Customer Reviews

Schaum's Outline of Partial Differential Equations (Schaum's)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As an engineering student, I found this book very theoretical, which makes it more difficult to read than an actual PDE textbook. Also, unlike other Schaum's series, this book does not have many worked-out examples and does not have solutions for all the problems. It is poorly organized.

This is one of the more poorly written Schaum's outlines I have encountered. The theory is very murky and the author gives no clear direction as to where he is going with this material and what it all means. PDE is a hard enough subject without working a bunch of meaningless problems that leave you wondering what it is you are supposed to have learned. Instead, I suggest you read "Introduction to Partial Differential Equations with Applications" by Zachmanoglou and Thoe in order to understand the mathematical underpinnings of PDE. Then read "Partial Differential Equations for Scientists and Engineers" to get a thorough feel for how PDE is used to solve real-world problems. Both books usually sell used for under $10 each, making them cost-effective alternatives to this Schaum's outline.

Before you even think about opening this book, be sure that you know your Forurier series. The book uses that to solve most of the problems. Also, it is really not for those new to PDE. May be a good text for graduate students, but will confise the non-specialist. Not a good introductory text.

This is a very good introduction to partial
differential equations.It contains the most
common methods in PDE namely: characteristics
method, Fourier method, Green method, finite
difference methods, variational methods and
finite element method. I have used it as a
textbook or suplementary text. It is really
an undergraduate text which provides a wide
introduction to PDE. I have a copy and recommend
it to every person interested in learning PDE.

Unlike other books in the Schaum's series, this one passes wide out of the subject and the reader ends up not knowing what FE is all about. I read the book from cover to cover and still had no idea what all that math had to do with solving problems. Maybe a good summary for the advanced student, but not a text for beginners.

The reader should note that this book should be used only in an intermediate or in an advanced Partial Differential Equations course. This is not for the beginning student! That being said, there are some fine proofs in this text, but there is much useless numerical solutions of PDEs material using old computer languages that I did not find interesting. This book could use revision, but then again most other advanced PDE texts on the market are even worse! This book did help somewhat, but not as much as it could have.

Doesn't correspond well to courses in PDEs if that's what you are looking for. Half the book is on numerical methods. I don't use it.

This is a good book to help clarify some of the methods you study in class. I don't think I would use this book on its own. Some of the topics covered in this book are qualitative behavior of solutions to elliptic and evolution equations, first-order equations, eigenfunction expansions and integral transforms (theories and applications), Green's functions, difference methods for equations (parabolic, hyperbolic, and elliptic), variational formulation of boundary value problems, variational approximation methods, and finite element method.

There are examples that show you how to work a problem, and there are exercises to test your knowledge. Most of the answers are there. This is a helpful supplement, and I would recommend it.

I have over 10 Schaum's outline books, and i like almost all of them. However, this one is an exception.

Classic Schaum's. Very rigorous, to the point, crisp. Excellent worked out examples with excellent number of tough exercises. As a poor student I always relied on Schaums to help me get to concepts quickly and get good practice in solving problems