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Classical Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum
Contents:
The nature of classical physics
Spaces, trigonometry, and vectors
Motion
Integral calculus
Dynamics
Partial differentiation
Systems of more than one particle
Energy
The principle of least action
Symmetries and conservation laws
Hamiltonian mechanics and time-translation invariance
The phase space fluid and the Gibbs-Liouville Theorem
Poisson brackets, angular momentum, and symmetries
Electric and magnetic forces
Appendix 1. Central forces and planetary orbits
The nature of classical physics
Spaces, trigonometry, and vectors
Motion
Integral calculus
Dynamics
Partial differentiation
Systems of more than one particle
Energy
The principle of least action
Symmetries and conservation laws
Hamiltonian mechanics and time-translation invariance
The phase space fluid and the Gibbs-Liouville Theorem
Poisson brackets, angular momentum, and symmetries
Electric and magnetic forces
Appendix 1. Central forces and planetary orbits
238 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
292 people are currently reading
1460 people want to read
About the author
Leonard Susskind
12 books822 followersLeonard Susskind is the Felix Bloch Professor of Theoretical Physics at Stanford University. His research interests include string theory, quantum field theory, quantum statistical mechanics and quantum cosmology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an associate member of the faculty of Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and a distinguished professor of the Korea Institute for Advanced Study.
read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_...
read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
October 27, 2019
Of Mice and Men and Generalized Conjugate Momenta
They had been walking down the road since daybreak, but now the sun was high enough in the sky that it was starting to get hot, and they were pleased to see the little creek. They stopped and drank some water and splashed some more on their faces. Suddenly, Lenny looked at his friend.
"George," he said, "there's somethin' I gotta ask you. Why-- why're we here?"
George smiled. "Well," he said. "You know I don't hold with all that church talk. It jest seems to me like we're here to help each other. So, I help you and you--"
"No!" said Lenny impatiently. "That's not what I meant! I wanna know why're we here. One minute we was in this, whadja call it, this social-realist novel, and now we're talkin' about physics all day. How come, George?"
George shook his head. "You ain't as dumb as you look, Lenny," he said affectionately. "Not much gets past you, do it? Well, here's what I think happened. You got these two guys, Lenny Susskind and George Hrabovsky, and they're fixin' to write a physics text, and they notice their names're just like ours. So they hire us to do a little introduction to each chapter for them. It's honest work, no harm in that. And I think they may've had another reason too. You see, their book comes out of this course that Susskind gave down at Stanford University's night school. He's takin' all the science he's learned and teachin' it to his fellow citizens and helpin' put some of that back into the community. And I think he's hirin' us to say how maybe that's somethin' ol' John Steinbeck woulda liked, and he's showin' his respect to California's great national poet."
Lenny seemed to have stopped listening, and his face had that scrunched-up look it had when there was something he didn't understand. "Well, George," he said, "I still don't get it. If we ain't on the farm no more, then how come we still got Curley here?"
"Look Lenny," said George, "now you're jest plain mixed-up. That ain't no Curley, that's curly delta! It's like what they call a differential operator. See, what's special 'bout this book is the math. I've seen a slew of pop physics books, and either they got no math or they got too much. To my way of lookin' at things, a physics book with no math don't make no sense. It's like tryin' to bake bread without flour. And you got writers, like ol' Roger Penrose, that throw in too much math. He puts in the equations like he's hangin' them on a Christmas tree, and after a few chapters your eyes skim right past 'em. But these guys do it jest right. They give you an equation when you need an equation, and you look at every x and dot till you understand it."
Lenny thought carefully. "Okay, George," he said after a while. "So if Curley ain't here, then I guess Curley's wife ain't here neither?"
George smiled. "I knew you'd get it!" he said. "Curley's wife ain't in this story no more than what Curley is. See, what Susskind and Hrabovsky're doin' is real smart. They're explainin' classical mechanics, but they're doin' it in a special way. They start with Newton, and then they do Lagrange and Hamilton, and by the time they get to Poisson brackets they've almost got you doin' quantum mechanics without you knowin' it. They slide in stuff about symmetries and conservation laws and gauge fields like they was the most natural things in the world, and you jest start thinkin' that way too. I ain't never understood none of that before, but now it seems like plain common sense."
Lenny was still deep in thought. "I see, George," he said hesitantly. "So then-- then if Curley's wife ain't here, then I don't need to get shot at the end?"
George laughed out loud. "You dope!" he said. "'Course you ain't gonna get shot! Why, everyone's sayin' already that this book's a little masterpiece. There's a whole generation of students what're gonna bless the day they found it and put their copy up on the shelf next to the Feynman."
