The book covers the traditional classical mechanics and then introduces nonlinear oscillations and chaos. These subjects, particularly chaos, have become very important in recent years and are now being included in courses in physics and elsewhere. Even within classical mechanics subjects such as nearly circular orbits, virial theorem, anharmonic oscillator and precession and nutation of the earth have been included to make the book suit varied requirements. The book can be adopted for foundation courses on classical mechanics at graduate and post-graduate levels in physics, mathematics and astronomy, and wherever else classical mechanics may be a requirement. A large number of problems interspersed throughout the text will induce the students to test the knowledge they had acquired before proceeding further. Another important feature is the Appendix, which contains some computer programs with essential instructions for solving integrals and differential equations and for plotting phase trajectories and strange attractors on the computer screen so that a student could draw these graphs independently. The short biographical sketches of great scientists and mathematicians who made important contributions to the subject might inspire some readers to look up the detailed biographies to gain some insight the way the science develops.

Preface / Introduction / Elementary Principles / Lagrangian Mechanics / Variational Basis of Mechanics- Hamilton's Principle / Hamiltonian Formulation of Mechanics / Central Forces-Two-body problem / Small Oscillations / Rigid-Body Dynamics / Special Relativity / Nonlinear Oscillations and Chaos / Miscellaneous Problems / Appendix -Some Useful Computer Programs / References / Index

Graduates and Postgradutes of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy