Smith M.G. Introduction to the Theory of Partial Differential Equations

D. Van Nostrand Company , 1967. — 226 p.
Too frequently, undergraduates taking courses for an honours degree in mathelnatics first encounter partial differential equations in the mathematical physics part of their curricula, when solutions to the elementary problems that occur are conjured ad hoc from nowhere, as if by magic. Thus I have found undergraduates quite surprised to learn that a systematic approach might be possible. I suspect that students of physics and theoretical chemistry or engineering are treated in much the same way, although in all probability the problems which are considered will beof greater physical interest than those the budding mathematician is presented with. I have therefore attempted to produce an introduction to the theory of partial differential equations, which I hope is systematic. It should be suitable for the final year of an honours Inathematics course, or for a course for an M.Sc. by examination, which is now becoming cominon in British llniversities. I also hope that it could be of profit to scientists of other faculties whose interests are theoretical. I have therefore assumed that the reader has some previous knowledge of the theory of ordinary differential equations, of some complex analysis, and is familiar with the more commonly occurring functions of mathematical physics. I have not assumed that h.e is aware of the more recondite properties of these functions.
M.G. Smith