Most books on this subject are designed for elective courses in "intermediate dynamics" covering advanced Newtonian and introductory Lagrangian methods. Such books do not give adequate emphasis to advanced topics in Newton-Euler dynamics. Because the first required course in dynamics usually concentrates on 2-D dynamics, important 3-D problems are left to a further course. Examples are robots, automated manufacturing devices, aerospace vehicles, and biomechanical components. This material cannot be covered adequately in one course if it is to be shared with an introduction to Langrangian methods. This text is devoted to application of Newton-Euler methods to complex, real-life 3-D dynamics problems; it essentially completes this topic.

Reviews

From the reviews of the first edition:

"Ardema (Santa Clara Univ., California) is highly commended for the thorough, systematic, and concise approach in this book. He explains some of the very inextricable concepts clearly ... . The strength of the book lies in its coverage of a wide range of topics ... . Each chapter includes examples that are worked with sufficient detail, as well as plenty of challenging problems ... . This work is strongly recommended as a technical elective to undergraduates ... . Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals." (R.N. Laoulache, CHOICE, Vol. 42 (11), July, 2005)

"The subject of this book is the dynamics of rigid bodies. ... The book has grown out of an undergraduate engineering course on dynamics taught at Santa Clara University, California. ... the wealth of examples makes the book a useful source for a large class of readers. ... I think that even people who teach mechanics at a more sophisticated level, i.e. mathematics or physics students, could profit from taking a look at the examples in this book." (Volker Perlick, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1087, 2006)

Book Information
ISBN 9781441935953
Author Mark D. Ardema
Format Paperback
Page Count 316
Imprint Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Publisher Springer-Verlag New York Inc.