Mathematical Modelling

by Ken Houston and John Berry

Published 17 June 1995
Mathematical modelling modules feature in most university undergraduate mathematics courses. As one of the fastest growing areas of the curriculum it represents the current trend in teaching the more complex areas of mathematics. This book introduces mathematical modelling to the new style of undergraduate - those with less prior knowledge, who require more emphasis on application of techniques in the following sections: What is mathematical modelling?; Seeing modelling at work through population growth; Seeing modelling at work through published papers; Modelling in mechanics.

Written in the lively interactive style of the Modular Mathematics Series, this text will encourage the reader to take part in the modelling process.

Since the popularization of chaos theory, great interest has been generated in non-linear dynamical systems. This text presents an introduction to the basic mathematical concepts and techniques needed to describe and analyze these, aimed at students who have taken a first course in calculus. After reviewing the basic ideas of differential equations, matrix algebra and iteration methods, first and second order continuous systems are discussed. Chapter Four investigates discrete systems and the final chapter is a collection of investigations that can be explored as more open ended tasks.