Partial Differential Equations for Scientists and Engineers (Dover Books on Mathematics)

I teach an intro course in PDE regularly and, although I don't use this as the main textbook, it is required reading for the course. Given its approach, its mathematical rigor is not quite right for the course that I teach, and it could use more interesting exercises. That said, it is indispensable for its physical and visual insights. It's brief and to-the-point and a cursory reading gives a wonderful introduction to the various topics and ideas of PDEs. The book is well written, and the informal writing matches the approach. And - the price is right!

As the title implies, this book is not intended to mathematicians, although it could finely serve as additional text for them, too. On the other hand it is excellent as an itroductory overview of the types of PDE's met and the methods used for their solution. There are references to more advanced texts for the interested, excercises in each chapter and, most importantly, nice, qualitative remarks on the properties of mathematical tools (like Fourier and Laplace transform) which help the reader to comprehend them.

Partial differential equations can be obscure, and are often not dealt with at all at the undergraduate level. Assuming only a reasonable familiarity with calculus and ordinary differential equations, this book is extraordinarily clear and even enjoyable. Divided into neat, digestible segments suitable for self-study, I found it a very useful introduction to PDE's, covering a very broad range of topics and examples. My only suggestion for improvement would be a more up-to-date review of numeric methods using a computer algebra system. Nonetheless, even this section (examples intended to be worked by hand) is very clear and makes alternate texts much easier to absorb. I would recommend it to anyone wishing to be more comfortable with PDEs.

We all had to go through the drudgery of PDE's in undergraduate courses and except if you're a math major your knowledge of the methods of solution will probably stop at separation of variables, Laplace transform and D'Alembert. This book is an excellent review of a host of methods for solution but what is more important is the physical interpretation of the PDE's the author insists on. Most of the physical examples are drawn from the fields of heat and mechanics but they can be easily applied to electromagnetic and semiconductor charge transport problems. Every aspiring senior in an engineering discipline should study this book for his own good.