You are here

A First Course in Differential Equations: With Modeling Applications

Dennis G. Zill
Publisher: 
Brooks/Cole
Publication Date: 
2013
Number of Pages: 
464
Format: 
Hardcover
Edition: 
10
Price: 
196.50
ISBN: 
9781111827052
Category: 
Textbook
[Reviewed by
Fernando Q. Gouvêa
, on
04/10/2013
]

See our review of the 7th edition of Differential Equations with Boundary Value Problems, by Zill and Cullen. This version omits six of the sixteen chapters of the longer book, making it more suitable for a one-semester undergraduate course. The six chapters not included here deal with autonomous plane systems, stability, Fourier analysis, and PDEs, which makes for a curious dilemma: I would definitely want to deal with autonomous systems and stability in a first ODEs course, but would not normally want the latter chapters. I guess that's why they invented custom editions!

1. INTRODUCTION TO DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS.
Definitions and Terminology. Initial-Value Problems. Differential Equations as Mathematical Models. Chapter 1 in Review.
2. FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS.
Solution Curves Without a Solution. Separable Variables. Linear Equations. Exact Equations and Integrating Factors. Solutions by Substitutions. A Numerical Method. Chapter 2 in Review.
3. MODELING WITH FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS.
Linear Models. Nonlinear Models. Modeling with Systems of First-Order Differential Equations. Chapter 3 in Review.
4. HIGHER-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS.
Preliminary Theory-Linear Equations. Reduction of Order. Homogeneous Linear Equations with Constant Coefficients. Undetermined Coefficients-Superposition Approach. Undetermined Coefficients-Annihilator Approach. Variation of Parameters. Cauchy-Euler Equation. Solving Systems of Linear Differential Equations by Elimination. Nonlinear Differential Equations. Chapter 4 in Review.
5. MODELING WITH HIGHER-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS.
Linear Models: Initial-Value Problems. Linear Models: Boundary-Value Problems. Nonlinear Models. Chapter 5 in Review.
6. SERIES SOLUTIONS OF LINEAR EQUATIONS.
Review of Power Series Solutions About Ordinary Points. Solutions About Singular Points. Special Functions. Chapter 6 in Review.
7. LAPLACE TRANSFORM.
Definition of the Laplace Transform. Inverse Transform and Transforms of Derivatives. Operational Properties I. Operational Properties II. Dirac Delta Function. Systems of Linear Differential Equations. Chapter 7 in Review.
8. SYSTEMS OF LINEAR FIRST-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS.
Preliminary Theory. Homogeneous Linear Systems. Nonhomogeneous Linear Systems. Matrix Exponential. Chapter 8 in Review.
9. NUMERICAL SOLUTIONS OF ORDINARY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS.
Euler Methods. Runge-Kutta Methods. Multistep Methods. Higher-Order Equations and Systems. Second-Order Boundary-Value Problems. Chapter 9 in Review.
Appendix I: Gamma Function.
Appendix II: Matrices.
Appendix III: Laplace Transforms.
Answers for Selected Odd-Numbered Problems.