago I became aware of the large number of physics enthusiasts out there who have no venue to learn modern physics and cosmology。 Fat advanced textbooks are not suitable to people who have no teacher to ask questions of， and the popular literature does not go deeply enough to satisfy these curious people。 So I started a series of courses on modern physics at Stanford University where I am a professor of physics。 The courses are specifically aimed at people who know， or once knew， a bit of algebra and calculus， but are more or less beginners。”A quote from Susskind himself regarding the target audience of this project。If you’re someone who has a foundation of algebra， trig， calc， has some enthusiasm for physics， and wants to become better acquainted with the mathematical relationships under the hood; this book is for you。 It will help familiarize you with the techniques you’ll need to start engaging in foreplay with the universe。 It is particularly effective if used in conjunction with Susskind’s online courses， which are freely available on YouTube。 I strongly suggest you avail yourself of this supplement in order to achieve maximum epistemological virility。 This is a multi-volume work， three of which are available at the time of my review， （This title， Quantum Mechanics， Special Relativity and Classical Field Theory） and it appears as though the maestro will have us ready to take the Cosmos itself up to our room to show off our etchings before he’s finished。 So， if you feel like you’ve milked the popular science books for all their conceptual fluids and wish to get technical， this is a perfect primer for beginning your sexual dalliances with all things quantifiable。If you’re mathematically illiterate and you’re a tad curious what this whole physics hoopla is about， this is not the book for you。 This slim beauty achieved its figure by shedding all but the most essential descriptive elements。 I have seen people suggesting that this would be fine for someone just becoming interested in physics。 I disagree。 Those reviewers are underestimating the difficulty for people in that situation， and how effective many math/science teachers are at producing lifelong enemies of their respective fields。 I’m not sure how they’re recommending it without the minimum （theoretical） proviso; you’ll have to learn the math。 And since this book assumes mathematical knowledge， and functions okay as a refresher， but terribly as a crash course， you’d be better served by establishing that foundation before jumping in here。 Although it wouldn’t be impossible to read through this while learning the math in tandem， I can’t speak to how pleasurable that experience would be personally。 But， bringing my considerable powers of imagination to bear， I envision demoralization and hair loss。The following are somewhat apocryphal stories from a variety of people whose lives have been improved by physics。Mitch from Flintcock Idaho writes:As a college football lineman， the application of force is very important to me。 I learned from this book the crucial components needed to make someone literally shit themselves from a tackle。 That’s mass and acceleration。 I decided to work on both。 Dirty bulking with burritos the size of my forearm makes it easy to obtain caloric surpluses despite my busy schedule， coupled with heavy strength training to make sure portions of that ground beef are going toward muscle hypertrophy， and plyometric exercises to condition my CNS for maximal fast twitch fiber recruitment。 Thanks to Newton， I’m a goddamn terminator on the field now。 The other day， during practice， I hit a guy so hard that he sounded like an asthmatic panther violently wheezing into a megaphone。 Coach Bartleby ran up slicing the air with his hands and turning purple from whistle blowing。 He says: “Shit fire， hoss！ Did somebody step on a duck？！” The dude had shat himself。Randy from Shittledick Indiana writes; This book saved me from trying out a pair of knuckle dusters one of my schoolmates had fashioned out of flimsy alloys。 Ricky comes up to me by the lockers， glancing this way and that before fishing in his duffel bag。 He says: “Look at these sumbitches， Randy。 I made these last night。 If Chad messes with me again today。。。 BOOM。” He says， smacking the DIY duster into his palm。 “I’ll crow hop and stove him。 See if I don’t。 It’ll leave a mark on him and all his descendants。 Right here。” He says， indicating a spot between his eyes。 “From， like， Lamarckian inheritance ‘n shit。 Right in his germ line， dude。 BOW！” He punches the air。 “Here， try ‘em on this locker。” Hesitating due to equal and opposite reactions， I draw upon my vigorous study of great oration to urge restraint:“We build a fire in a powder magazine， then double the fire department to put it out。 We inflame wild beasts with the smell of blood， and then innocently wonder at the wave of brutal appetite that sweeps the land as a consequence。”“Pussy。” He scoffs。 “These are better than brass knucks。 Check this out！” KABLAAM！ He wallops a locker。 The locker， walloping back， crimps the metal around his fingers like a hungry waffle iron。 “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee！’ He shrieks。 Holding this frantic note impossibly long as he sprints through the halls。 Clutching his hand in front of him like a live bomb。 Fingers protruding from the mouth of the mangled duster like microwaved franks。 “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeee。。。” Off into the distance。“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” 。。。more
