Differential Equations: A Primer for Scientists and Engineers / Edition 2

by Christian Constanda

Overview

This textbook is designed with the needs of today’s student in mind. It is the ideal textbook for a first course in elementary differential equations for future engineers and scientists, including mathematicians. This book is accessible to anyone who has a basic knowledge of precalculus algebra and differential and integral calculus. Its carefully crafted text adopts a concise, simple, no-frills approach to differential equations, which helps students acquire a solid experience in many classical solution techniques. With a lighter accent on the physical interpretation of the results, a more manageable page count than comparable texts, a highly readable style, and over 1000 exercises designed to be solved without a calculating device, this book emphasizes the understanding and practice of essential topics in a succinct yet fully rigorous fashion. Apart from several other enhancements, the second edition contains one new chapter on numerical methods of solution.

The book formally splits the "pure" and "applied" parts of the contents by placing the discussion of selected mathematical models in separate chapters. At the end of most of the 246 worked examples, the author provides the commands in Mathematica® for verifying the results. The book can be used independently by the average student to learn the fundamentals of the subject, while those interested in pursuing more advanced material can regard it as an easily taken first step on the way to the next level. Additionally, practitioners who encounter differential equations in their professional work will find this text to be a convenient source of reference.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783319502236
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	03/15/2017
Series:	Springer Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics and Technology
Edition description:	2nd ed. 2017
Pages:	297
Sales rank:	1,121,824
Product dimensions:	7.01(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Christian Constanda, MS, PhD, DSc, is the holder of the Charles W. Oliphant Endowed Chair in Mathematical Sciences at the University of Tulsa, USA. He is also the Chairman of the International Consortium on Integral Methods in Science and Engineering (IMSE).
Other Springer publications by Christian Constanda: Dude, Can you Count? ISBN: 978-1-84882-538-3; (with D. Doty and W. Hamill) Boundary Integral Equation Methods and Numerical Solutions ISBN: 978-3-319-26307-6; Mathematical Methods for Elastic Plates ISBN: 978-1-4471-6433-3; (with G.R. Thomson) Stationary Oscillations of Elastic Plates, ISBN: 978-0-8176-8340-8.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction.- 2. First Order Equations.- 3. Mathematical Models with First-Order Equations.- 4. Linear Second-Order Equations.- 4. Higher-Order Equations.- 5. Mathematical Models with Second-Order Equations.- 6. Higher-Order Linear Equations.- 7. Systems of Differential Equations.- 8. The Laplace Transformation.- 9. Series Solutions.- 10. Numerical Methods.- A. Algebra Techniques.- B. Calculus Techniques.- C. Table of Laplace Transforms.- D. The Greek Alphabet.- Further Reading.- Answers to Odd-Numbered Exercises.- Index.

Editorial Reviews

From the reviews:

“The author of this book does a does a very creditable job of providing the basic material of ordinary differential equations. … The book is largely aimed at average students in mathematics, science or engineering. The author suggests that stronger students can use the text as a bridge to more specialized books or more advanced courses. … There are many exercises.” (William J. Satzer, MAA Reviews, November, 2013)

“The author writes this book respecting his readers and caring about the way of exposing his ideas. The book is written in a style that uses words as a bonding agent between consecutive mathematical passages, which creates a pleasant and comfortable lecture. … The book contains 232 worked examples and 810 exercises. … We kindly recommend this book to future engineers and scientists as well as to all those interested in the topic, who encounter differential equations in their professional work.” (Alexandru Negrescu, zbMATH, Vol. 1272, 2013)

From the Publisher