He paused and spat reflectively on the ground. "No, Lenny," he said, "no one's gonna shoot you nor me nor Professor Susskind neither. Leastways, not unless they read The Cosmic Landscape."
They had been walking down the road since daybreak, but now the sun was high enough in the sky that it was starting to get hot, and they were pleased to see the little creek. They stopped and drank some water and splashed some more on their faces. Suddenly, Lenny looked at his friend.
"George," he said, "there's somethin' I gotta ask you. Why-- why're we here?"
George smiled. "Well," he said. "You know I don't hold with all that church talk. It jest seems to me like we're here to help each other. So, I help you and you--"
"No!" said Lenny impatiently. "That's not what I meant! I wanna know why're we here. One minute we was in this, whadja call it, this social-realist novel, and now we're talkin' about physics all day. How come, George?"
George shook his head. "You ain't as dumb as you look, Lenny," he said affectionately. "Not much gets past you, do it? Well, here's what I think happened. You got these two guys, Lenny Susskind and George Hrabovsky, and they're fixin' to write a physics text, and they notice their names're just like ours. So they hire us to do a little introduction to each chapter for them. It's honest work, no harm in that. And I think they may've had another reason too. You see, their book comes out of this course that Susskind gave down at Stanford University's night school. He's takin' all the science he's learned and teachin' it to his fellow citizens and helpin' put some of that back into the community. And I think he's hirin' us to say how maybe that's somethin' ol' John Steinbeck woulda liked, and he's showin' his respect to California's great national poet."
Lenny seemed to have stopped listening, and his face had that scrunched-up look it had when there was something he didn't understand. "Well, George," he said, "I still don't get it. If we ain't on the farm no more, then how come we still got Curley here?"
"Look Lenny," said George, "now you're jest plain mixed-up. That ain't no Curley, that's curly delta! It's like what they call a differential operator. See, what's special 'bout this book is the math. I've seen a slew of pop physics books, and either they got no math or they got too much. To my way of lookin' at things, a physics book with no math don't make no sense. It's like tryin' to bake bread without flour. And you got writers, like ol' Roger Penrose, that throw in too much math. He puts in the equations like he's hangin' them on a Christmas tree, and after a few chapters your eyes skim right past 'em. But these guys do it jest right. They give you an equation when you need an equation, and you look at every x and dot till you understand it."
Lenny thought carefully. "Okay, George," he said after a while. "So if Curley ain't here, then I guess Curley's wife ain't here neither?"
George smiled. "I knew you'd get it!" he said. "Curley's wife ain't in this story no more than what Curley is. See, what Susskind and Hrabovsky're doin' is real smart. They're explainin' classical mechanics, but they're doin' it in a special way. They start with Newton, and then they do Lagrange and Hamilton, and by the time they get to Poisson brackets they've almost got you doin' quantum mechanics without you knowin' it. They slide in stuff about symmetries and conservation laws and gauge fields like they was the most natural things in the world, and you jest start thinkin' that way too. I ain't never understood none of that before, but now it seems like plain common sense."
Lenny was still deep in thought. "I see, George," he said hesitantly. "So then-- then if Curley's wife ain't here, then I don't need to get shot at the end?"
George laughed out loud. "You dope!" he said. "'Course you ain't gonna get shot! Why, everyone's sayin' already that this book's a little masterpiece. There's a whole generation of students what're gonna bless the day they found it and put their copy up on the shelf next to the Feynman."
He paused and spat reflectively on the ground. "No, Lenny," he said, "no one's gonna shoot you nor me nor Professor Susskind neither. Leastways, not unless they read The Cosmic Landscape."
April 11, 2020
Damn, it was beautiful.
March 27, 2016
Excellent. This is pitched at a readership who are clearly not academic physicists, but are beginning to feel frustrated with the endless metaphors and non-mathematical explanations you find in most pop-science books. I had great fun reading it, doing the exercises, and looking for additional material in the form of internet lectures or MOOCs.
I would recommend this book to anybody who wishes to develop (or rediscover) an in-depth understanding of classical mechanics. I do think, however, that fluency in trigonometry and infinitesimal calculus is a prerequisite to get the most out of this book. Leonard does include a crash course at the start of his book, but I doubt I would have been able to appreciate the finer points of the concepts he discusses later on in his book had I not been introduced to these mathematical tools in some depth before.
