More than a generation of German-speaking students around the world have worked their way to an understanding and appreciation of the power and beauty of modern theoretical physics¿with mathematics, the most fundamental of sciences¿using Walter Greiner¿s textbooks as their guide. The idea of developing a coherent, complete presentation of an entire ?eld of science in a series of closely related textbooks is not a new one. Many older physicians remember with real pleasure their sense of adventure and discovery as they worked their ways through the classic series by Sommerfeld, by Planck, and by Landau and Lifshitz. From the students¿ viewpoint, there are a great many obvious advantages to be gained through the use of consistent notation, logical ordering of topics, and coherence of presentation; beyond this, thecompletecoverageofthescienceprovidesauniqueopportunityfortheauthortoconvey his personal enthusiasm and love for his subject. These volumes on classical physics, ?nally availablein English, complement Greiner¿s textsonquantumphysics,mostofwhichhavebeenavailabletoEnglish-speakingaudiences for some time. The complete set of books will thus provide a coherent view of physics that includes, in classical physics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, classical dyn- ics, electromagnetism, and general relativity; and in quantum physics, quantum mechanics, symmetries, relativistic quantum mechanics, quantum electro- and chromodynamics, and the gauge theory of weak interactions.

Vector Calculus.- and Basic Definitions.- The Scalar Product.- Component Representation of a Vector.- The Vector Product (Axial Vector).- The Triple Scalar Product.- Application of Vector Calculus.- Differentiation and Integration of Vectors.- The Moving Trihedral (Accompanying Dreibein)-the Frenet Formulas.- Surfaces in Space.- Coordinate Frames.- Vector Differential Operations.- Determination of Line Integrals.- The Integral Laws of Gauss and Stokes.- Calculation of Surface Integrals.- Volume (Space) Integrals.- Newtonian Mechanics.- Newton's Axioms.- Basic Concepts of Mechanics.- The General Linear Motion.- The Free Fall.- Friction.- The Harmonic Oscillator.- Mathematical Interlude-Series Expansion, Euler's Formulas.- The Damped Harmonic Oscillator.- The Pendulum.- Mathematical Interlude: Differential Equations.- Planetary Motions.- Special Problems in Central Fields.- The Earth and our Solar System.- Theory of Relativity.- Relativity Principle and Michelson-Morley Experiment.- TheLorentz Transformation.- Properties of the Lorentz transformation.- Addition Theorem of the Velocities.- The Basic Quantities of Mechanics in Minkowski Space.- Applications of the Special Theory of Relativity.