The book
Classical Mechanics: A professor-student collaboration
A physics textbook written by a professor and six UCL undergraduates, published by the Institute of Physics in 2020, presented at CERN, and now prescribed reading at UCL.
What it is
Classical Mechanics: A professor-student collaboration is an undergraduate textbook on classical mechanics. It was published in 2020 by IOP Publishing (Institute of Physics), under ISBN 978-0-7503-2688-9. The editor is Prof Mario Campanelli, and the co-authors are six UCL students. I, Muhammad Tayyab Shabbir, was one of the six, and I was 20 when the book came out.
How it came about
The book was written between 2018 and 2020, while the six of us were undergraduates at UCL. A professor and six students worked on it together over those two years, and the students typeset the whole book in LaTeX. The result carries the collaboration in its title, because that is what it was: a professor and six undergraduates writing a textbook together.
Presented at CERN
On 4 November 2020 the CERN Library hosted an online presentation of the book, introduced by Tullio Basaglia, then head of the library. The listed speakers were Prof Campanelli and the six student co-authors, including Muhammad Tayyab Shabbir. The event is listed on CERN's Indico system at indico.cern.ch/event/969981, and the recording is on YouTube.
Reviewed in Contemporary Physics
The book was reviewed in Contemporary Physics, Volume 62, Issue 2 (2021). The review is at doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2021.1959648.
Prescribed reading at UCL
UCL adopted the book as the main source for its first-year module PHAS0010. Five of my six co-authors went on to PhDs, one at Oxford.
The textbook we wrote at 20: how a professor and six undergraduates co-wrote a physics textbook that UCL now prescribes. One of four talks I am available to give.
At a glance
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Title
Classical Mechanics: A professor-student collaboration
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Publisher
IOP Publishing (Institute of Physics), 2020
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ISBN
978-0-7503-2688-9
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Authors
Edited by Prof Mario Campanelli, with six UCL students as co-authors, including Muhammad Tayyab Shabbir
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Written
2018 to 2020, typeset in LaTeX by the students
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Presented
CERN Library online presentation, 4 November 2020
indico.cern.ch/event/969981
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Reviewed
Contemporary Physics, Vol 62 No 2 (2021)
DOI 10.1080/00107514.2021.1959648
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Adopted
Main source for UCL's first-year module PHAS0010: prescribed reading at UCL
- Wikidata
Where to find it
Listings and the publisher's page
The book is listed on IOPscience and at Waterstones. Searching either by ISBN 978-0-7503-2688-9 finds it.