I would recommend this book to anybody who wishes to develop (or rediscover) an in-depth understanding of classical mechanics. I do think, however, that fluency in trigonometry and infinitesimal calculus is a prerequisite to get the most out of this book. Leonard does include a crash course at the start of his book, but I doubt I would have been able to appreciate the finer points of the concepts he discusses later on in his book had I not been introduced to these mathematical tools in some depth before.
October 8, 2020
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.
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.
June 9, 2016
A grat popularization science book that with the mathematics of high school level that are explained in the first half of the book,and the notions of partial derivatives , diferential operators and stationary points in a two variable function is able of the incredible achievemet,after a brief discussion on newtonian mechanics,of give a serious introduction and fundaments of advanced lagrangian and hamiltonian mechanics.
Begins by proving by a original discrete method the deduction of Lagrange equations from the minimun action principle, define ciclic coordinates,phase space ,Gibbs-Liouville theorem,prove the existence of conserved quantities under lagrangian invariance or symetries,give a introduction to the hamiltonian formulation and Hamilton equations,the hamiltonian as a temporal evolution generator and the angular momentum as rotations generator using Poisson brackets and proving a transformation is a symetry if it Poisson bracket with the hamiltonian is zero.
In the next chapter explains that a hamiltonian formulation of the dynamics of a charged particle in a magnetic field is imposible without considering the potential vector A,using the coupling of the charged particle with the potential vector A when forming the conjugate momentum and that A is a gauge field that means the physics is the same under gauge transformations ,is to say adding to A a gradiente of a scalar field
The author tells this gauge invariance will be a fundamental guiding principle in quantum field theory.
The book ends with the gravitational two body problem :conserved quantities,orbit equation and Kepler laws.
The book dont touch the rigid body dynamics or the special relativity but is a great book with asequible exercices that gives a excelent foundamentation of the main principles,ideas and methods of advanced classical mechanics,imprescindibles in the words of the author for the next step of quantum mechanics.
All this is a grat achievement in a mass market paper book of 200 pages,where all is explained with a incredible clarity and simplicity,with humoristic dialogues between two friends at the beguining of each chapter.
A wonderful series if all the books are as this,and i am longing for the books on relativity and field theory.
Strongly recomended for those that have some scientific background and interest in the real working of advanced physics.
Begins by proving by a original discrete method the deduction of Lagrange equations from the minimun action principle, define ciclic coordinates,phase space ,Gibbs-Liouville theorem,prove the existence of conserved quantities under lagrangian invariance or symetries,give a introduction to the hamiltonian formulation and Hamilton equations,the hamiltonian as a temporal evolution generator and the angular momentum as rotations generator using Poisson brackets and proving a transformation is a symetry if it Poisson bracket with the hamiltonian is zero.
In the next chapter explains that a hamiltonian formulation of the dynamics of a charged particle in a magnetic field is imposible without considering the potential vector A,using the coupling of the charged particle with the potential vector A when forming the conjugate momentum and that A is a gauge field that means the physics is the same under gauge transformations ,is to say adding to A a gradiente of a scalar field
The author tells this gauge invariance will be a fundamental guiding principle in quantum field theory.
The book ends with the gravitational two body problem :conserved quantities,orbit equation and Kepler laws.
The book dont touch the rigid body dynamics or the special relativity but is a great book with asequible exercices that gives a excelent foundamentation of the main principles,ideas and methods of advanced classical mechanics,imprescindibles in the words of the author for the next step of quantum mechanics.
All this is a grat achievement in a mass market paper book of 200 pages,where all is explained with a incredible clarity and simplicity,with humoristic dialogues between two friends at the beguining of each chapter.
A wonderful series if all the books are as this,and i am longing for the books on relativity and field theory.
Strongly recomended for those that have some scientific background and interest in the real working of advanced physics.
July 30, 2019
Hard to tell exactly what this book is for. Maybe an aide-memoire for people who know this stuff already or as notes to Prof. Susskind's excellent lecture series (available on YouTube). What it is not is a book which you are going to learn much from scratch. I have a strong maths background and found much of the mathematics terse to the point of obscurity, the scattering of exercises without any answers just adding to the sense of confusion. There are dozens of textbooks around on classical mechanics that explain things in more detail and with greater clarity and would be a better choice if you're serious about learning.
February 15, 2015
The first chapters are a fantastic journey through the physical foundations of our perceivable world, revealed in almost unbelievable simple mathematical equations and concepts. A must-have for the layman who likes physics and has no fear of math. Unfortunately, the last chapters that deal with mind-blowing topics like the Hamiltonian mechanics or the Poisson brackets have a degree of difficulty that made me remember those dreadful college lectures where in the end all I could say was: it is all Greek to me.