Robert Hare
，
Incredibly eye-opening。 I’ve taken quite a few physics classes， but this book single-handedly taught me more about classical mechanics than any class I’ve ever taken。 If this is what you’re into， I would definitely recommend it。
Tanvir Sady
，
This book sparked my interest in theoretical physics along with the lecture given by Leonard ruskin in Stanford 。 It's a superb collection of ideas simplified by not making it pop science one。Recommended for real enthusiasts of science who wants to know things in real form。。。。 This book sparked my interest in theoretical physics along with the lecture given by Leonard ruskin in Stanford 。 It's a superb collection of ideas simplified by not making it pop science one。Recommended for real enthusiasts of science who wants to know things in real form。。。。 。。。more
Apratim Rastogi
，
Concise and precise
Guillermo García Rojas C。
，
Este libro debería llamarse: The Theoretical Minimum。 What you need to know to star doing Quantum Mechanics。 Las primeras 4 o 5 charlas son muy fáciles de entender， pero a partir de ahí el libro se vuelve muy denso。 Creo que está orientado hacia estudiantes de los últimos años de Física。 Es un muy buen libro pero se requiere un gran conocimiento previo de Cálculo y Mecánica Clásica。
Marco Arcangeli
，
In questo libro si spiega la fisica classica partendo da zero， ma non è un semplice libro di divulgazione。 Qua viene spiegata la fisica "con le formule"， quindi una base matematica è consigliata。 Alla fine del libro si avrà un bagaglio di tutto quello che serve （del minimo teorico， come dice il titolo del libro） per affrontare la fisica classica in tutti i suoi aspetti。 Questo libro è il primo di una serie "Il Minimo Teorico" ideata dal fisico Susskind sulla base delle lezioni tenute da lui stes In questo libro si spiega la fisica classica partendo da zero， ma non è un semplice libro di divulgazione。 Qua viene spiegata la fisica "con le formule"， quindi una base matematica è consigliata。 Alla fine del libro si avrà un bagaglio di tutto quello che serve （del minimo teorico， come dice il titolo del libro） per affrontare la fisica classica in tutti i suoi aspetti。 Questo libro è il primo di una serie "Il Minimo Teorico" ideata dal fisico Susskind sulla base delle lezioni tenute da lui stesso e inserite in rete， che hanno avuto un inaspettato ed immediato successo tra gli utenti。 。。。more
Oren Mizrahi
，
a good book giving a very condensed summary of two semesters of physics。 susskind covers the math and intuition and it’s all very relatable。 however， i question the audience for such a book。 anyone reading this book needs to know calculus as a minimum requirement for understanding much of the book。 they probably should know multivariable calc。 those people probably already know most of the material in the first half of the book （basic classical mechanics）。 in the second half， the only people who a good book giving a very condensed summary of two semesters of physics。 susskind covers the math and intuition and it’s all very relatable。 however， i question the audience for such a book。 anyone reading this book needs to know calculus as a minimum requirement for understanding much of the book。 they probably should know multivariable calc。 those people probably already know most of the material in the first half of the book （basic classical mechanics）。 in the second half， the only people who really could follow his abridged explanations of the lagrangian and hamiltonian are probably already familiar with the ideas。 those who aren’t （myself） probably would find the pace and lack of motivation struggling to keep up with。 。。。more
AKHIL TP4
，
It's beautiful！It's ideal for people who wish to start（or restart） learning Physics。From Calculus and Newton's laws of motion to the basics of classical field theory such as the Action Principle， Guage Invariance， and the Conservation laws。 It's a perfect package！ It's beautiful！It's ideal for people who wish to start（or restart） learning Physics。From Calculus and Newton's laws of motion to the basics of classical field theory such as the Action Principle， Guage Invariance， and the Conservation laws。 It's a perfect package！ 。。。more
Jan Jaap
，
238 p！interesting practical guide， taking a long time
Paolo Gini
，
