The first six chapters comprise a textbook for a basic course in system dynamics, primarily for juniors in mechanical engineering and related fields, though some of the problems are sophisticated enough for graduate students who have not been exposed to Brown's (Lehigh U.) unifying methodology. Indeed, he explains how the material can be arranged and selected to suit a number of courses. He organizes the text around the behavior of physical systems rather than around linear mathematics, believing that modeling is the inherently pivotal and difficult element in analyzing real physical systems.