Product Description

DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS WITH BOUNDARY-VALUE PROBLEMS, 7th Edition strikes a balance between the analytical, qualitative, and quantitative approaches to the study of differential equations. This proven and accessible text speaks to beginning engineering and math students through a wealth of pedagogical aids, including an abundance of examples, explanations, "Remarks" boxes, definitions, and group projects. Using a straightforward, readable, and helpful style, this book provides a thorough treatment of boundary-value problems and partial differential equations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #256271 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 640 pages

Review
"Zill and Cullen is exceptionally well laid-out, making it easy for students to follow, with good examples, summaries, and straightforward exposition. Definitions, theorems, proofs, etc, are also clearly stated. Important results are nicely highlighted. Excellent review exercises are provided, with fill-in the blank and t/f type questions, as well as problems."



"The exercises are a strength, with graded level of difficulty, with a few challenging problems for more capable students. Skill and concepts are well balanced in the exercises, and there are sufficient numbers of each; there are appropriate applications, both classic and modern. There are new problems employing CAS as well as lab exercise. These are a real plus."

"I consider Zill’s book to be extremely well written overall with an excellent and wide ranging selection of problems."



"Overall, I am impressed with the quality of the writing, the examples and the exercises in both the early and the late chapters and find it appropriate for both weak and strong students."

About the Author
Dennis G. Zill is professor of mathematics at Loyola Marymount University. His interests are in applied mathematics, special functions, and integral transforms. Dr. Zill received his Ph.D. in applied mathematics and his M.S. from Iowa State University in 1967 and 1964, respectively. He received his B.A. from St. Mary's, Winona, MN, in 1962. Dr. Zill also is former chair of the Mathematics Department at Loyola Marymount University. He is the author or co-author of 13 mathematics texts.

Professor Michael Cullen, late of Loyola Marymount University, was awarded the President's Fritz B. Burns Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship in 1999. Dr. Cullen received his Ph.D. in complex variables from the University of Iowa in 1968. He received his M.S. from the University of Iowa in 1967 and his B.S. from Loyola University of Los Angeles in 1965. His interest was in biomathematics. Dr. Cullen also authored two texts in mathematics: MATHEMATICS FOR THE BIOSCIENCES and LINEAR MODELS IN BIOLOGY.

Customer Reviews

An excellent paperweight
I am a graduate student in mathematics so I've been through my share of textbooks. To this day, I have not found one quite as inconsistent as this one. Some sections are flawless; the author is elegant in his explanation, the examples are clear and relevant, and the problems serve their purpose. However, the poorly written sections (and trust me, there are plenty of them) far outweigh what little beauty lies in this textbook. Anyone who wishes to meticulously plow through this book will know what I'm talking about. The most depressing thing about it all is that I can't seem to find a book (on DE's) that's any better! So to you mathematicians out there: write a decent book on Differential Equations; you might become a millionaire. However, as mentioned earlier, this book will weigh down anything, even in the strong winds of Lubbock.

Classic Old Text
This is a book from the old school of ODE's. The absolute focus of this book is analytical methods and beats the algebra and integration drum to the exclusion of anything else. If you want to learn how ODE's were solved 25 years ago then this book is for you. If you are looking for a book that deals with more modern theory, or handles modeling in a constructive manner then this book is NOT a good choice.

excellent text for self-learners and non-freaks
Right after high school, I enrolled in a d.e. course at the local junior college (ok, I was a masochist). We used the Zill text, although not the boundary value problem edition. Needless to say, that book was a godsend b/c the instructor was horrible, so after awhile, I only showed up for class for exams, and self-studied on my own from that book. I recall that the book was fun and easy to understand.

Why is it good? It explains things in clear language. The proofs are laid out clearly. There are lots of example problems with solutions. This was critical in the portion of the book where he explains how to solve d.e.'s with variable coefficients. The book makes differential equations look interesting, which is important to capture readers. Zill also has a calc book, and mygoodness, that book was sort of repulsive b/c of the 70's style printing and the nasty brown colors. Looks are always a big thing, back then and now.

I'm not sure how applicable this text is for hard-core math majors, but definitely, if you are in engineering and don't require any weird esoteric understanding of the proofs that math people might need, this is text worth referring to. I can't comment on the BVP, though... However, it helped me to earn an A+ at Cal that first semester as a freshman, so he must be doing something right.