Like many physics majors, I have become used to dealing with undergraduate physics texts that are mediocre at best. The explanations are usually confusing, either because they are too dry or too verbose. If examples/derivations are included they are rarely practical and one tends to wonder at the author's reasoning for choosing those. I often find myself only using the textbooks to work the homework problems, and base almost all my knowledge on class notes.

This text is a welcome deviation from the standard: I have found it extremely easy to understand and follow. There are numerous examples and derivations, and I have referred to them more than once to gain familiarity with the topic. The book became my friend and ally; a priceless resource for the class. My course has only gone through chapter 13, but all the chapters that we covered were written well.

I strongly recommend this book, it is well written, clear, without typographical errors, with many excercises which you can really do after having studied the text. Some people say it is verbose: sometimes it is true, BUT when you study alone it is a lot better to have more rather than less explanations. I wish there was a similar book on quantum mechanics. The binding is good and this adds to the good feeling of studying it. This book should become soon a bestseller. I suggest only to add the answers of the even-numbered problems, sometimes it may help.

This book is well written and is easy to learn from whether taking a Classical Mechanics class or learning it on your own. Unlike some books that expect you to know Differential Equations, this one sets it up for you along the way.
It also has 11 chapters for a mechanics class and six bonus chapters that can be used as supplementary material.
I would recommend this book for future students.

This textbook is comprehensive, clearly written, well-paced, and thoughtful. Taylor clearly is an experienced professor and understands well how to convey material to students. Whether this text is required for your intermediate/advanced undergraduate classical mechanics course or you are someone who wishes to brush up on mechanics, this is the book.

"Classical mechanics" is a brilliant book, certainly one of the very best at this level. The author doesn't save space when a thorough introduction to a topic or problem is needed. Very often an intuitive explanation is given first, followed by a formal exposition, and then comes the real gem - a qualitative discussion of the mathematical results which brings physics again in the picture with full force. The chapters on oscillations are outstanding, same as the exposition of generalized coordinates and generalized forces. Of course, not every detail in derivations has to be given, and it is the choice of what to include and what to skip that makes the flow of exposition logical and coherent. This book is a joy to read, it is excellent for self-study.

Though I can't compare too much with other mechanics books, as a current undergrad I think Taylor's book is excellent compared to other physics texts I've had. The text is very clear and readble, with several examples and enjoyable problems.

The five "reviews" before mine are all from undergraduate physics majors at Amherst College. All five students were in the same class, which used a pre-publication edition of Taylor's book. I think their reviews reflect these facts, and say more about the students than they do about the book.

That being said, I also used pre-publication editions, but as a professor teaching the class. Before this book I had used the other "standards" (Marion and Thorton, etc). Taylor's book is by far the best of all of them. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I gave the author a lot of feedback about the material covered in the chapters and the problems. I wouldn't have spent all that time on the book if I didn't believe it was one of the best physics books I've ever read.

I use the book in the Jr-Sr mechanics course at Bates College. Since our students have already had a semester of classical mechanics from the book by Kleppner and Kolenkow, I begin with Chapter Six in Taylor's book (Calculus of Variations). The presentation is meticulous, the concepts are explained clearly and correctly (not always the case in other books), and the examples are carefully chosen. The problems are carefully chosen and carefully worded. Sometimes they present new material, e.g., the Thomas Precession, the rapidity, etc., using examples that clearly illustrate the essential points.

I also have taught the first six chapters and they are very refreshing and well-written. They are at just the right level for a student coming out of a calculus-based introductory physics course and, in addition, give a wonderful discussion of air resistance and viscious forces as they apply to automobiles, oil drops in the Millikan experiment, and many other practical situations. The examples are quite interesting and informative, and it was refreshing to read Taylor's original treatment of this important yet often short-changed subject.

Although this is a "first" edition, it comes after several pre-publication editions, all of which were class tested. Consequently, material that students found hard to understand was rewritten, hints were added to some of the problems, and essentially all the typographical errors were discovered and corrected. So the book has none of the drawbacks usually associated with first editions.

I especially enjoyed the optional chapter on Chaos. It is one of the best presentations of this potentially confusing subject I have ever read.

I have assigned chapters for independent study to undergraduate senior thesis majors. All of them have commented on how helpful the book was to them and how easy it was to understand on their own.

In a post-use review in the American Journal of Physics (April 2004, Vol. 72, Issue 4, p. 559), Professor Gayle Cook said "I find this a superb text. The clarity and readability of the book is so much better than anything else on the market that I confidently predict it will soon be the most widely used book on the subject." The rest of her review is very informative and well worth reading.

Finally, to get an idea of the the clarity and excellence of John Taylor's work, be sure to look at the reviews on amazon.com of his book "An Introduction to Error Analysis."