Abstract
Mechanics deals with the dynamics of particles, rigid bodies, continuous media (fluid, plasma, and elastic materials), and field theories such as electromagnetism and gravity. This theory plays a crucial role in quantum mechanics, control theory, and other areas of physics, engineering, and even chemistry and biology. Clearly, mechanics is a large subject that plays a fundamental role in science. Mechanics also played a key part in the development of mathematics. Starting with the creation of calculus stimulated by Newton’s mechanics, it continues today with exciting developments in group representations, geometry, and topology; these mathematical developments in turn are being applied to interesting problems in physics and engineering.
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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Marsden, J.E., Ratiu, T.S. (1999). Introduction and Overview. In: Introduction to Mechanics and Symmetry. Texts in Applied Mathematics, vol 17. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21792-5_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21792-5_1
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3143-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-21792-5
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