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A comment on Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics. Parent comment

Re:Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics by ano-ther on Monday October 27, 2025 @11:27AM (#45722070)
It’s been a while but I seem to remember that the first book of Landau-Lifschitz‘ Theroretical Mechanics starts with a 20 page discussion that does this and culminates in the Lagrangian.
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Re:Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics by in_a_hole on Monday October 27, 2025 @11:49AM (#45722378)
I recently got hold of a copy of that. I started Hand & Finch - Analytical Mechanics but their woolly discussion of virtual work and virtual displacement was very frustrating and unenlightening. Perhaps I'll have a better time with L&L.
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Re:Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics by computerfriend on Tuesday October 28, 2025 @06:31AM (#45731131)
It's a great introduction to Lagrangian mechanics, but as I recall (it's also been a while for me), the motivation for extremising the action is also somewhat vaguely presented.
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