August 12, 2024
Increíble. A sido un viaje alucinante, no me imagino ya cuando éste año lo vuelva a leer cuando esté dando los temas con mas profundidad y yo esté ahondando en todos los detalles, entonces ya será una maravilla.
October 12, 2022
Una manera diferente y muy "para todos los públicos" de explicar Mecánica Clásica. La sencillez y exactitud que tienen es de aplaudir.
February 10, 2018
First of all, on my second read-through as a refresher for diving into the somewhat heftier Feynman Lectures, I want to say that this book, as well as its sequels, are absolutely 100% what I was looking for. I am precisely one of those people with “some advanced math and physics, studied a long time ago”, yet with a horrible itch to understand the nuts and bolts of things, and this series has provided me with just the right tools to expand the horizon of understanding and to move on to more complex material. On that side of the scales the series should clearly merit a five-star rating and a secure place on my “Favourites” shelf.
However not everything is completely rosy. The fact that the book works best as a companion textbook for the online lectures is understandable, but that the book is chock-full of errors not so much. The fact that there are no solutions to the exercises in the book (most of the time not even hints) also made it slow going. Yes, the companion website provides solutions, but only up to lecture 6 – just when things turn really hairy and abstract. After that, the reader is left to sink or swim pretty much on their own.
The sprinting pace of the book is also understandable up to a point – with basic things like the character of physical law and refresher chapters for calculus and trig, we really do need just a skimming reminder of what we are talking about. However, the book actually seems to accelerate as it reaches the final, increasingly abstract and difficult lessons that present concepts, ideas and structures few of us with “some advanced math and physics, studied a long time ago” would have ever encountered. The odd thing is that the sequel on quantum mechanics, which despite dealing with a more counter-intuitive issue spends more time explaining its concepts, actually was easier to understand than this volume, possibly because Poisson brackets and Hamiltonian mechanics are just as counter-intuitive and abstract for a non-physicist as conjugate matrices or Dirac notation.
However not everything is completely rosy. The fact that the book works best as a companion textbook for the online lectures is understandable, but that the book is chock-full of errors not so much. The fact that there are no solutions to the exercises in the book (most of the time not even hints) also made it slow going. Yes, the companion website provides solutions, but only up to lecture 6 – just when things turn really hairy and abstract. After that, the reader is left to sink or swim pretty much on their own.
The sprinting pace of the book is also understandable up to a point – with basic things like the character of physical law and refresher chapters for calculus and trig, we really do need just a skimming reminder of what we are talking about. However, the book actually seems to accelerate as it reaches the final, increasingly abstract and difficult lessons that present concepts, ideas and structures few of us with “some advanced math and physics, studied a long time ago” would have ever encountered. The odd thing is that the sequel on quantum mechanics, which despite dealing with a more counter-intuitive issue spends more time explaining its concepts, actually was easier to understand than this volume, possibly because Poisson brackets and Hamiltonian mechanics are just as counter-intuitive and abstract for a non-physicist as conjugate matrices or Dirac notation.
September 3, 2019
Indeed a great brush up on Classical Mechanics, initially started with book but struck at early chapters felt vague about energy formulation and least action principle that's when I found out the lecture series, it changed my perspective of this book. Susskind was simply great with all his dry puns (could have been great pal with Steven Skiena) this book literally teased my years of undergraduate degree it could have been months if not years to think of Hamiltonian contours, relating symmetrical translations in Poisson brackets
The name "minimum" wouldn't do any justice but It was really a fun ride totally worth it, if not in the worst possible scenario I found the real difference between Physicist and Mathematician .
The name "minimum" wouldn't do any justice but It was really a fun ride totally worth it, if not in the worst possible scenario I found the real difference between Physicist and Mathematician .
January 31, 2016
As expected from an exceptional teacher like Leonard Susskind. Really easy going and such a patient book. It's a great read for a person who has never heard of the words 'classical mechanics' before and you won't find it stress but rather amusing and fun .But Alas! people with physics background such as I may find it quite a drag with the need of skipping pages to the main point. But I read classical mechanics recently so if you haven't had an encounter with the field of basic level langragian and hamiltonian then go ahead by all means. :)
P.S. The little Lanny and George dialogs at the beginning of each chapter are not that cool!
P.S. The little Lanny and George dialogs at the beginning of each chapter are not that cool!
