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Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems , 8th Edition, with ODE Architect CD | 
 enlarge | Authors: William E. Boyce, Richard C. Diprima
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
Buy New: $47.90
New (53) Used (117) from $39.00
Rating:  65 reviews
Sales Rank: 23340
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 8
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 800
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.7
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 7.8 x 1.3
ISBN: 0471433381
Dewey Decimal Number: 515.35
EAN: 9780471433385
Publication Date: April 20, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Like New, Satisfaction 100% Guaranteed, International shipping available.Shipments are sent via post and take 4-14 days for states within US mainland and sent to 7 to 20 days for Puerto Rico and Alaska.
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Product Description
This revision of the market-leading book maintains its classic strengths: contemporary approach, flexible chapter construction, clear exposition, and outstanding problems. Like its predecessors, this revision is written from the viewpoint of the applied mathematician, focusing both on the theory and the practical applications of Differential Equations as they apply to engineering and the sciences. Sound and Accurate Exposition of Theory--special attention is made to methods of solution, analysis, and approximation. Use of technology, illustrations, and problem sets help readers develop an intuitive understanding of the material. Historical footnotes trace development of the discipline and identify outstanding individual contributions.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 60 more reviews...
 Wow. I guess I'm in the Minority! October 28, 2006
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is my favorite ODE book. Ever. But I guess I'm in the minority on this. I owned the 5th edition. My ex owned the 7th edition. Her book was a bit more flashy -- fancy graphics and whatnot were sort of distracting, but all the things that I love about my copy were true (for me) about her copy.
I really like that they approach the subject via a wonderfully balanced viewpoint -- they do a tightrope walk of being rigorous and making the book useful for us physicists, and our cousins, the engineers.
They go through practical theory but leave out the more exotic elements of ODE theory.
I found the examples to be extremely sufficient. Sometimes generous. I can either assume that something awful happened to the 8th edition or that the other reviewers are the type of undergrads who think that a book should have so many examples worked out that if their hw problem isn't worked out for them, the book sucks.
If you really want a zillion examples worked out, I have one word for you: Schaum's. Read it. Love it.
This is a textbook. It presents theory, it gives a few examples, and you're left to practise applying the theory.
I found the text to be very well written. They're not verbose, but they're not terse either. Very nice balance. The explanations and insights are masterfully written.
Where the book really shines is that it's a practical "how to" book. They cram a lot of different techniques into a nice relatively lightweight book.
The section of PDEs is sufficient and appropriate for the intended level of reader.
I love their problem selection. In fact, what I love most about their problems is that they often have "teaching problems". You learn solution techniques through a series of well crafted end of the chapter exercises.
Personally, I think this is the single best undergrad ODE book on the market.
Even better than when I used it in 1967 December 20, 2004
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute it was an esteemed text. I still use it although the more recent editions embrace the changes in learning such as a CD with a computer graphing tool for better visualization.
For brighter students this is the right text.
The best February 5, 2004
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I was long looking for a book on differential equations and I found this one to be the most easy to follow. There are lots of solved problems and interesting exercises. I recommend it to everyone who has had an introductory course in diff. equations, but who'd like to pursue a deeper treatment of the subject.
The best mainstream ODE text September 14, 2003
20 out of 24 found this review helpful
This is the best mainstream book on (ordinary) Diff. Eqns. It is mainly oriented to engineers but a math major could benefit from it as well. Like most books on this subject it emphasizes on solving relatively small classes of Diff. Eqns, namely those that can be solved in closed form and like most of those books avoids, but not completely, the qualitative study of the subject. However, I believe that this is the best compromise of a "recipe book" and a book that really tries to encourage understanding of the subject.
The book suffers from too many examples and pictures. The examples take too much space and have too many details. I can hardly blame the authors for this - they, and the publisher, just want to sell more books, and they have therefore to follow the general trend. You either have to write a book like this, or a real one, like Arnold's book, but that would be a book for a few only. "Proof" in Boyce-DiPrima is a dirty word but so is in any other mainstream text on Diff. Eqns.
It was interesting to me to read most of the negative reviews here. Poor mathematical background makes many readers believe that the exercises are hard, the answers are put in weird form (meaning the reader has problems with middle school algebra), etc. If anything, many of the exercises are too easy. Those, who need Mathematica for solving integrals - you'd better retake your Calculus course. There are very few examples that really require Mathematica and they are mentioned clearly. Really interesting and challenging problems can be found sometimes but authors clearly understand that too many of those would hurt the sale numbers. One reader wrote: "This book makes ODEs and PDEs look much more difficult than they really are. " Well, like many other books, this book does not give you the slightest idea what ODEs and PDEs really are (try John's book as an introduction to PDEs), they are far more intellectually challenging and deep that most students can imagine.
After so many negative comments, why do I still think that this is a good book? Because you cannot beat the system, at least this is not the way, and the math culture of most readers and students is not adequate to appreciate a real book (try Arnold). If you want a book that is still readable by the majority of the undergrad students, then this is the best one. If you want a real one, look elsewhere but do not complain that the author does not show the steps when solving a quadratic equation.
Good Introductory Text August 16, 2000
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
I had taken this class as a Freshman at University of Texas Austin. It provides a very good introduction to the standard methods of solving diff (especially second degree)equations. Also, there is a very good collection of problems at the end of every chapter. Some of the problems are accompanied with hints which turns out to be quite helpful. The discussion on Sturm Loiville is also quite good. I will reccomend this book to anyone who wants to comprehend the standard techniques of solving diff eqns.
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