Reviews of “Introduction to Mechanics” by M. K.

Verma
This is an extremely effective book on classical mechanics for all undergraduates. All the relevant
topics are covered and what is more important several illustrative examples have been provided. The
eye for detail is particularly noticeable in the book and this will make it very well suited for self study.
The author does not stay away from the traditionally difficult topics like rigid body rotations in three
dimensions. The extensive discussion on this is most welcome. Further, the last two chapters which
take one beyond the rigid body are also to be cherished.

Prof. Jayanta Bhattacharjee, Director, HRI, Allahabad

Introduction to Mechanics (2nd Edition) by Professor Mahendra Verma is substantially increased in

size compared to the first edition of the book and contains a very wide range of topics. The book
can be very useful to a variety of university curricula. The treatments of the topics are easy to follow
by both the students and the teachers of the subject.The book contains a large number of solved
and exercise problems rendering the volume very helpful to the students for practice and self
evaluation. There are a number of topics related to dynamics, both Newtonian and relativistic,
which are commonly not found in many books on Mechanics.

Prof. Amitabha Ghosh, Ex-Director, IIT Kharagpur; Honorary Distinguished Professor, IIEST
Shibpur

The book “Introduction to Mechanics” by Verma is a lively account of the classical subject of
extraordinary sophistication. In addition to providing the standard coverage, the book introduces
topics such as phase space description, symmetries of physical laws, nonlinear dynamics and chaos,
and numerical solution of Newton’s laws. It also contains a brief introduction to mechanics of solids
and fluids as a gradual transition from rigid body dynamics. On the whole, the book is a sensible
introduction to the subject to suit the needs of undergraduates in physics and engineering.

Prof. K. R. Sreenivasan, President and Dean of Engineering at New York University; Ex-Director
ICTP

Apart from the very clear discussion of standard topics that a college level mechanics book should
include, the second edition of Mahendra Verma’s well-known textbook covers from history,
numerical methods and chaos to solid and fluid mechanics as well as special relativity. I wish I had
this wonderful and student-friendly book when I was a college student myself !

Prof. Arnab Rai Choudhuri, Indian Institute of Science

"Introduction to Mechanics" by Mahendra Verma provides a thorough and comprehensive

introduction to Newton's laws and its consequences. The prose (style) is clear and amiable, and
professor Verma always clarifies elegantly the physical ideas behind the mathematics. Noteworthy
are the advanced chapters on nonlinear dynamics and chaos, mechanics of solids, and special
relativity, as well as the numerical solutions of Newton's equations using the Python computer
language. This is an excellent textbook to aid teachers and for student's self-study.
Prof. Pablo Tamborenea, University of Buenos Aires
In the second edition of this successful text, the entire book has been thoroughly rewritten. Besides
rearrangement of topics, inclusion of new problems and considerable extensions of existing
chapters, five new chapters, including Statics, Mechanics of Solids and Fluids, have been added.
The modern flavour, the special quality of the original text, has been retained throughout. The
book size has increased by almost 70%. The text now caters for all the topics that are normally
included in the syllabus of various universities. Interesting introduction to some advanced topics will
excite the bright students to go beyond the syllabus for self study, an essential requirement to
develop an attraction for the subject.

Prof. A. K. Mallik, Ex-faculty, IIT Kanpur; Honorary Distinguished Professor, IIEST Shibpur

Quite simply, I like this book, and I think bright undergraduates in physics and engineering will too.
It takes a broad view of its subject, reminding the reader that a wide range of classical phenomena,
well beyond blocks on inclined planes and pendula, lie in the domain of Classical Mechanics. The
standard topics are treated with due respect too. I'm pleased to see that it teaches physics as if
computers have been invented -- which they have. It's good to see phase-plane methods introduced
early, teaching students the importance of qualitative precision. Of course I'm very happy to see
fluid mechanics and elasticity receiving the attention they deserve. I enjoyed the brief discussion of
the variety of forces, fundamental and emergent, that we encounter. It's good to see And lastly I'm
glad the author is brave enough to spend time on the philosophical underpinnings of the subject.

Prof. Sriram Ramaswamy, Director, TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Hyderabad

This is the second edition of the book entitled”Introduction to Classical Mechanis” by M. K.

Verma. This edition covers all the topics (and a few more) which are usually taught in one semester
course on classical Mechanics in Indian Universities. In the second edition, the discussion on several
topics has been expanded and new topics has been added. There are several unique features of this
book and Verma’a presentation. Normally, in usual texts on classical mechanics, Newton’s equations
are introduced in the initial chapters. But without sufficienly elaborating Newtonian formulation,
the presentation quickly moves on to advanced topics e.g., Lagrangian and Hamiltonian
formulations, Hamiltonian-Jacobi theory, canonical perturbation theory etc. Thus student’s
knowledge of Newtonian mechanics remains half baked. In this respect Verma’s book is different
from the other texts. His text is totally devoted to Newtonian formulation which is based on
solutions of differential equation. And because he deals only with Newtonian formulation he has
sufficient time and space to lay bare the immense potential of Newtonian formulation which is
seldom recognized and appreciated. I particularly like chapter 3 on forces where, unlike usual text,
he has discussed all kind of forces ranging from very basic force like gravitation to derived forces
like that of surface tension. This kind of discussion brings out the unifying and common feature in
all forces. After introducing Newtonian formulation in the second chapter he quickly introduces
other topics like motion in one, two and three dimensions, conservation laws, rotation dynamics,
dynamics of collisions, rigid body dynamics, Fluid dynamics, nonlinear dynamic and chaos etc.. His
exposition of these topics brings student up to a point where he is ripe for introduction to Special
theory of Relativity and through a chapter on non inertial frames to rudimentary ideas of General
theory of Relativity. While on the topic of symmetries in Classical Mechanics I would have been
happy if he included a simple graduate level description of Noether’s theorem which is one of the
most beautiful and power full theorem in Classical Mechanics. The text is supplemented with
enough examples and problems which may be solved analytically or numerically on a computer
through which students can see Newtonian Formulation in action. I strongly recommend this book
as text for one or two semester course on Classical Mechanics at masters level.

