This book is intended for undergraduate students who are majoring in physics (or other

physical sciences), applied mathematics, or engineering. The goal of the book is to provide

the essential mathematical physics background needed for the study of analytic mechanics

and mechanical wave motion, heat and thermodynamics, electromagnet ism, modern

physics, and quantum mechanics. In addition, it is intended to provide the necessary background

for advanced work in these areas. Numerous examples and illustrations are given

throughout each chapter, and problems are included at the end of each chapter. Certain

problems are used to introduce new material in a self-contained manner.

Throughout the book, the level of presentation is fairly uniform (with the possible exception

of certain sections of chapters 2 and 12), and the included material should be readily

accessible to undergraduate students who have a working knowledge of general physics and

of differential and integral calculus. The desire to maintain a uniform level of presentation

was used as a guide for the selection of topics to include (and exclude).

The material on essentials of vector spaces, essential algebraic structures, and exterior

differential forms is invaluable for the study of physics today; the inclusion and presentation

of this material at the undergraduate level are among the distinguishing features of this

book.