The author, a skilled classroom performer with considerable experience, understands exactly what students want and has given them just that: a textbook that explains the essence of the method briefly and then proceeds to show it in action. ... A new and very helpful element added to the third edition is the insertion of Mathematica (R) software code at the end of each worked example, which shows how the computed solution to a problem can be verified by computer. The distribution of the exercises to each relevant section and subsection instead of having them bunched up together at the end of the chapter is also a welcome development. In my opinion, this is quite simply the best book of its kind that I have seen thus far. The book not only contains solution methods for some very important classes of PDEs, in an easy-to-read format, but is also student-friendly and teacher-friendly at the same time. It is definitely a textbook for adoption.
-From the Foreword by Professor Peter Schiavone, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Praise for the Second Edition:
... an interesting read. ... Some of the worked-out examples cover not only the conventional topics of heat and wave problems but also applications to a wide variety of fields, from stock markets to Brownian motion. ... Each chapter has many problems for practice, with solutions for some of them provided at the very end. The book is well written, concise, has adequate examples and can be used as a textbook for beginners to learn the techniques of PDE solvers.
-MAA Reviews, January 2011
This concise, well-written book, which includes a profusion of worked examples and exercises, serves both as an excellent text in undergraduate and graduate learning and as a useful presentation of solution techniques for researchers and engineers interested in applying partial differential equations to real-life problems.
-Barbara Zubik-Kowal, Boise State University, Idaho, USA
Praise for the First Edition:
The book contains a large number of worked examples and exercises. ... Useful for the ... student who might be interested ... in learning the manipulating skills of solution methods of first- and second-order partial differential equations.
-Zentralblatt MATH, 1042
Winner of a 2002 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award
... an easy-to-read and straight-to-the-point book for all those who want to familiarize themselves with concepts and solution techniques for partial differential equations ... A writing style special to this author is the complete departure from the arid theorem-proof approach to PDEs. Abstract concepts are carefully explained and supported with a wealth of remarks, application-oriented illustrations, and a wonderful collection of problems, a few elementary enough for any beginner. On the whole, the material is very well presented; this is one of the best books on elementary PDEs this reviewer has read so far. Highly recommended.
-CHOICE, October 2002
... successfully addresses a difficult problem of undergraduate teaching: how to make students understand and become adept at using a class of practical tools that are essential in the study of many mathematical models ... clear, concise, and easy to read-places the emphasis on worked examples and exercises ... . Someone who needs a book that goes straight to the point and shows what partial differential equations are and how they can be solved, should find this textbook to be one of the best suited for the purpose.
-Barbara Bertram, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, USA
... an invaluable resource. ... The fact that no computing devices are needed to work through this text is a distinct advantage ... an ideal tool for students taking a first course in PDEs, as well as for the lecturers who teach such courses.
-Marian Aron, Plymouth University, UK
