Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers (Oxford Texts in Applied and Engineering Mathematics) [Hardcover]

Dominic Jordan (Author), Peter Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 11, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0199208247 | ISBN-13: 978-0199208241 | Edition: 4

This is a thoroughly updated and expanded 4th edition of the classic text Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations by Dominic Jordan and Peter Smith. Including numerous worked examples and diagrams, further exercises have been incorporated into the text and answers are provided at the back of the book. Topics include phase plane analysis, nonlinear damping, small parameter expansions and singular perturbations, stability, Liapunov methods, Poincare sequences, homoclinic bifurcation and Liapunov exponents.

Over 500 end-of-chapter problems are also included and as an additional resource fully-worked solutions to these are provided in the accompanying text Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations: Problems and Solutions, (OUP, 2007).

Both texts cover a wide variety of applications while keeping mathematical prequisites to a minimum making these an ideal resource for students and lecturers in engineering, mathematics and the sciences.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`Review from previous edition "...classic book...The book succeeds as an exceptionally well written test fot its intended audience...No doubt one of its strongest features is over 500 problems...throughout the entire book only important physical processes are described... The new edition is greatly enhanced...I strongly recommend that you take a look. The presentation is exquisitely straightforward with numerous physically interesting examples, and it is carefully and well written"' SIAM

About the Author

Prior to his retirement, Dominic Jordan was a professor in the Mathematics Department at Keele University. His research interests include applications of applied mathematics to elasticity, asymptotic theory, wave and diffusion problems, as well as research on the development of applied mathematics in its close association with late 19th century engineering technologies. Peter Smith is a professor in the Mathematics Department of Keele University. He has taught courses in mathematical methods, applied analysis, dynamics, stochastic processes, and nonlinear differential equations, and his research interests include fluid dynamics and applied analysis.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 560 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 4 edition (October 11, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199208247
• ISBN-13: 978-0199208241
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #878,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Unique Resource, April 28, 2009

By 

Glenn E. Spangler "Chemical Physicist" (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers (Oxford Texts in Applied and Engineering Mathematics) (Paperback)

Jordan and Smith have done an excellent job in describing and providing techniques to solve non-linear differential equations. Non-linear ordinary differential equations are stiff and can be solved numerically, but numerical solutions do not provide physical parametric insight. Consequently, it is often necessary to find a closed analytical solution. When faced with this challenge in my personal research, I looked around for books that would help me solve the non-linear forced differential equation that science had presented to me. Even in a good research university library, I could not find any that beat Jordan and Smith's work. I did find summary presentations in the specialized literature of physics, but those works referenced Jordan and Smith for futher details. Together, Jordan and Smith's textbook and sourcbook provide a wealth of practical information for solving non-linear equations along with lots of good examples. I feel fortunate that I found their work and have successfully solved my equations following their advice. Their work even helped me to visualize and interpret my results. I heartily recommend the two books to anyone faced with the need to solve nonlinear ordinary differential equations using techniques (for example, averaging methods, perturbation methods, Fourier expansion methods, liapunov methods, chaos, etc.# that lie beyond those studied in college for solving linear differential equations.Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers #Oxford Texts in Applied and Engineering Mathematics#Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations: Problems and Solutions: A Sourcebook for Scientists and Engineers #Oxford Texts in Applied & Engineering Mathematics)

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars very non-rigorous approach with a sizeable number of typos, February 23, 2006

By 

Stephen Becker - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations: An Introduction to Dynamical Systems (Oxford Applied and Engineering Mathematics) (Paperback)

(I am referring to the paperpack 3rd edition)

The text serves as an ok introduction to nonlinear ODEs. I would not recommend it for any kind of rigorous course, since the approach is very nonrigorous. There are no theorems, and no attempt at analysis, so you must take everything at the author's word. The book is mainly a large collection of examples. The difficulty of the problems depends on how rigorous you want the answers to be, and there are a lot of answers in the appendix (but without any comments about how they were derived).

Personally, the book irritates me, but I can see its usefulness. One of the main causes of irritation was the unusually high number of typos, at the rate of one per page in some chapters (and in the problems and their solutions too). I find this quite significant. This is the third edition, and there is no excuse for so many errors. I have never encountered a published book with this kind of error rate.

I do not have much experience with similar books, so I can't rate this text in context very well. It is similar to, say, Marion and Thornton's Classical Dynamics, except with less physics (of course) and more on difficult nonlinear ODEs, and with more typos.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, March 21, 2010

By 

Guerau B. Cabrera (Morgantown, WV) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations: An Introduction to Dynamical Systems (Oxford Applied and Engineering Mathematics) (Hardcover)

I am taking a Nonlinear Dynamics course in grad school and this is the text book. Although it is very hard for any text book to be absolutely complete (without being extremely large) I think J&S do a good job at covering many aspects. There are several examples for each concept and good explanations. It will earn a place in my shelf of references.