Math 246 Texts and Other Resources, Fall 2015

Required Resources

• Matlab Text:
  
  • Differential Equations with MATLAB, Third Edition
    Brian R. Hunt, Ronald L. Lipsman, John E. Osborn, and Jonathan M. Rosenberg
    J. Wiley and Sons, New York, 2012
    Paperback: ISBN 978-1-1183-7680-5 (listed as 52.95$ new paperback, 31.00$ electronic, cheaper used)
    (Check out Amazon and other on-line stores for better prices.)
    Roughly, we will cover Chapters 1-11, 13-15.
    Do not buy a used second edition! Its information about MATLAB is extremely out of date!

  If you like keeping your textbooks then bound books are the way to go.
  

• Matlab Computer Program:
  
  • Students can access Matlab for free at http://eit.umd.edu/vcl
    This service is available through the University site license.
  • Alternatively, students can buy the Matlab Student Version, R2015a is the most recent. .
    The Mathworks Inc., Natick, MA
    ISBN 978-0-9825-8383-8 (I am not sure of the bookstore price.)
    This software is available in most OIT WAM labs, so you do not have to buy it.
    Avoid versions R2008a through R2009b!
    The student verision is all most people need as an undergraduate.
    There is no reason to buy a full Matlab package (or any other piece of software) until you needed it!

Other Resources

• Khan Academy videos on ordinary differential equations.
  These free on-line videos cover many (but not all) of the recipes in the first three quarters of the course.
  The explanations in some videos are much better than others. In some cases the optimal route to the solution is not shown.
  The website for each video has a forum in which you can ask questions. The answer you get may or may not be helpful.

• Paul's On-Line Notes on ordinary differential equations.
  These free on-line notes cover many (but not all) of the topics in our course.
  Some topics are treated better than others. In some cases the optimal route to the solution is not shown.
  For example, he uses direction fields on problems that are easier to do with phase-lines.

• Elementary Differential Equations, Ninth Edition
  William E. Boyce and Richard C. DiPrima
  J. Wiley and Sons, New York, 2009
  Hardcover: ISBN 978-0-470-03940-3

  Alternative: The identical material is in Chapters 1-4, 6-9 of
  Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems, Ninth Edition
  William E. Boyce and Richard C. DiPrima
  J. Wiley and Sons, New York, 2009
  Hardcover: ISBN 978-0-470-38335-3

• Getting Started with MATLAB and Simulink Student Version, by Mathworks
  This is a free on-line set of tutorials.

• Chapter 1 of Numerical Computing with MATLAB, by Cleve Moler
  This is a good general introduction to MATLAB.

• MATLAB: An Introduction with Applications, Fourth Edition, by Amos Gilat
  J. Wiley and Sons, New York, 2011
  

• An Introduction to MATLAB for Engineers, by William J. Palm III
  McGraw-Hill, New York, 2010
  

• Getting Started with MATLAB, A Quick Introduction for Scientists and Engineers, by Rudra Pratap
  Oxford University Press, New York, 2009
  (There may be some differences between the MATLAB described in this book and versions 2009b or later.)

• Essentials of MATLAB Programming, Second Edition, by Stephen J. Chapman
  Cengage Learning, Stamford CT, 2009
  (This book covers more advanced material than is needed for this course.
  This is based on MATLAB 7. I do not know if it is current with version 2009b or later.)

• Department of Mathematics Undergraduate Resources Webpage

• Department of Mathematics Archive of Past Exams

• Tips for Doing Well in Math Classes