R.M. Murray has a story. Quite a few of them. Of seasickness, hangovers, the wrong kind of weather. Of the joy of woe, and disappointments fairy-lit with hope. From fishing in the endless rain on the Isle of Lewis to performing in a band with Peter Capaldi and Craig Ferguson at Glasgow School of Art. A stargazer, looking through the wrong end of the telescope. This is a memoir... of sorts. A join-the-dots journey through a life. A series of vignettes and minor personal fables, sardonic and self-deprecating. If it were a wine it would be very dry with an insolent nose and a desperate finish. Complex but approachable. And affordable.

This book explores connections between control theory and geometric mechanics. The author links control theory with a geometric view of classical mechanics in both its Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations, and in particular with the theory of mechanical systems subject to motion constraints. The synthesis is appropriate as there is a rich connection between mechanics and nonlinear control theory. The book provides a unified treatment of nonlinear control theory and constrained mechanical systems that incorporates material not available in other recent texts. The book benefits graduate students and researchers in the area who want to enhance their understanding and enhance their techniques.