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Rating: 
Summary: An excellent book on a fundamental subject
Review: Classical mechanics often falls by the wayside in a modern physics curriculum. However, there are times when an understanding of subtle issues in this field are simply necessary for progress in current research directions. At times like these, one is all-too-often forced to turn to older texts such as Goldstein or directly to the literature of a field with which one is rarely intimately familiar. It is therefore a great pleasure to find a text such as Jose and Saletan's, a highly modern, extremely complete and very readable textbook on mechanics at an advanced level. The book covers all of the standard topics of a graduate mechanics course (Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics, rigid bodies, etc.) as well as more modern topics such as chaotic dynamics. All these subjects are treated in great detail and both in very physical and very formal languages. Most importantly, all of these discussions (including the formal ones!) are packed with completely worked examples which allow one to begin to use these techniques without attempting to decipher formal proofs. The breadth of topics covered and the quality of the writing make this book a valuable addition to any physicist's workbench.
Rating: 
Summary: Classical Dynamics, a Horrible Approach
Review: I would give this negative five stars if it were possible. I don't know where these other reviewers are getting the idea that this is a nice book on the subject -- it is unclear to the point where one could only guess that it was intended to confuse the reader, even on the basic material. Chapter 1 is basically all of Marion/Thornton, with an explanation that will serve to reverse one's understanding of these fundamental concepts. I would recommend Goldstein instead, even though it is only marginally better. This is yet another piece of junk which is sure to further reduce the population of physics students. If you are a typical sadistic, elitist professor who wishes to destroy the confidence of your students, then you should require this text.
Rating: 
Summary: The New Goldstein
Review: If you have no exposure to Classical Mechanics or if you starting new then DON'T BUY THIS BOOK. This book is of advance nature. Books like Arya, Hauser or Corben are simpler. The book starts with the basics, wraps up Newtonian Mechanics in the first chapter. The next five chapters deal in detail with Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations and their applications. They discuss some difficult topics like "Tangent Bundle" "Tangent Spaces" and "lie groups". "Noether's theorem" is also included which I have not seen in many Classical Mechanics books.There are many worked out examples which help the reader understand the subject.The explanations are quite lucid.There are plently of excercises to do but no answers to problems!
Rating:
Summary: A Contemporary Textbook on Mechanics
Review: This book offers all the standard text used in undergraduate mechanics courses plus a number of more contemporary topics such as Lie derivatives, manifolds and much on nonlinear dynamical systems, all in a language appropriate for a Physics book. I consider it to be the modern equivalent of classics like the books by Goldstein or Marion. The material of this book should be the new standard for modern Classical Mechanics courses.
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