Solar System Dynamics (Paperback)

~ Carl D. Murray (Author), Stanley F. Dermott (Author) "It is laudable human pursuit to try to perceive order out of the apparent randomness of nature; science is, after all, an attempt to make..." (more)
Key Phrases: tidal dissipation function, tidal dissipation mechanism, apocentric libration, Exercise Questions, William Shakespeare, Classification of Arguments (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a lucid textbook and a comprehensive reference....An authoritative work of this type is long overdue and this one should remain a classic in the field for years to come." Dr. Donald K. Yeomans, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

"...succeeds admirably in presenting the classical methods as well as the latest research techniques and results...likely to become the standard graduate-level text in this field. I wish I'd had it when I started out in solar system dynamics." Professor Martin J. Duncan, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario

"...the first textbook to describe the powerful new analytic and numerical methods in planetary dynamics, and one of the most important textbooks in this field in several decades. It will be read by every serious student of solar system dynamics." Professor Scott Tremaine, Princeton University

"...this book is well written, well organized, and is certainly a welcome addition to the library of any astrodynamacist, solar system or not." Applied Mechanics Reviews

"All topics are covered both qualitatively and quantitatively with impressive rigor... A useful resource for students studying mathematical techniques in dynamics." Choice

"The book under review, written by leading specialists in the field, is an excellent addition to the literature on solar system dynamics and, more generally, celestial mechanics...It provides an in-depth presentation of what is known at this point, including many results of the authors themselves." Mathematical Reviews

"The need for a new and exhaustive book in solar system dynamics is wonderfully met by [this] text....stimulating, well-written, and informative, it discusses in a masterly way every significant and exciting recent development in the subject. The authors' crystal-clear exposition...is greatly helped by the inclusion of the necessary classical background...[and] cleverly-constructed problems...[this] book will undoubtedly take its place with previously acknowledged leaders in its field. It will become indispensable to undergraduate and postgraduate students and to the serious researcher." Professor Archie E. Roy, University of Glasgow

Review

"...the first textbook to describe the powerful new analytic and numerical methods in planetary dynamics, and one of the most important textbooks in this field in several decades. It will be read by every serious student of solar system dynamics." Professor Scott Tremaine, Princeton University

"The need for a new and exhaustive book in solar system dynamics is wonderfully met by [this] text....stimulating, well-written, and informative, it discusses in a masterly way every significant and exciting recent development in the subject. The authors' crystal-clear exposition...is greatly helped by the inclusion of the necessary classical background...[and] cleverly-constructed problems...[this] book will undoubtedly take its place with previously acknowledged leaders in its field. It will become indispensable to undergraduate and postgraduate students and to the serious researcher." Professor Archie E. Roy, University of Glasgow

"...a lucid textbook and a comprehensive reference....An authoritative work of this type is long overdue and this one should remain a classic in the field for years to come." Dr. Donald K. Yeomans, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

"...succeeds admirably in presenting the classical methods as well as the latest research techniques and results...likely to become the standard graduate-level text in this field. I wish I'd had it when I started out in solar system dynamics." Professor Martin J. Duncan, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario

"...this book is well written, well organized, and is certainly a welcome addition to the library of any astrodynamacist, solar system or not." Applied Mechanics Reviews

"All topics are covered both qualitatively and quantitatively with impressive rigor... A useful resource for students studying mathematical techniques in dynamics." Choice

"The book under review, written by leading specialists in the field, is an excellent addition to the literature on solar system dynamics and, more generally, celestial mechanics...It provides an in-depth presentation of what is known at this point, including many results of the authors themselves." Mathematical Reviews --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (February 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521575974
• ISBN-13: 978-0521575973
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #739,659 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authoritative, Fascinating, Challenging, July 4, 2000

By	Theodore G. Mihran (Schenectady, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Three books on our solar system appeared in the past year or so. Each has its own "flavor." I will review them in turn, but browsers should be aware of the others, so they are listed here: See also, "The New Solar System," J. Kelly Beatty, Carolyn Collins Petersen, Andrew Chalkin, and "The Planetary Scientist's Companion," Katharine Lodders and Bruce Fegley, Jr.

If one of the other books, "The New Solar System" is lacking in mathematics, this volume more than makes up for it. Although my current interest, the Titius/Bode Law, is given only one page of description, it is a full and fair assessment of this astronomical curiosity. The authors immediately follow this on p. 9 by a statement that sums up the flavor of the rest of the book: "...It is Newton's laws that are at work and the subtle gravitational effect that determines the dynamical structure of our solar system is the phenomenon of 'resonance'." Planets do not circle the sun independently, they influence each other's orbits in fascinating and subtle ways, some of which may take billions of years to evolve.

The manifold aspects of "resonance" can be seen in the Chapter headings: The Two-Body Problem, The Restricted Three-Body Problem, Tides, Rotation, and Shape, Spin-Orbit Coupling, The Disturbing Function, Secular Perturbations, Resonant Perturbations, Chaos and Long-Term Evolution, and Planetary Rings.

The mathematics appears to be straightforward, but like most perturbation theory, it is not simple. Calculus is essential, of course. However, I welcome it. It will challenge my curiosity and ability for many years to come.

This is a compelling, must-have book for the advanced student of the science underlying our solar system and probably of other planetary systems as well.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Richly detailed, with dense mathematics and many typos, January 4, 2007

By	Dave (California) - See all my reviews

I bought this book hoping to learn about subtleties in the solar system such as horseshoe orbits, shepherding satellites in ring systems, etc. I was richly rewarded. The book goes into deep detail on a large variety of secular and resonant phenomena. But a couple of warnings are appropriate.

First, the book has a very high density of equations, and having studied physics I've seen my share. The math is not too difficult, really (mostly expansions, transformations, etc.), but the authors do not shy away from showing all the details of a calculation. In several chapters expansion follows expansion until the reader is lost in a sea of similar variables. Without spending much more time deriving the results myself, there was no hope of following portions of their development. The book might well have benefitted from tighter editing in this regard; perhaps more of this detail could have been relegated to appendices so that the physical conclusions would stand out more clearly.

Second, there are a lot of errors in the book, both typos in equations and in surrounding text. I easily spotted a number of errors which were obvious even to a neophyte in orbital mechanics like myself. They should not have escaped good proofreading. A Google search for "solar system dynamics errata" (without the quotes) will bring you to a pdf file containing detailed corrections. Kudos to the authors for maintaining such a file! I strongly recommend readers download it and keep it handy while using the book.

Bottom line: tough going but rewarding.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic of the Field, January 8, 2007

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

We all know that the solar system is a system centered on the sun (we know that now, needless to say that in Galileo's time you went to jail for saying that). What few of us realize is just how dynamic the solar system really is.

The rings of Saturn were first discovered by Galileo in 1610, but not really understood to be a thin disk of indivudial items until Maxwell in 1859. The rings of Uranus, Neptune and Jupiter weren't really discovered until very recently. Why rings? Why are they spaced the way they are? Why are some of them twisted. And what about comets, some of which have moons of their own?

This is the classic book on how things move in the solar system. It is the world of Newtonian mechanics, but brought forward by 350 years of observatiosn.

This book does not shy away from the mathematics that really describe what's happening. A bit of calculus, including integral calculus, will be needed to get the full impact of what the authors are saying.