Customer Reviews

Orbital Motion, Fourth Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first (1978) edition of "Orbital Motion" was a revised extension of Dr. Roy's 1965 text "Fundamentals of Astrodynamics", and deserves continuing recognition as one of the better topical introductions to celestial mechanics and astrodynamics. Dr. Roy excels in his ability to elaborate on the practical consequences of celestial motion through his thoughtful and intuitive discussion of pertinent equations. His concise style is easy-to-read and provides for a gentle mix of topics that generally appeals to astronomers and physical scientists, yet also have relevance to engineers interested in problems of Newtonian gravitation.

Although this title draws deserved attention and respect, its longevity has also resulted in some rather dated recommended practices. The 2nd chapter, devoted to the complicated subjects of co-ordinate and time-keeping systems, is abbreviated and approaching obsolesce. Chapter 3 ("The Reduction of Observational Data") emphasizes optical measurement reduction perhaps as it was done three or four decades ago without a computer. And some of the recurring space surveillance systems mentioned, such as Baker-Nunn cameras, have been out of regular service for years...

Any owner of the 2nd edition who purchases the 3rd edition will find the two editions to be practically identical. There are about seven (7) additional pages largely resulting from two new sub-sections: Jacobian co-ordinates for the many-body problem, and three-body stability criterion. A few sentences have also been added to the introductory chapter to reflect c.1988 state-of-the-art, and some tables of constants have been necessarily updated as well. Because of the 3rd edition's extraordinarily high price relative to the 2nd edition (with little additional content), I am reluctantly compelled to subtract an additional star from its rating.

The inappropriate hardcover price and the publisher's lack of new, inexpensive paperback copies makes it difficult to fully recommend Dr. Roy's otherwise excellent treatise. Fortunately, interested readers may be well served by the less expensive, used copies of the earlier edition.

For anyone interested in the arcane discipline of astrodynamics, this book is essential reading. Obviously, it assumes a good knowledge of mathematics (vector analysis and calculus) but nothing exceptional. So clear and logical are the mathematical arguments that you will be fooled into thinking that the subject is easier than it is! The discussion of the Lagrangian points (places where a small particle can remain in a stable or semi-stable position relative to two more massive bodies) is exemplary. While not everyone will be able to read through and understand this book, anyone who can will learn a great deal.

Required reading for astronomy students. Only one problem with the new edition of the book: it is pricey. Try to obtain a used copy, or perhaps an earlier edition of the book.

little21th January 2012.
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This is a great Orbital Mechanics book. A lot of detail. However, mine smells potently like cigarettes.. which is unfortunate.