The following books have been added to the bibliography page. They both pertain to orbital mechanics. Prussing & Conway is my mainstay today, but I cut my teeth on the other, which has the advantage of being a Dover paperback. I still find both to be valuable.
Bate, Roger P., Mueller, Donald D., White, Jerry E.; Fundamentals of Astrodynamics. Dover, 1971.
ISBN 0 486 60061 0
[orbital mechanics,15 May 2008]
This is where I first played with orbital mechanics. It was good for mucking about with the parameters of an elliptical orbit. It has some fun examples.
Prussing, John E. and Conway, Bruce A. Orbital Mechanics Oxford University 1993.
ISBN 0 19 507834 9.
[orbital mechanics, 15 May 2008]
This is where i learned to send Mariner 4 to Mars, and the Voyagers to Jupiter. My simulations weren’t fancy, but they were good.