A guided tour of mathematical methods for the physical sciences - Roel Snieder

Mathematical methods are essential tools for all physical scientists. This novel textbook provides a comprehensive guided tour of the mathematical knowledge and techniques needed by students in this area. In contrast to more traditional textbooks, all the material is presented in the form of problems. Within these problems the basic mathematical theory and its physical applications are very well integrated. In this way the mathematical insights that the students acquire are driven by their physical insight. Topics that are covered include vector calculus (div, grad, curl, Laplacian), linear algebra, Fourier analysis, scale analysis, Green's functions, normal modes, tensor calculus and perturbation theory. This book can be used by undergraduates or by lower-level graduate students in the physical sciences. It can serve as a stand-alone text, or as a source of problems and examples to complement other textbooks. This guided tour of mathematical techniques is instructive, applied, and even fun.

Roel Snieder currently holds the Keck Foundation Endowed Chair of Basic Exploration Science at the Colorado School of Mines (USA).

'… a splendid book, quite a delight to see mathematical models from a different perspective … treatment is so smooth that it is hard to know at any instant whether one is learning new tools or assimilating the applications to interesting examples … excellent.' Donald de Cogan, International Journal of Numerical Modelling

'… instructive, applied and fun.' David Jefferies, The Times Higher Education Supplement

'This book integrates mathematical theory with a wide range of applications in physics … it could be a stand-alone textbook for an upper-year undergraduate course, but would also provide a good accompaniment to undergraduate maths courses. Teachers may also be more generally interested in this book for its many examples that may serve as useful supplements to physics or geophysics courses … I can highly recommend this book
to students and teachers in the physical sciences.' Mike Kendall, Astronomy & Geophysics

'Guided by Roel Sneider's textbook, learning mathematical methods can be fun … I highly recommend [it].' Francois Primeau, EOS

'The author is to be congratulated for writing such a valuable book … The reviewer strongly recommends this book to a research scholar doing research in any branch of physical sciences.' Zentralblatt fr Mathematik