Absolute or Relative Motion?: Volume 1, The Discovery of Dynamics: A Study from a Machian Point of View of the Discovery and the Structure of Dynamical Theories [Hardcover]

Julian B. Barbour (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 768 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (June 30, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 052132467X
• ISBN-13: 978-0521324670
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,086,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very beautiful and useful, January 20, 2000

By 

Professor Joseph L. McCauley "Joseph L. McCauley" (Austria+Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Absolute or Relative Motion?: Volume 1, The Discovery of Dynamics: A Study from a Machian Point of View of the Discovery and the Structure of Dynamical Theories (Hardcover)

Has no competitor in sight in the field. Nowhere else can you, e.g., find out what Huyghens and Descartes did, and also what Galileo and Copernicus really did, and in such clear, concise language. Reads like a good novel! Also im[portant: the author does not at all color his treatment of the history of mechanics by 'cheerleading' for Mach.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, but..., January 7, 2001

By 

Fabien Chareix (Paris, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Absolute or Relative Motion?: Volume 1, The Discovery of Dynamics: A Study from a Machian Point of View of the Discovery and the Structure of Dynamical Theories (Hardcover)

Julian B. Barbour did an excellent job. His overview of the history of celestial ans terrestrial mechanics is really a must have. But I noticed he often uses a kind of sketchy reconstruction. For example what he says about Huygens who did not succeed in creating the very notions of a modern dynamics. This is true, but in the case of Huygens there are strong philosophical reasons for that. Huygens did NOT want to use dynamical concepts. So what is pictured here as a failure seems to be more complex. On that point, JB Barbour follows Richard Westfall. Both, in my opinion, are wrong. Anyway : one must have the book. As I said, it's a masterpiece.