February 6, 2024
☆☆☆☆
I read this as a review prior to modern physics and I loved this book. The author did a beautiful job of breaking apart and getting into the nitty gritty of classical mechanics. As an undergrad studying physics, this book is a must-have. I am excited to dive into the other books as well!! I will 100% be keeping this book to reference back to as I need refereshers. It was digestible and even enjoyable to read. The one thing I would have added to this book would be more visual models and not just equation break downs
I read this as a review prior to modern physics and I loved this book. The author did a beautiful job of breaking apart and getting into the nitty gritty of classical mechanics. As an undergrad studying physics, this book is a must-have. I am excited to dive into the other books as well!! I will 100% be keeping this book to reference back to as I need refereshers. It was digestible and even enjoyable to read. The one thing I would have added to this book would be more visual models and not just equation break downs
February 4, 2015
Ok, you need to be mathematically inclined to read this book, it's not a pop-sci introduction to classical mechanics, but it does exactly what it promises and it does it well. You want a well laid out, bare bones overview of the important concepts of classical mechanics, either as a refresher or because you want to learn it rigourously from scratch, this is the book. It left me wanting for more, but that's the point. Well recommended.
April 26, 2015
Excellent book for all those who are interested in physics and mathematics. I for sure didn't understand everything during the first read, but I believe if one does all the exercises in the book, then it is very possible.
August 14, 2014
Very quick and lucid overview of classical mechanics! Delivers what it promises: a fun overview of the field in which most of the math is introduced and used. Recommended for those who enjoyed physics but ended up studying something else, as the cover tells.
dnf
July 15, 2023Might just keep this on my shelf to point at it and say “might be able to read this after I finish my degree🤡.” The maths isn’t even letters anymore, just symbols.
November 19, 2025
It’s not bad but it’s a physics textbook lying about being a normal book.
I have a master’s in mechanical engineering so I do know what it’s talking about but the problem is that it’s trying to be explaining enough for normal readers but it also assumes way too much knowledge to bridge gaps.
A couple of times I lost track of the grind of it and ended up having to realise what it was on about.
I’m more disappointed than anything because I was looking forward to something more akin to a history book rather than a crash course of dynamics and maths
I have a master’s in mechanical engineering so I do know what it’s talking about but the problem is that it’s trying to be explaining enough for normal readers but it also assumes way too much knowledge to bridge gaps.
A couple of times I lost track of the grind of it and ended up having to realise what it was on about.
I’m more disappointed than anything because I was looking forward to something more akin to a history book rather than a crash course of dynamics and maths
October 27, 2025
As someone who is not even a complete beginner but actually has no prior understanding in quantum mechanics I found the maths in this incredibly difficult to understand and definitely could not understand the equations but found the writing very digestible, Susskind explores the basic topics in quantum mechanics after studying this book I definitely want to explore more into the quantum universe.
November 21, 2025
Great, brief text with many insights
February 19, 2024
One observes a curious contradiction in occupying this particular point in civilizational progress - blessed to have uncovered the magically accurate scientific method for modelling the physical universe, and the widespread ignorance regarding how it actually works. A general disenchantment in the enterprise, except where science is instrumental in producing tools for accelerating wealth generation - typically consumer goods with market value, or in unleashing ever more devastating weapons.
It is no surprise then, that billions use devices working upon principles of electromagnetism and quantum mechanics to disseminate violence, irrationality and superstitions. Or if they have a moment of intellectual epiphany, thought ending clichés - “all we know is that we know nothing” - a disastrous celebration of ignorance, veiled as cosmic humility. This is at the root of the climate crisis denial - Science is an exotic museum artifact, niche interest of antisocial nerds, a Pandora's box that keeps giving; to be asked to reconsider personal indulgences based on its implications seems like an annoying encroachment. A rhetorically gifted politician or a holistic healing guru is far more convincing than predictions of abstruse equations in nonlinear dynamics.
Part of the reason for this epidemic of unscientific attitude is the hurdle of mathematics, which is the precise language in which scientific theories are formulated (some, like Roger Penrose, hold that mathematics resides in a realm of its own, and its objects overlap with observable physical reality, but for the current purposes, let's just say it provides the necessary vocabulary to avoid the ambiguities of natural language that cause conflicts of interpretation).
This problem holds both for those who never had a chance to study anything more than elementary mathematics at school (in particular, calculus) and those who did learn to mechanically manipulate equations for engineering purposes, but didn't have the opportunity to explore its more profound implications.
Thus, Leonard Susskind’s Theoretical Minimum series fills an extremely important lacuna - it gives just enough mathematical background to tackle physical theory, focusing on conceptual clarity than drowning the reader in details that are inessential for capturing the essence of the laws of physics. Faith is placed in the reader's drive to not be intimidated by abstract symbolisms and their will to put in the effort needed to acquire a new mode of thinking. It is a brave and hopeful attempt in a culture that seems to have resigned itself to the infantilization of adults. As Hawking and other popular science writers have reported, for even the ostensibly curious masses, every equation cuts the sales of your book by half, never mind the cult conferences of Flat Earthers.
