Physics of Continuous Matter: Exotic and Everyday Phenomena in the Macroscopic World

Offering a modern approach to this most classical of subjects, Physics of Continuous Matter is first and foremost an introduction to the basic concepts and phenomenology of continuous systems, and the derivations of the equations of continuum mechanics from Newtonian mechanics. Although many examples, particularly in the earlier chapters, are taken from geophysics and astrophysics, the author places the emphasis frimly on generic methods and applications. Each chapter begins with a ‘soft’ introduction, placing the discussion within an everyday context, and the level of difficulty then rises steadily, a pattern which is reflected throughout the text as a whole. The necessary mathematical tools are developed in parallel with the physics on a ‘need-to-know’ basis, an approach that avoids lengthy mathematical preliminaries.