Libro che mi ha dato grande soddisfazione e mi ha permesso di rispolverare alcuni concetti e alcune tecniche che non usavo più dai tempi dell'università; affrontare il formalismo lagrangiano e quello hamiltoniano è stato come incontrare vecchi amici persi di vista da lungo tempo， all'inizio c'è un po' di impaccio ma poi il feeling torna prepotente。Naturalmente è un testo consigliabile solo a chi abbia già una buona base matematica （come minimo buona dimestichezza con calcolo differenziale e inte Libro che mi ha dato grande soddisfazione e mi ha permesso di rispolverare alcuni concetti e alcune tecniche che non usavo più dai tempi dell'università; affrontare il formalismo lagrangiano e quello hamiltoniano è stato come incontrare vecchi amici persi di vista da lungo tempo， all'inizio c'è un po' di impaccio ma poi il feeling torna prepotente。Naturalmente è un testo consigliabile solo a chi abbia già una buona base matematica （come minimo buona dimestichezza con calcolo differenziale e integrale， meglio anche un'infarinatura di equazioni differenziale e derivate parziali） e la voglia di confrontarsi con concetti no semplici e di fare un po' di esercizi， senza questi prerequisiti decisamente meglio astenersi， non è un libro di divulgazione。Nella libreria di casa ci sono già gli altri due volumi della serie （su Relatività e Teoria dei Campi e su Meccanica Quantistica） che mi aspettano al varco。。。 。。。more
Brinda Gurumoorthy
，
The content of this book is really interesting but you do need solid math/science fundamentals to get the most out of your reading experience。 Also don't rush through it， try the proofs， and google stuff you are confused about。 I got complacent in the beginning when they were just talking about F=ma and basic calculus， but later when they switch to talking about Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics I had to start taking notes。 Could I now do problems with Euler-Lagrange equations or Poisson barr The content of this book is really interesting but you do need solid math/science fundamentals to get the most out of your reading experience。 Also don't rush through it， try the proofs， and google stuff you are confused about。 I got complacent in the beginning when they were just talking about F=ma and basic calculus， but later when they switch to talking about Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics I had to start taking notes。 Could I now do problems with Euler-Lagrange equations or Poisson barriers？ No， but I enjoyed expanding my knowledge of physics beyond what I learned in 11th grade。 I do think that because of the complex material， the writers need to scaffold things a little bit better （i。e。 by defining terms clearly， bolding important vocabulary， more conceptual explanations， etc）。 。。。more
Georgescu Andrei
，
This book （and the entire series） was a perfect fit for me。 If you have a solid understanding of linear algebra and basics for differential calculus you will have no problem going through this book and gain some insightful ideas by the end of your journey。I love the fact that instead of a story full of analogies or scenarios this book helps you to develop your intuition about how universe works and the different models we use to describe it by purely deriving the equations and sometimes there is This book （and the entire series） was a perfect fit for me。 If you have a solid understanding of linear algebra and basics for differential calculus you will have no problem going through this book and gain some insightful ideas by the end of your journey。I love the fact that instead of a story full of analogies or scenarios this book helps you to develop your intuition about how universe works and the different models we use to describe it by purely deriving the equations and sometimes there is an interpretation in plain English about the result， which can help as well。This book requires a bit more effort from the reader side but i think it is totally worth it at the end。 。。。more
Alessandro Piovaccari
，
A beautiful bookWith this very well written book， the author explains in a very concise and at the same time quite deep manner all the fundamentals of classical mechanics。 Read this book to refresh your basics and you will be surprised that you will learn something new， or something that you never well understood during your college classes。 Highly recommended。
Sam Breese
，
Not gonna lie alot went over my head think it'll take 2 or 3 reads to understand Not gonna lie alot went over my head think it'll take 2 or 3 reads to understand 。。。more
Nikhil Waiker
，
Susskind ought to try a career in physics
Filip Cvetko
，
It was rather good， but then after about 100th page， things started to get quite theoretical。 I couldn't grasp all the concepts， but I suspect they are written in a bit more friendly manner than say an orthodox textbook。 It was rather good， but then after about 100th page， things started to get quite theoretical。 I couldn't grasp all the concepts， but I suspect they are written in a bit more friendly manner than say an orthodox textbook。 。。。more
Rama
，