For the first time in history, one has free and open access to the most advanced systems of knowledge ever produced, stunning truths that the most dedicated of ancient philosophers could only dream of. Yet, there is an embarrassing resistance at embracing our own discoveries, as if knowing too much would spoil the sadistic pleasure in the disavowal of our capabilities, a strange relief in elevating the universe to an opaque quasi-mystical state, sparing the pressing responsibility of comprehending one's place in the cosmos. But understanding a rainbow as a product of the differential refraction of light’s constituent wavelengths doesn’t diminish its beauty, it enriches one’s appreciation for the phenomenon.
For our sake, I hope Susskind’s gifts find a wider audience.
It is no surprise then, that billions use devices working upon principles of electromagnetism and quantum mechanics to disseminate violence, irrationality and superstitions. Or if they have a moment of intellectual epiphany, thought ending clichés - “all we know is that we know nothing” - a disastrous celebration of ignorance, veiled as cosmic humility. This is at the root of the climate crisis denial - Science is an exotic museum artifact, niche interest of antisocial nerds, a Pandora's box that keeps giving; to be asked to reconsider personal indulgences based on its implications seems like an annoying encroachment. A rhetorically gifted politician or a holistic healing guru is far more convincing than predictions of abstruse equations in nonlinear dynamics.
Part of the reason for this epidemic of unscientific attitude is the hurdle of mathematics, which is the precise language in which scientific theories are formulated (some, like Roger Penrose, hold that mathematics resides in a realm of its own, and its objects overlap with observable physical reality, but for the current purposes, let's just say it provides the necessary vocabulary to avoid the ambiguities of natural language that cause conflicts of interpretation).
This problem holds both for those who never had a chance to study anything more than elementary mathematics at school (in particular, calculus) and those who did learn to mechanically manipulate equations for engineering purposes, but didn't have the opportunity to explore its more profound implications.
Thus, Leonard Susskind’s Theoretical Minimum series fills an extremely important lacuna - it gives just enough mathematical background to tackle physical theory, focusing on conceptual clarity than drowning the reader in details that are inessential for capturing the essence of the laws of physics. Faith is placed in the reader's drive to not be intimidated by abstract symbolisms and their will to put in the effort needed to acquire a new mode of thinking. It is a brave and hopeful attempt in a culture that seems to have resigned itself to the infantilization of adults. As Hawking and other popular science writers have reported, for even the ostensibly curious masses, every equation cuts the sales of your book by half, never mind the cult conferences of Flat Earthers.
For the first time in history, one has free and open access to the most advanced systems of knowledge ever produced, stunning truths that the most dedicated of ancient philosophers could only dream of. Yet, there is an embarrassing resistance at embracing our own discoveries, as if knowing too much would spoil the sadistic pleasure in the disavowal of our capabilities, a strange relief in elevating the universe to an opaque quasi-mystical state, sparing the pressing responsibility of comprehending one's place in the cosmos. But understanding a rainbow as a product of the differential refraction of light’s constituent wavelengths doesn’t diminish its beauty, it enriches one’s appreciation for the phenomenon.
For our sake, I hope Susskind’s gifts find a wider audience.
February 3, 2022
This book definitely requires some knowledge of calculus and introductory physics, I've heard others say you need linear algebra but you do not. The book does teach you the calculus required, but it may not be enough for those who have not had any exposure to the subject before. An understanding of some basic physics seems to be implicitly assumed of the reader so, again, those without a previous exposure to the basic material might get a bit lost. Otherwise, anyone who took physics and calculus courses in first year Uni (or even in high school) should be able to follow along.
The book sits in a middle ground between popular science books and textbooks, but slightly closer to the latter than the former. Even though I am part way through a physics degree I did have some trouble with the book; sometimes things are not as well explained as they are in the lectures, which makes the 10-20 of recorded video almost required viewing. Another issue is the incredible number of errors; the times I struggled most with the book almost always turned out to be due to typos or other errors. This page by one of the authors lists some errors:
https://www.madscitech.org/tm/errata.pdf
If you have the second edition you will need to correct these errors *in addition* to the previous errors:
https://www.madscitech.org/tm/errata2...
On top of this, I spotted several other errors that do not appear in either list. Without these errors it would have taken me considerably less time to finish the book.
