Overview
Given that a college level life science student will take only one additional calculus course after learning its very basics, what material should such a course cover? This book answers that question. It is based on a very successful one-semester course taught at Harvard and aims to teach students in the life sciences understanding the use of differential equations. It is enriched with illustrative examples from real papers. Necessary notions from linear algebra and partial differential equations are introduced as and when needed, and in the context of applications. Drawing on a very successful one-semester course at Harvard, this text aims to teach students in the life sciences how to use differential equations. It is enriched with illustrative examples from real papers. Necessary notions from mathematics are introduced as and when needed, and in the context of applications. Aimed at biologists wishing to understand mathematical modelling rather than just learning math methods.
Synopsis
Aimed at biologists wishing to understand mathematical modelling rather than just learning mathematical methods.
Booknews
Taubes (mathematics, Harvard), including an article from current biology research literature as the source reading for each chapter, has created a hands-on text on using math in the biological sciences designed for students who have had calculus. Initial chapters cover the basics of ordinary differential equations with a single time derivative, focusing on equations with one and two unknowns, and considering phase plane analysis, equilibria, and stability. He then introduces partial differential equations, especially diffusion and advection equations, with additional chapters on traveling wave velocities, periodic solutions, fast and slow, estimating elapsed time, switches, testing for periodicity, and causes of chaos. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)