An Introduction to Celestial Mechanics
Edition: Second Revised Edition
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: June 1, 1984
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 437
ISBN-13: 9780486646879
Subjects: Astrophysics; Astronomy - General; Science / Astronomy; Science
Description: By providing a general account of all parts of celestial mechanics without an over-full treatment of any single aspect, by stating all the problems in advance, and, where the transformations are long, giving an outline of the steps which must be made, and by noting all the places where assumptions have been introduced or unjustified methods employed, Moulton has insured that his work will be valuable to all who are interested in the subject.

The text is divided into ten chapters which progress logically in terms of the difficulty of their subject matter. Important topics cove red include general equations, motion of falling particles, the heat of the sun, simultaneous differential equations, examples where J is a function of the coordinates alone, the universality of Newton's law, determination of the orbit from the law of force, attractions of simple solids, potential and attractions of simple bodies and ellipsoids, Ivory's method and level surfaces, elements of orbits, expansions and positions in orbits, transformations of coordinates, the Laplacian and Gaussian methods of determining orbits, motion of center of mass and area integrals, motion of the infinitesimal body, surfaces of zero relative velocity, effects of the components of the disturbing force, lunar theory, method of computing perturbations, and the perturbative function.

Each chapter is followed by a historical sketch and bibliography pertaining to that subject. Over 200 problems appear at key points in the text, many of them answered.
Notes: This Dover edition, first published in 1970, is an unabridged and corrected republication of the second revised edition, 1914, of the work originally published in 1902 by The Macmillan Company
Table of contents: title: Preface to the First Edition; title: Preface to the Second Edition; label: Chapter I
title: Fundamental Principles and Definitions; title: Definitions and General Equations; title: Historical Sketch from Ancient Times to Newton; label: Chapter II
title: Rectilinear Motion; title: The Motion of Falling Particles; title: The Heat of the Sun; label: Chapter III
title: General Forces; title: Simultaneous Differential Equations; title: Examples Where f is a Function of the Coordinates Alone; title: The Universality of Newton's Law; title: Determination of the Orbit from the Law of Force; label: Chapter IV
title: The Potential and Attraction of Bodies; label: Chapter V
title: The Problem of Two Bodies; label: Chapter VI
title: The Determination of Orbits; title: I. The Laplacian Method of Determining Orbits; title: II. The Gaussian Method of Determining Orbits; label: Chapter VII
title: The General Integrals of the Problem of n Bodies; label: Chapter VIII
title: The Problem of Three Bodies; title: Motion of the Infintesimal Body; title: Case of Three Finite Bodies; label: Chapter IX
title: Pertuberations - Geometrical Considerations; title: I. Effects of the Components of the Disturbing Force; title: II. The Lunar Theory; label: Chapter X
title: Pertuberations - Analytical Method