Frustrations aside, the lack of rigour and depth allowed me to cover many subjects that would have taken much longer in my degree. After two years we've covered some Lagrangian mechanics, but the connection between symmetries & conserved quantities has so far not been addressed, nor has anything to do with the Hamiltonian. Mathematical tools like Poisson brackets and the idea of a phase space were also new to me. Although the book lacks the depth of a textbook, it gives a far greater insight than popular science books have ever given me.
If the errors were corrected, and if some of the explanations were revised, this book would have been given a higher rating.
Links:
Here is a link to the ten lectures the book is based off of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApUFt...
There are two companion sites for the book, the first has some additional information as well as solutions to some of the exercises:
https://www.madscitech.org/tm/
The second links to the videos, as well as other Theoretical Minimum courses:
https://theoreticalminimum.com/
The book sits in a middle ground between popular science books and textbooks, but slightly closer to the latter than the former. Even though I am part way through a physics degree I did have some trouble with the book; sometimes things are not as well explained as they are in the lectures, which makes the 10-20 of recorded video almost required viewing. Another issue is the incredible number of errors; the times I struggled most with the book almost always turned out to be due to typos or other errors. This page by one of the authors lists some errors:
https://www.madscitech.org/tm/errata.pdf
If you have the second edition you will need to correct these errors *in addition* to the previous errors:
https://www.madscitech.org/tm/errata2...
On top of this, I spotted several other errors that do not appear in either list. Without these errors it would have taken me considerably less time to finish the book.
Frustrations aside, the lack of rigour and depth allowed me to cover many subjects that would have taken much longer in my degree. After two years we've covered some Lagrangian mechanics, but the connection between symmetries & conserved quantities has so far not been addressed, nor has anything to do with the Hamiltonian. Mathematical tools like Poisson brackets and the idea of a phase space were also new to me. Although the book lacks the depth of a textbook, it gives a far greater insight than popular science books have ever given me.
If the errors were corrected, and if some of the explanations were revised, this book would have been given a higher rating.
Links:
Here is a link to the ten lectures the book is based off of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApUFt...
There are two companion sites for the book, the first has some additional information as well as solutions to some of the exercises:
https://www.madscitech.org/tm/
The second links to the videos, as well as other Theoretical Minimum courses:
https://theoreticalminimum.com/
July 15, 2023
Loved it! When I first got this the math seemed too intimidating for me, I mean math on every page sjeess. Firmly planted it in my book cabinet for good. Then I learned how valuable and relevant the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian is for understanding time, and with that physics. And after having read Sean Carroll's Big Idea's - Motion (and Newtons Principia for that matter) I was ready to attack the first part of this book on Newtonian physics.
And from that everything flowed beautifully from one thing to the next. Leoneard Susskind is an excellent teacher, and I feel very blessed to have pushed through this book. I have learned loads in a short time, and I'll be able to remember it. And did I say it is relevant to understand modern physics?
Get it, read about the subject matter a bit, and when curiosity peaks, grab this book. It will not dissappoint. The vector fields and gauge fields are over my head, I found the last electromagnetism part pretty hard, but I guess that's just the reality of life. It will surely come back in the books 2 and 3 and I trust prof. Susskind will guide us through it beautifully again. 5 stars. Wish I had this in high school, I could have calculated the physics of the double sling on my trebuchet like my teacher wanted. Instead I just had fun propelling melons, oh well.
And from that everything flowed beautifully from one thing to the next. Leoneard Susskind is an excellent teacher, and I feel very blessed to have pushed through this book. I have learned loads in a short time, and I'll be able to remember it. And did I say it is relevant to understand modern physics?
Get it, read about the subject matter a bit, and when curiosity peaks, grab this book. It will not dissappoint. The vector fields and gauge fields are over my head, I found the last electromagnetism part pretty hard, but I guess that's just the reality of life. It will surely come back in the books 2 and 3 and I trust prof. Susskind will guide us through it beautifully again. 5 stars. Wish I had this in high school, I could have calculated the physics of the double sling on my trebuchet like my teacher wanted. Instead I just had fun propelling melons, oh well.
January 11, 2018
I only got to about page 100 but had to give up because since about page 60 I was not following it well. The initial explanations in the first parts are really very clear and it feels very exciting because you feel the author is able to explain things well. But as you progress you really must remember more of a physics degree than I can after 15 years.
At the very beginning time is taken to make sure the foundations are solid, and this is done excellently. It is very readable and the diagrams are great. The problem is that you go from the very simple to multivariable calculus in the blink of an eye-lid. By the time the author was talking about Actions and Lagrangians, I was struggling. After ploughing through to see if I'd get it in the end I was disheartened and decided to abandon it.
