Fundamentals of Celestial Mechanics, 2nd Revised & Enlarged Edition by John M. A. Danby (PDF)

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Book by John M. A. Danby

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book gives a review of the necessary math knowledge, and then explains many aspects of celestial mechanics. It is a little less sophisticated than other books on the market.Most books on this subject, including this one, are only available used.

⭐This is a good book. I have used it before but someone stole my Danby and I ordered another one. It is a great reference book to have. I use Danby quit frequently.

⭐I enjoyed this book. But I wish it were longer updated. Still, I recommend it as a supplement on the topic.

⭐Danby discusses most subjects in a fast moving, somewhat terse way, a little too fast for my taste. I find that many of the student problems are exactly what I was looking for, and I would have preferred to see them discussed in detail in the text. His coverage of the equation of Kepler is good and relatively thorough. Some parts of the text are slightly dated, and this is partly because knowledge moves along quickly in the information age. For instance, he gives three methods for the numerical integration of the equations of motion, complete with BASIC code. The use of BASIC is itself a bit old-timey, and somewhat less easy to follow than the pseudo-code which many authors use. The most modern numerical integration methods he presents are the Runge-Kutta methods Fehlberg developed for NASA in the 1960s, which are indeed nice, and a good introduction to the subject, however newer methods are available. He gives a very terse treatment of relativity which only explains the motion of Mercury’s perihelion, nothing more, although few authors cover that subject in any detail. His list of references is good, covers most of the classics, and has a few that are new to me. I noticed that he considers Plummer’s “Introductory Treatise on Dynamical Astronomy” one of the best references available, which is a book I consider almost absurdly terse and cryptic… it goes from zero to Hansen’s methods in the first 30 pages, with little explanation, and this is how Danby often leaves me feeling – more explanation please! Granted, I am no mathemetician, but I am ok with basic calculus, and I don’t mind a long-winded derivation if it makes things clearer.

⭐It is a specialist book for astrophysics and orbital dynamics. Only available second hand now. First edition is much cheaper but this second edition has additional more recent material and sample basic code in addition to the mathematics. I needed the more recent copy (still a little dated at 1998).This second edition has a more extensive treatment of orbit determination from observations.

⭐This is an excellent book on the mechanics of the celestial bodies, in a region of literature where reliable texts are surprisingly rare. If you are looking for just one reason to recommend it, that would be the inclusion of Einstein’s form of the orbital equation, which is one of the three main consequences of General Relativity. This is provided, and solved, without all the preamble necessary in the usual texts on G R. This book is ideal for undergraduates in Astronomy or Physics, requiring only a minimal background in the Calculus and differential equations.

⭐Very good second hand book

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