Rating: 
Summary: A Road to Higher Realms
Review: I took a mechanics course 9 years ago with an earlier edition, finished undergrad and left the study of physics. Recently I bought a new edition and I have just finished self studying this book and I felt that it's quite excellent. The problems are challenging but that is precisely what I expected. I think it really deserves 4 stars but I gave it 5 because the average ratings given by other reviewers is too low. I would like to go through the positives and negatives of this text. However keep in mind that the negatives of this text are apparent pretty much in every physics text.Positives: 1) The text is easy to understand, the problems follow from the text 2) Answers to even numbers excercises in the back of text. This is absolutely crucial if you are self studying without an instructor. 3) Problems are random in their difficulty and individually comprehensive in their review of the chapter.
4) The Mathematics is pretty elementary, with a solid understanding of Calculus and differential equations you should be properly equipped to handle the entire text. Negatives: 1) There are little to no difficult problems involving Newtonian formalism (Forces). Energy and momentum is predominantly used, for good reason, but it does not hurt to go back to the more rigorous approach of Forces for some difficult problems. 2) It would be nice to have a chapter dedicated to cyclic coordinates, Poisson Brackets and Canonical Transformations. 3)Impulses(chap 9) are dealt with in Integral form as opposed to differential form of the time change in momenta. The latter is much more intuitive and useful for solving problems. 4)Wider use in problems and examples of Poisson's equation for gravity. 5) Relativity should be introduced much earlier in the text. This is one of the formalisms of every undergraduate textbook in physics which I do not understand. Relativity always gets pushed back towards the end of textbooks. There is nothing particularly difficult about the subject that demands that it get treated in such a fashion. As opposed to the three chapters prior (dynamics of rigid bodies, coupled oscillations and waves) which are much more demanding. Furthermore it would be useful for students taking E&M at the same time as Mechanics to have had some experience with 4 vectors before dealing with Maxwell's equations.
Rating:
Summary: Solid Understandable Book in Mechanics
Review: I took a mechanics course 9 years ago with an earlier edition, finished undergrad and left the study of physics. Recently I bought a new edition and I have just finished self studying this book and I felt that it's quite excellent. The problems are challenging but that is precisely what I expected. I think it really deserves 4 stars but I gave it 5 because the average ratings given by other reviewers is too low. I would like to go through the positives and negatives of this text. However keep in mind that the negatives of this text are apparent pretty much in every physics text. Positives: 1) The text is easy to understand, the problems follow from the text 2) Answers to even numbers excercises in the back of text. This is absolutely crucial if you are self studying without an instructor. 3) Problems are random in their difficulty and individually comprehensive in their review of the chapter.
4) The Mathematics is pretty elementary, with a solid understanding of Calculus and differential equations you should be properly equipped to handle the entire text. Negatives: 1) There are little to no difficult problems involving Newtonian formalism (Forces). Energy and momentum is predominantly used, for good reason, but it does not hurt to go back to the more rigorous approach of Forces for some difficult problems. 2) It would be nice to have a chapter dedicated to cyclic coordinates, Poisson Brackets and Canonical Transformations. 3)Impulses(chap 9) are dealt with in Integral form as opposed to differential form of the time change in momenta. The latter is much more intuitive and useful for solving problems. 4)Wider use in problems and examples of Poisson's equation for gravity. 5) Relativity should be introduced much earlier in the text. This is one of the formalisms of every undergraduate textbook in physics which I do not understand. Relativity always gets pushed back towards the end of textbooks. There is nothing particularly difficult about the subject that demands that it get treated in such a fashion. As opposed to the three chapters prior (dynamics of rigid bodies, coupled oscillations and waves) which are much more demanding. Furthermore it would be useful for students taking E&M at the same time as Mechanics to have had some experience with 4 vectors before dealing with Maxwell's equations.
Rating: 
Summary: Good -- IF you have a good instructor, too
Review: I was fortunate to have an excellent instructor for my mechanics courses, and we used this book in both semesters. Although it *is* true that the problems are rather vaguely stated, if one has an instructor who's good, and is willing to help figure out what the problems ask for, it's a good text. Quite a few grad schools assume its depth for preparation, too. And the sections on the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian approaches are quite good, although an intuitive "feeling" for them is not communicated or developed. I wish Feynman had spent more time on them in his Lectures!