I think the scope of what the author wants to achieve is too ambitious given the size of book he wanted to write. Given his teaching ability, as demonstrated in the first few chapters, I am sure he could produce an excellent book - but I do not think this is it.
At the very beginning time is taken to make sure the foundations are solid, and this is done excellently. It is very readable and the diagrams are great. The problem is that you go from the very simple to multivariable calculus in the blink of an eye-lid. By the time the author was talking about Actions and Lagrangians, I was struggling. After ploughing through to see if I'd get it in the end I was disheartened and decided to abandon it.
I think the scope of what the author wants to achieve is too ambitious given the size of book he wanted to write. Given his teaching ability, as demonstrated in the first few chapters, I am sure he could produce an excellent book - but I do not think this is it.
January 23, 2018
Here is the ultimate master class in modern physics. Father of the String Theory Leonard Susskind and citizen scientist George Hrabovski combine forces in a primer that teaches the skills you need to do physics yourself.
They provide a practical toolkit that you won't find in any other popular science book.
I have to start off by saying that I forgot how much I hated (and still hate) derivatives. It's just the math averse part of me due to a series of bad teachers in school. I love how Susskind and Hrabovski use Lenny and George from Steinbeck's classic to illustrate how "easy" each theory and concept is to grasp and use examples while explaining them. It's easier to gain a firmer foundation this way instead of rote memorization from textbooks and moving onto the equations and differentials. That doesn't mean that there weren't a few parts I had to stop reading and look up online, but I walked away with a firmer grasp and understanding of the subject.
They provide a practical toolkit that you won't find in any other popular science book.
I have to start off by saying that I forgot how much I hated (and still hate) derivatives. It's just the math averse part of me due to a series of bad teachers in school. I love how Susskind and Hrabovski use Lenny and George from Steinbeck's classic to illustrate how "easy" each theory and concept is to grasp and use examples while explaining them. It's easier to gain a firmer foundation this way instead of rote memorization from textbooks and moving onto the equations and differentials. That doesn't mean that there weren't a few parts I had to stop reading and look up online, but I walked away with a firmer grasp and understanding of the subject.
December 30, 2019
This is a hard book to review because I can happily see why some would rate it 5 al I'll popnd some 1.
It purports to leave you with a greater understanding of physics but it is not for the complete newcomer - a toolkit with at least a rusty understanding of calculus, joy at learning new terminology and the enthusiasm to pick up a blank notebook and do workings and extra homework are critical.
And even if you have these, they are merely necessary but not sufficient. I came at this with a high school maths education (no physics in high school) and felt ok until an it halfway, but somewhere got lost. The challenge is interesting though and I am keen to read other books to gather this knowledge - it just seems that this book, at this time, won't be the one that articulates all these concepts in ways I can understand.
It purports to leave you with a greater understanding of physics but it is not for the complete newcomer - a toolkit with at least a rusty understanding of calculus, joy at learning new terminology and the enthusiasm to pick up a blank notebook and do workings and extra homework are critical.
And even if you have these, they are merely necessary but not sufficient. I came at this with a high school maths education (no physics in high school) and felt ok until an it halfway, but somewhere got lost. The challenge is interesting though and I am keen to read other books to gather this knowledge - it just seems that this book, at this time, won't be the one that articulates all these concepts in ways I can understand.
November 16, 2020
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.
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.
April 15, 2023
I think this is a good reference to have if you have a mathematical background already. If you were coming into this from a newcomer level, like the book claims to be written for, I think you’d become confused very quickly. It’s hard to condense what is essentially A-Level to 2nd year undergrad mechanics in just over 200 pages. There is also too much of a focus on proof and not enough on example cases. It’s very difficult to learn Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics on proof alone. And under no circumstances, especially in an entry level book, should there be exercises for the reader to do with no solution to be found whatsoever.
August 23, 2023
Terminó la lectura justo cuando estoy empezando a cursar la materia Mecánica Clásica. Este libro cubre muy rápidamente lo que se da en cualquier curso de Física 1, explicado de una manera muy didáctica y simple, y con repasos matemáticos sobre como se deriva e integra. Es un libro perfecto para arrancar con la física a quienes estén interesados pero su vocación los llevó para otro lado. La segunda mitad del libro ya arranca con mecánica de Lagrange y Hamilton, temas que yo aún no ví en la carrera, me expuse por primera vez a estos contenidos con esta lectura y la experiencia fue muy satisfactoria.
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