Description
My goal for the fifth edition was to achieve a balance between the concepts and presentation of materials that appealed to users of previous editions and the substantive changes made to strengthen and modernize the text. I feel I have achieved this balance, thus enabling the text to appeal to an even wider audience. Many of the additions and changes are the result of user and reviewer comments and suggestions. Moreover, these changes were made with the ultimate audience in mind-the students who will be using it. For this reason, solutions of every example have been read with an eye to improving their clarity. In various places I have added either further explanations where I thought they might be helpful or “guidance boxes” at crucial points in the flow of the solution.
NEW FEATURES
Some new features, that I hope students will find both interesting and motivational, have been added to the text. Essays written by mathematicians prominent in their specialty are included after Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 9. Each essay reflects the thoughts, creativity, and opinions of the individual author and is intended to enhance the material found in the preceding chapter. It is my hope that the addition of these essays will spark the interest of the students, encourage them to read mathematics, and help them to gain a realization that differential equations is not simply a dry collection of methods, facts, and formulas, but a vibrant field in which people can, and do, work.
Color inserts also have been added at intervals in the text. These pages consist of illustrations matched with photographs relating to some of the applications found in the text. I feel that these contribute to the visualization of the applications and thereby provide an added insight to students.