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre Classical Mechanics
Review: I'm currently studying for a final exam in an introductory classical mechanics course. Throughout the course, I knew this book was hard to understand, but a truly excellent professor helped clarify the text and explain the ambiguities in the problems. Presently as I go through the text in preparation for the final with an increased maturity in the subject, I can see its flaws more clearly. The notation used throughout the book is inconsistent (such as the use of T or K almost randomly for Kinetic Energy), examples are not thorough, and the explanation of basic physics is convoluted. In short, using this book as an introduction to classical mechanics without the assistance of an experienced professor is almost impossible. Being an introductory course, the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods were only touched upon as a primer for later classes. I purchased my copy of the book in used condition and have not had any problems with the binding, although the price does seem extravagant.
Rating:
Summary: If I already knew the material it wouldn't be so bad.
Review: I'm taking physics 105 at UC Berkeley and we're using Marion and Thornton in my class. I like using the book as a reference, but I think that each chapter does a poor job of explaining how to solve the problems that appear in the end of each chapter. There are also very few simple problems in the book that allow one to become used to using new methods (like hamiltonian mechanics, and the use of lagrangians) before using them to solve difficult problems. I would reccommend another mechanics book such as "Mechanics" by Landau and Lifschitz or "Mechanics" by Symon. Unless you have an excellent instructor, Marion and Thronton is not very much fun to use.
Rating: 
Summary: Professors: Please do NOT adopt this text.
Review: If the physics community is wondering why we are producing physicists at the lowest rate in 40 years, they might consider the quality of their pedagogy. Thornton provides an unnecessary character-building experience while failing to explain the problems that every physics graduate must know. While we are all impressed that his wife was an astronaut, he succeeds only in spoiling the work of the late, great Marion. It was only because of an outstanding professor at Cal State Chico that I learned what I did.
Rating:
Summary: Leave Goldstein Alone!
Review: Marion is dead and Mr.Thornton should have left the text be. The only changes Thornton made were bad ones. The examples are incomplete, Symbols are introduced without definition. The problems are challenging if one could ever discern what the question is! To top it all off the author almost blindly takes word for word sections straight out of Goldstein's classic text. Now this is not particularly bad, he is given reference, but Goldstein is thorough. This text is lost in laziness. The key steps which I feel a student needs specific direction, are left out! So a word to instructors who teach undergraduate mechanics...just use Goldstein, and design problems of your own. Marion and Thornton's text is in need for replacement
Rating: 
Summary: Dynamics newbies will need a supplementary text...
Review: Pros:
The Hamiltonian and Lagrangian sections were well-explained.
Good intro to mathematical formalism/style used in higher level courses. Notation a little clunky though. No use whining about the Math; just get used to it if you want your degree and graduate school.
Problems were interesting & challenging, but will kill newbies... more on that below. Cons:
The other sections were so-so. Very often I could not see the forest for the trees. Initiates need some kind of context/background to fit the various topics together and with what they already know.
It's not readily obvious that intuition is just as important as analysis in Dynamics problem-solving--no advice given in this respect. Caused me to use up too much time trying to crack a problem when my approach was unsuitable in the first place.
Examples did not help in solving the problems; often felt like I was thrown into the deep end of the pool before I could swim.
Try Schaum's Outlines, Landau, Goldstein as well. Feynmann's Lectures give some background.
Rating:
Summary: Saved my life
Review: Take no notice of the tripe written below about this book. Having missed taking my school's graduate course in classical mechanics due to arriving late in the year, I was nevertheless required to take qualifying exams which contained a classical mechanics section. I decided to buy this book and "cram" classical mechanics in an intense 10-day period - and it got me through. In other words the book is extremely lucid and great for self-study, with excellent worked examples and questions of varying degree of difficulty. To be honest, classical mechanics was not one of my favorite subjects in physics, but studying from this book was a joy. The Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulisms are amongst the most beautiful theories in physics - revelatory stuff. Although the price of the book is tantamount to daylight robbery, it saved my bacon and hence in my opinion the book is priceless.
Rating:
Summary: A mathematically formal piece of crap.
Review: The table of contents sure looks promising. Buta pretentious and unnecessary mathematical formalism obscures everything. Simple concepts are made obscure by lousy explanations. Apparently the authors assume that the student is born knowing these concepts. The physical concepts are not motivated, only presented in a facy polished way which is totally useless to the student.This book is a notorious, famous stinker which will hopefully be soon put out to pasture. Lousy overall!
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