Structure of Dynamical Systems: A Symplectic View of Physics (Progress in Mathematics (Birkhauser Boston), Vol 149)

Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking Synthesis of Physics
Review: The influence of this book is already large, and with this new edition of the English translation, destined to get bigger. Schlomo Sternberg at Harvard has already re-invented the way Undergrad Physics is usually taught with his Symplectic Approach, due in no small measure to his reading of this very book in its previous (French) incarnation. But Souriau is not only readable, and 'followable' in his expositions, the results are so delightful. The only complaint I would make is with the book editors' use of "cutesy" icons (spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds, something that looks like a bugle - for BIG results, one imagines hearing a fanfare every time one sees it), these sometimes get to be distracting. However, the editors' notes are useful and worthwhile. I fully believe the 'program' first enunciated (as far as I'm aware) in this book in 1968, will become more and more a dominant paradigm for physics in the 21st century.