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Introduction: Friction as a Fundamental
Force of Nature in the History of Mechanics
One of the objectives of this work is to present the principles of friction as a
fundamental force of nature in a rigorous and deductive manner. As a rst
step toward this purpose, in this chapter we will review the logical founda-
tions of mechanics in general. Therefore, this chapter is different from the
rest of the book in the sense that it discusses many historical, methodologi-
cal, and even philosophical problems of mechanics. However, we believe that
without understanding these logical and historical foundations, it is impos-
sible to understand proper ...