An Introduction to Ordinary Differential Equations

by Earl A. Coddington

Book Overview

"Written in an admirably cleancut and economical style." -- Mathematical Reviews.
This concise text offers undergraduates in mathematics and science a thorough and systematic first course in elementary differential equations. Presuming a knowledge of basic calculus, the book first reviews the mathematical essentials required to master the materials to be presented.
The next four chapters take up linear equations, those of the first...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486659429
• ISBN13: 9780486659428
• Release Date: March 1989
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

excellent book

I think this is one of the best books on the subject. If you really want to understand differential equations then you have to read an analysis book like this. The numerical recipes/methods books will teach you only how to program the computer to solve the the equations. This one will teach you WHY it works.

A great Introduction or review.

I took an undergraduate ordinary differential equations class and felt I grasped the subject quite well. I wanted an inexpensive text that I could review the subject with and I decided that I would give Coddington's book a try. I was really pleased with the order in which the text was presented which differed from the course I had taken. The author's seem to put things in a very logical order versus some texts I have seen which really confuse you by the order in which the subjects are presented. Another point that I have to make is the depth that the book has. I learned much more in reviewing this text than I ever did in any diff eq class. It shows the distinction between linear and non-linear diff eq's and covered many other methods which I had not learned previously. This is a great text as a "refresher" or as a course text. I just wish I would have previously used this text to learn ordinary differential equations.

Holy Bible for Introduction to differential equations UG

This book is a holy bible for introduction to differential equations. It is easy to understand and the problems are quite challenging. Dr Coddington knows how to explain the material by systematically order(Easy to tough). His book is not easy to figure out if you just sit without paper,pen and think. But once you are understand his book, no one can teach you differential equations for undergarduate level. Other suggested reading are Theory of ordinary differential equations, Linear ordinary differential equations by Earl Coddington(Both of them), Ordinary Differential Equations by Fritz John,and Ordinary Differential Equations by Edward L Ince. Once the most important statement is: YOU KNOW DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS IF YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON IN CODDINGTON'S AND FRITZ JOHN BOOKS.

One of the Better ODE Texts

This book was used in my "Introduction to Ordinary Differential Equations" class when I was a senior at Louisiana State. I found it to be one of the better texts in differential equations that I have come across. The first chapter is mainly the prerequisite calculus, then the next chapter jumps into first order equations. Then unlike most other books, he jumps straight into second order problems. the biggest plus in the book is the ready use of complex analysis throughout, something which most books avoid altogether, thus allowing the student to get only a partial understanding of the theory needed to solve more advanced problems. Answers are included at the back of the book, problems are clear and well-explained, and there are enough advanced topics covered later in the book (including celestial mechanics) to keep the course interesting for students of all kinds.