First edition of the work which laid the foundations of modern mechanics. This book contains the discovery of the general equations of motions of any system of bodies.

"Lagrange proposed to reduce the theory of mechanics and the art of solving problems in that field to general formulas, the mere development of which would yield all the equations necessary for the solution of every problem …

"The [book] united and presented from a single point of view the various principles of mechanics, demonstrated their connection and mutual dependence, and made it possible to judge their validity and scope. It is divided into two parts, statics and dynamics, each of which treats solid bodies and fluids separately. There are no diagrams. The methods presented require only analytic operations su...[ Read more ]

First edition of the work which laid the foundations of modern mechanics. This book contains the discovery of the general equations of motions of any system of bodies.

"Lagrange proposed to reduce the theory of mechanics and the art of solving problems in that field to general formulas, the mere development of which would yield all the equations necessary for the solution of every problem …

"The [book] united and presented from a single point of view the various principles of mechanics, demonstrated their connection and mutual dependence, and made it possible to judge their validity and scope. It is divided into two parts, statics and dynamics, each of which treats solid bodies and fluids separately. There are no diagrams. The methods presented require only analytic operations subordinated to a regular and uniform development. Each of the four sections begins with a historical account which is a model of the kind." --Dictionary of Scientific Biography, VII, p.569-70.

"Perhaps the most beautiful mathematical treatise in existence." --Evans, First Editions of Epochal Achievements in the History of Science (1934), 10.