Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics
Encyclopedia
Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics (SICM) is a classical mechanics
textbook
written by Gerald Jay Sussman
and Jack Wisdom with Meinhard E. Mayer. It was published by MIT Press
in 2001. The book (ISBN 0-262-19455-4) is used at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) to teach a class in advanced classical mechanics, starting with Lagrange's equations
and proceeding through canonical perturbation theory
.
SICM explains some physical phenomena by showing computer program
s for simulating them. These programs are written in the Scheme programming language, as were the programs in Sussman's earlier computer science
textbook, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
.
Sussman wrote:
The entire text is freely available online from the publisher's website.
Classical mechanics
In physics, classical mechanics is one of the two major sub-fields of mechanics, which is concerned with the set of physical laws describing the motion of bodies under the action of a system of forces...
textbook
Textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...
written by Gerald Jay Sussman
Gerald Jay Sussman
Gerald Jay Sussman is the Panasonic Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . He received his S.B. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from MIT in 1968 and 1973 respectively. He has been involved in artificial intelligence research at MIT since 1964...
and Jack Wisdom with Meinhard E. Mayer. It was published by MIT Press
MIT Press
The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts .-History:...
in 2001. The book (ISBN 0-262-19455-4) is used at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT) to teach a class in advanced classical mechanics, starting with Lagrange's equations
Lagrangian mechanics
Lagrangian mechanics is a re-formulation of classical mechanics that combines conservation of momentum with conservation of energy. It was introduced by the Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange in 1788....
and proceeding through canonical perturbation theory
Perturbation theory
Perturbation theory comprises mathematical methods that are used to find an approximate solution to a problem which cannot be solved exactly, by starting from the exact solution of a related problem...
.
SICM explains some physical phenomena by showing computer program
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
s for simulating them. These programs are written in the Scheme programming language, as were the programs in Sussman's earlier computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
textbook, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs is a textbook published in 1984 about general computer programming concepts from MIT Press written by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman, with Julie Sussman...
.
Sussman wrote:
Classical mechanics is deceptively simple. It is surprisingly easy to get the right answer with fallaciousFallacyIn logic and rhetoric, a fallacy is usually an incorrect argumentation in reasoning resulting in a misconception or presumption. By accident or design, fallacies may exploit emotional triggers in the listener or interlocutor , or take advantage of social relationships between people...
reasoning or without the real understanding. To address this problem Jack Wisdom and I, with help from Hardy Mayer, have written a book with the title of this talk (Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics) and are teaching a class at MIT that uses computational techniques to communicate a deeper understanding of Classical mechanics. We use computational algorithms to express the methods used to analyze dynamical phenomena. Expressing the methods in a computer language forces them to be unambiguous and computationally effective. Formulating a method as a computer-executable program and debuggingDebuggingDebugging is a methodical process of finding and reducing the number of bugs, or defects, in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware, thus making it behave as expected. Debugging tends to be harder when various subsystems are tightly coupled, as changes in one may cause bugs to emerge...
that program is a powerful exercise in the learning process. Also, once formalized procedurally, a mathematical idea becomes a tool that can be used directly to compute results.
The entire text is freely available online from the publisher's website.