Customer Reviews

Calculus of Variations: Mechanics, Control Theory, and Other Applications

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I only purchased this book because it was required in my Calculus of Variations course. Explanations in this book are often difficult to follow, with many proofs leaving holes in their logic behind hand-wavey "it is trivial to show" statements. Many of these gaps in the logic seem to lead to incorrect conclusions.

The book, like many modern undergraduate texts, focuses too much on the "what" and the "how" rather than the "why," promoting an educational approach that favors memorization of algorithms and techniques with little to no understanding of their derivation, purpose, or inner workings. Homework problems are largely "plug-and-chug" without much to truly challenge the reader and test their understanding of the material.

At $130 for a used copy, this book is a colossal waste of money. If you really want to spend that much, get 15 copies of the Gelfand/Fomin book on the same topic. Pretty much the entirety of this book is covered concisely---and more completely---in the *first two chapters* of the Gelfand/Fomin book.