Prof. Avinash Khare, Physics, Delhi University

Science is all about reasoning and arguing and not accepting something without clarity and
consistency. This is a culture and has to be imbibed during the studies if the person is to contribute
significantly in enhancing the knowledge. This book “Introduction to Mechanics” by Dr Mahendra
Kumar Verma gives a special focus on this aspect while fulfilling the usual expectations from a
textbook like lucid presentation of concepts, large number of solved problems, good problems for
practice etc. the . For example while stating Newton’s three laws, the relation of inertial frame and
Newton’s First law has been discussed in detail and a proper consistent statement is suggested for the
First law. Similarly, the situations in which Newton’s laws do not work are also mentioned so that
students take the whole course in right perspective.

The book offers a kind of second course in Mechanics. Essentially it refines on the notions that
students generally get during school days and then builds up more advanced methods of mechanics.
Thus in the chapter of forces (Chapter-4) the author talks of pressure, surface tension and capillary
rise, chemical bonding, molecular forces and so on before going to state the force equations.

The main bulk of solving for motion of a system is grouped according to classes of differential
equations. This builds up a good correlation between certain mathematical structure and a variety
of physical phenomena following that structure. This would develop capability to identify a given
situation with previously mastered methods and hence handle it much more easily. Thus Chapter-5
gives description of motions of oscillators, pendulum and also electric L-C-R circuit all resulting
from one dimensional second order differential equation. Addressing the rich diversity of physical
situations governed by the same mathematical formulation is indeed very useful characteristic of the
book. Such insights empower the students to have a more comprehensive view of nature and
prepares him/her for making new contributions.

The real problems in mechanics or for that matter any branch of physics, are often not exactly
solvable in closed form. The chapter on numerical solution of equations of motion, that too early in
the book, is a welcome step. It makes the connection of Physics with nature. In a similar spirit real
life applications such as astronomical derivations are given.

Though energy conservation is used extensively starting from 1-D motion, the concept of
conservative and non conservative force fields is discussed in detail in a separate chapter later.
Perhaps this ensures a comprehensive view of the conservation laws which are very well related to
symmetry of space and time, discussed in depth in a Chapter 8.

It covers a large number of topics including mechanics of solids and fluids. It will make the book
useful to students doing different courses in different institutions. Hope, this book will make
students enjoy the beauty of Physics.

Prof. Harish Verma, Physics, IIT Kanpur; Author of “Concepts of Physics”

It is indeed a pleasure to see the second enlarged edition of ‘Introduction to Mechanics’ by

Mahendra Verma. Personally, I have always admired the second editions, be it Resnick- Halliday or
Goldstein or Jackson or Schiff. Second editions have always cured minor errors that might have
crept in the first, brought more clarity in the exposition and often enlarged the text by introducing
two or three important related topics. This book succeeds in every respect. The second edition also
marks the appreciation of the first edition. This book is aimed at freshmen and bridges the gap
between the elementary and advanced textbooks of Mechanics. Topics like Symmetries, Phase
space and Nonlinear oscillations and chaos were the strength of the first edition. In addition to these
the second edition is enriched by the chapters, Mechanics of fluids and Numerical solutions of
Newton’s equations. The former one, being considered as an advanced topic, is often neglected in
the introductory texts. The importance of the latter cannot be overstated in the context of modern
day Physics. The first chapter is a delightful one and I sincerely hope that it arouses curiosity among
the readers for the History of Science in general. The author has given the historical perspective
wherever necessary in addition to his lucid presentation of the key ideas and concepts. He has been
successful in both, introducing the abstract ideas to the reader and bringing them aptly to
application. Every now and then he has introduced topics, such as Newton vs Mach, Madam Wu’s
experiment and Elementary particles, which will certainly act as seeds and stimulate curious readers
for further exploration. This book will prepare the reader for the texts of Landau-Lifshitz and
Sommerfeld.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in pursuing a career in Physics. It is also highly
recommended to those graduate students of physics who like to sharpen their concepts and
understanding of Mechanics.

Prof. S. Pratik Khastgir, IIT Kharagpur

This book is unique in the sense that it has adopted a difficult method of writing which is completely
new in academic field. It has been brought up-to-date in accordance with the latest syllabi of most
of the Indian universities to meet the requirements of students and teachers alike. A large number
of problems have been included in almost all chapters at proper place so that students can easily
understand the theory used in solving the problem.

Prof. J. N. Mandal, Principal, GLM College, Purnea