Physics from Planet Earth: An Introduction to Mechanics. Joseph C. Amato and Enrique J.
Galvez. 610 pp. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fl. 2015. Price $62.97 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4348-
6783-9. (Jeffrey Lawson and Matthew Rave, Reviewers).

Writing a physics textbook is a tricky business. Make a book too comprehensive, and it quickly
becomes unwieldy (one study1 found that high school physics texts average above 6 pounds).
But leave out examples or explanatory text, and a textbook becomes less a teaching tool and
more a handbook for practicing physicists (e.g., Jackson’s classic electrodynamics text). So
what’s an author to do? One useful strategy for producing a good physics textbook is to narrow
its scope, which thereby (possibly) limits its readership—but allows for the kind of time and
attention to detail required for student understanding. A recent book, Physics from Planet Earth:
An Introduction to Mechanics, by Amato and Galvez, utilizes this strategy to good effect. The
result is an undergraduate mechanics text that is a pure pleasure to read.
The first thing that stands out about this is book is that it is themed. That is, everything is
presented as part of an over-arching story; namely, that of the Earth and its place in the cosmos.
All of the basic building blocks of introductory mechanics are there: conservation of momentum
and energy, force and Newton’s Laws, circular motion, torque, and so forth. But each building
block is carefully placed into an ongoing narrative, one that is heavy on history and astronomy.
For instance, in Chapter 2, after vectors are introduced, one of the very first worked examples is
a comparison between the Copernican and Ptolemaic world-views. The authors aren’t kidding
around—the geometry here is immediately challenging—but for a student interested in
astronomy, the material is fascinating.
There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach. On the one hand, we found that the
emphasis on history and astronomy made the book more engaging to read, and made the material
more approachable. But this sharper focus might put off some students, whose interests may lie
along other lines. In our own courses, we would be inclined to use this text in a sophomore-level
mechanics course, aimed at students who already have some exposure to elementary mechanics.
In a sense, the title of the book itself is a little misleading: the book is less an “introduction to
mechanics” and more of a “mechanics text for astronomy majors”. But that’s a minor quibble,
and it shouldn’t detract from the book’s many virtues.
Among the best of these virtues are the numerous creative problems found at the end of each
chapter. Most have multiple parts, most are challenging, and many involve astronomy. As just
one example, problem 9.19 has students calculate the Sun’s speed and acceleration relative to the
galactic plane, based on stellar density data. We non-astronomers found problems like this quite
fresh and original.
Another virtue is this book’s emphasis upon conservation laws. In the preface the authors write,
“The three basic conservation laws (momentum, energy, and angular momentum) are introduced
as fundamental laws of nature, from which secondary concepts such as force and torque are
derived.” This is a more modern approach, in which symmetry arguments are fundamental—
they are the starting points for all further investigations.
In summary, we would recommend this book for any introductory undergraduate mechanics
course, with the proviso that there is a heavy emphasis on history and astronomy. Whether that’s
a plus or a minus depends upon your target audience, of course. But the book does remind us—
in the title, particularly—that it is mostly through physics that we have discovered Earth’s place
in the universe.
1
“Textbook Weight in California: Analysis and Recommendations,” CALIFORNIA STATE
BOARD OF EDUCATION, May 2004 [http://www2.cde.ca.gov/be/ag/ag/may04item21.pdf]

Jeffrey Lawson is a professor of mathematics and Matthew Rave is an associate professor of

physics, both at Western Carolina University. Jeffrey’s research interests are in geometric
mechanics and field theories, while Matthew’s include low dimensional solid state systems,
along with quantum interference and decoherence. They have collaborated on problems
involving geometric phase.

Reviewer information:
Jeffrey Lawson and Matthew Rave
Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, North Carolina 28723
jlawson@wcu.edu 828.227.3831
mrave@wcu.edu 828.227.2606