  This paper uses elementary techniques drawn from renormalization theory to
derive the Lorentz-Dirac equation for the relativistic classical electron from
the Maxwell-Lorentz equations for a classical charged particle coupled to the
electromagnetic field. I show that the resulting effective theory, valid for
electron motions that change over distances large compared to the classical
electron radius, reduces naturally to the Landau-Lifshitz equation. No
familiarity with renormalization or quantum field theory is assumed.
