but, in my experience, students are significantly motivated by the first-hand
encounter with some of the strange, amazing, and counter-intuitive phenomena
which the world of nonlinear dynamics is so abundant of.
Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
December 2020
Jon Juel Thomsen
Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to a great number of students, too many
too mention by name, who are probably unaware of how much they have
influenced the book. For the first edition—whose manuscript was written along
with designing and giving the associated course in vibrations and stability—it was a
challenging privilege to write for a specific group of critical, highly responsive, and
diligent error-reporting students, rather than for a general, anonymous readership. Since then substantial heaps of paper slips and digital notes accumulated,
listing comments and suggestions for improvements—most of them from students,
or directly from classroom experience. It is with great relief and gratitude to these
students that I now again discard such a pile, in the belief that the new edition of the
book takes proper care of most of the comments. Also, I am thankful to colleagues,
reviewers, and other readers around the world for fruitful discussions, useful
comments, and suggestions for improvements. As for the two first editions of the
book, special thanks go to Ilya I. Blekhman, Sergey Sorokin, Matthew P. Cartmell,
and J. M. Hale. I am grateful to the professors, Ph.D. students, master students, and
technical staff at MEK/Solid Mechanics at The Technical University of Denmark
for providing a stimulating and obliging working environment. Special thanks here
goes to Viggo Tvergaard, who initially suggested bringing the manuscript to a
broader audience; Frithiof Niordson, who let me use his personal lecture notes as
inspiration for Chap. 2; Jarl Jensen, who supplied the complete set of problems for
Chap. 2; Pauli Pedersen, head of department during the first many years of the
books life, for his steady support and encouragement over many years and projects;
and last but definitely not the least to the other members of the 1990s-‘Fast
Vibration Club’ (Alexander Fidlin, Morten H. Hansen, Jakob S. Jensen, and
Dmitri M. Tcherniak), whom I owe more than can be listed in acceptable space. To
finish, I need to thank my nearest and dearest, whose steady flow of encouragement, care, and interest (though not in vibrations) remains a fundamental source of
energy and inspiration for me.
Preface
ix
encounter with some of the strange, amazing, and counter-intuitive phenomena
which the world of nonlinear dynamics is so abundant of.
Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
December 2020
Jon Juel Thomsen
Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to a great number of students, too many
too mention by name, who are probably unaware of how much they have
influenced the book. For the first edition—whose manuscript was written along
with designing and giving the associated course in vibrations and stability—it was a
challenging privilege to write for a specific group of critical, highly responsive, and
diligent error-reporting students, rather than for a general, anonymous readership. Since then substantial heaps of paper slips and digital notes accumulated,
listing comments and suggestions for improvements—most of them from students,
or directly from classroom experience. It is with great relief and gratitude to these
students that I now again discard such a pile, in the belief that the new edition of the
book takes proper care of most of the comments. Also, I am thankful to colleagues,
reviewers, and other readers around the world for fruitful discussions, useful
comments, and suggestions for improvements. As for the two first editions of the
book, special thanks go to Ilya I. Blekhman, Sergey Sorokin, Matthew P. Cartmell,
and J. M. Hale. I am grateful to the professors, Ph.D. students, master students, and
technical staff at MEK/Solid Mechanics at The Technical University of Denmark
for providing a stimulating and obliging working environment. Special thanks here
goes to Viggo Tvergaard, who initially suggested bringing the manuscript to a
broader audience; Frithiof Niordson, who let me use his personal lecture notes as
inspiration for Chap. 2; Jarl Jensen, who supplied the complete set of problems for
Chap. 2; Pauli Pedersen, head of department during the first many years of the
books life, for his steady support and encouragement over many years and projects;
and last but definitely not the least to the other members of the 1990s-‘Fast
Vibration Club’ (Alexander Fidlin, Morten H. Hansen, Jakob S. Jensen, and
Dmitri M. Tcherniak), whom I owe more than can be listed in acceptable space. To
finish, I need to thank my nearest and dearest, whose steady flow of encouragement, care, and interest (though not in vibrations) remains a fundamental source of
energy and inspiration for me.
Preface
ix