Jerry Marsden, one of the world's pre-eminent mechanicians and applied mathematicians, celebrated his 60th birthday in August 2002. The event was marked by a workshop on "Geometry, Mechanics, and Dynamics"at the Fields Institute for Research in the Mathematical Sciences, of which he wasthefoundingDirector. Ratherthanmerelyproduceaconventionalp- ceedings, with relatively brief accounts of research and technical advances presented at the meeting, we wished to acknowledge Jerry's in?uence as a teacher, a propagator of new ideas, and a mentor of young talent. Con- quently, starting in 1999, we sought to collect articles that might be used as entry points by students interested in ?elds that have been shaped by Jerry's work. At the same time we hoped to give experts engrossed in their own technical niches an indication of the wonderful breadth and depth of their subjects as a whole. This book is an outcome of the e?orts of those who accepted our in- tations to contribute. It presents both survey and research articles in the several ?elds that represent the main themes of Jerry's work, including elasticity and analysis, ?uid mechanics, dynamical systems theory, g- metric mechanics, geometric control theory, and relativity and quantum mechanics. The common thread running through this broad tapestry is the use of geometric methods that serve to unify diverse disciplines and bring a widevarietyofscientistsandmathematicianstogether,speakingalanguage which enhances dialogue and encourages cross-fertilization.
Reviews

From the reviews:

"Geometric Mechanics (GM) is a basic way of thinking ... . most of the papers are very accessible with long introductions and good surveys of other contributions. ... Finally, the volume is typeset so beautifully in a unified format, that it is satisfying to hold the book and pleasing to look at the articles, as well as to read them. ... The volume is worth serious study, and it was well worth the long wait ... ." (Darryl Holm, UK Nonlinear News, March, 2003)

Book Information
ISBN 9780387955186
Author Paul Newton
Format Hardback
Page Count 571
Imprint Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Publisher Springer-Verlag New York Inc.