   Waves
  What books has everyone used for wave motion classes?  I''m currently using the old Berkely edition by Crawford, and I don''t find it really all that wonderful.  People rave about it being one of the best books on waves out there, but quite honestly, it''s not very good for learning the material.  Granted, looking back once you''ve learned the stuff, it is   wonderful, but in the meantime, it''s not so great.So what has everyone else used? 
  John Anderson''s books on computational fluid dynamics."Mechanical Vibrations" by Rao (not really a great book, though---it was a textbook).   Graham RhodesSenior ScientistApplied Research Associates, Inc. ;  Hmm, I''m not sure if I''m up to the level of computational fluid dynamics quite yet, but I''ll look at it anway I''ll check out the Rao book as well... Hopefully it''ll help a little bit, anyway.   http://chaos.webhop.org;  It might help to know what type of wave motion specifically you are looking to learn about. I''m not sure I would recommend a CFD book if you''re interested in the mechanical wave motion of, say, strings or soft bodies. Rao''s book is more appropriate for that, but it was my textbook for a graduate level class in vibration theory. I''m actually not familiar with the Crawford book. And, as I implied, I wasn''t too thrilled about Rao''s book myself, .On the other hand, if you are interested in ocean waves or fluids waves, I might recommend a very specific book that is good for learning.   Graham RhodesSenior ScientistApplied Research Associates, Inc. ;  i''ve used Berkely by Crawford too  imo very nice,very old but nice (in comparation with some unreadable modern books).Maybe not deep enough about more than 1d case.  Of course,nothing about computers... also i''m using some russian books.(*about fluid dynamics,could someone tell me where and why everyone now got strange idea that basic 2d wave equation(d^2 h/dt^2 = -k div grad h) are case of 2D Navier-Stokes equations?are it''s really so?*)*******got nice idea about signature...my interference of two sources...it''s OK? ;quote:Original post by grhodes_at_work  It might help to know what type of wave motion specifically you are looking to learn about.Well, the course title is "Wave Motion and Optics," so technically it covers more than simply mechanical waves.quote:On the other hand, if you are interested in ocean waves or fluids waves, I might recommend a very specific book that is good for learning. Nah, I''m looking for a pretty general book, actually... I suppose I could always just go on Amazon or search or something...And responding to Dmytry... It''s not so much that I hate   the Crawford book.  It''s just that the way he writes is not very good for learning relatively complex material.  Basically, he often doesn''t introduce concepts at all until he gets to an "example."  And the examples are not very good ones either, since he tries to cover about 10 new ideas in one, meaning the "example" spans a good number of pages.  Basically, I think the book would be manageable if he introduced the concepts completely before the examples, and making some examples a bit shorter so that they''re easier to swallow.Anyway, just my opinion of the book so far (keep in mind that we''re only on chapther 2). ;  For me it's much simpler reading because i've learned many things about waves before this book,it's only additionally to several other books... looking it again,yes,it's probably hardly understandable alone as first reading...   [edited by - Dmytry on February 13, 2004 6:11:50 PM];  Well, in signal terms ( aswell as just moving/standing waves ), I'd suggest "Digital Communications" by Glover & Grant - Prentice Hill. The first few chapters define signals, power distributions and other useful things to know. Also, "Digital Signal Processing" by Mitra is a very good book, as the title suggests, which is mainly aimed at digitally processing signals in a variety of ways, determining properties of signals and so forth. Both worth the read, though the first book will digress *alot* around general signal theory, it's still interesting ( and hey, one of my lecturers wrote it, so I might aswell plug him, might get me some extra marks  ).If you're wanting the mechanical sense of a wave, then the Merian and Kraige books are good...   You have to remember that you're unique, just like everybody else. Edit: Just realised that signals may not be what you're wanting, I just saw optics, which led me to fibre optics->digital communications->signals. Still, maybe useful... :S   [edited by - python_regious on February 13, 2004 10:31:27 PM];quote:Original post by Dmytry  For me it''s much simpler reading because i''ve learned many things about waves before this book,it''s only additionally to several other books... looking it again,yes,it''s probably hardly understandable alone as first reading... That''s exactly my problem with it.  I''ve found that so far, looking back on what we''ve learned, the book is great.  In other words, it makes a great reference once you''ve been through the course once, but as a textbook to learn from for the first time, it''s not too good.  I have a feeling that that''s part of the reason that it''s out of print. 