Notes on Differential Equations By Robert E. Terrell

Description

Students of science and engineering often encounter a gap between their calculus text and the applied mathematical books they need to read soon after. What is that gap? A calculus student might have learned some calculus without learning how to read mathematics. A science major mightbe faced with an applied text which assumes the ability to read a somewhatencyclopedic mathematics and its application. I often find myself teachingstudents who are somewhere between these two states.

These notes are mostly from lectures I have given to bridge that gap, whileteaching the Engineering Mathematics courses at Cornell University. Thenotes could be used for an introductory unified course on ordinary and partialdifferential equations. However, this is not a textbook in the usual sense,and certainly not a reference. The stress is on clarity, not completeness. It is an introduction and an invitation. Most ideas are taught by example.

The notes have been available for many years from my web page.