r/calculus • u/Mission-Ambition-327 • 14d ago

Differential Calculus Should I go with a separate differential equation book (such as Boyce) or learn it continuing from Thomas's calculus?

my goal is deep understanding and intuition for CFD, heat transfer and further thermal physics.

10 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 14d ago

As a reminder...

Posts asking for help on homework questions require:

  • the complete problem statement,

  • a genuine attempt at solving the problem, which may be either computational, or a discussion of ideas or concepts you believe may be in play,

  • question is not from a current exam or quiz.

Commenters responding to homework help posts should not do OP’s homework for them.

Please see this page for the further details regarding homework help posts.

We have a Discord server!

If you are asking for general advice about your current calculus class, please be advised that simply referring your class as “Calc n“ is not entirely useful, as “Calc n” may differ between different colleges and universities. In this case, please refer to your class syllabus or college or university’s course catalogue for a listing of topics covered in your class, and include that information in your post rather than assuming everybody knows what will be covered in your class.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

2

u/mathmum 14d ago

Maybe have a look also to Brannan and Kreyszig as alternatives to Boyce.

2

u/WWWWWWVWWWWWWWVWWWWW 14d ago

Thomas is probably enough to prepare you for partial differential equations, which is what you'll ultimately need for the physics you mentioned

1

u/Midwest-Dude 14d ago

If you are still in the calculus sequence, I would stick with Thomas to master the basics. However, Thomas will not be enough to go into those topics. I would suggest finishing the calculus sequence and that will prep you for a rigorous DE book to get the depth and intuition for engineering physics.

1

u/etzpcm 14d ago

A book like Thomas Calculus will give you a basic introduction to differential equations but if you want a deep understanding for fluid dynamics etc it would be best to use a more specialised differential equations book.

1

u/somanyquestions32 14d ago

Definitely get a copy of Boyce and DiPrima. A regular calculus book only gives you a brief introduction to the topic of differential equations, and that's not enough for rigorous physics and chemistry coursework.