Higher Mechanics (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Higher MechanicsThis book treats of three-dimensional Kinematics, Statics, and Dynamics in what is I think a natural, as I have found it to be a convenient, order. It may be regarded as a sequel to two former treatises to which occasional reference is made; but it is not dependent on these, and will I trust be readily followed by students who are conversant with ordinary two-dimensional Mechanics.The subject is of course a very wide one, and some principle of selection is necessary. I have tried to confine myself to matters of genuine kinematical or dynamical importance, avoiding developments whose interest, often considerable, is purely mathematical or now mainly historical. It is owing to such considerations that whilst some account is given of the Theory of Screws, of Null-Systems, and of Least Action, on the other hand brachistochrone problems, and the general theory of the Differential Equations of Dynamics, are left untouched.The book does not claim to be more than an elementary one, regard being had to the nature of the subject. The reader who wishes to carry his studies further will find ample assistance in Thomson and Tait, in Rayleigh's Theory of Sound, and in Whittaker's Analytical Dynamics. And in common with other recent writers I must mention with a special sense of obligation the works of Routh, which in their later forms are an almost inexhaustible store-house of theorems and results, and abound in interesting historical references.I have to thank Mr J. E. Jones, M.Sc., of the Manchester University, for his assistance in the revision of the proof sheets, and for many valuable suggestions. I am much indebted also to the staff of the Cambridge Press for their careful supervision of the printing, and for calling my attention to various oversights.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com