Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Above: an orbit of the restricted 3-body problem |
Class meetings: MWF 9-10 Lecture: Kendade 203 Professor: Mark A. Peterson Text: K. Symons, "Mechanics", 3rd Ed. Homework: weekly, due Wednesday in class Midterm exams: March 1, April 12, closed book, in class Final exam: self scheduled |
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The subject of classical mechanics was invented by Sir Isaac Newton, whose genius was recognized immediately, in his own time. One naturally feels skeptical that such an immense theoretical structure could really be the work of a single person, but there is simply no other contender! The whole idea turned out to be enormously fruitful, and it has been extended in surprising and wonderful ways by those who came after -- that is the subject of this course -- and it is still a lively research area. To see an example of Newton's fantastic intuition, click here for an applet, due to William Fowler of U.Va., illustrating Newton's way of visualizing the connection between the familiar motion of a projectile and the orbit of the moon.