#653 overall
18.03 Differential Equations
edX
1 recommender · 1 thread · recommended in 1 year, 2025 · score 0.7
An edX course from MIT (MITx 18.03) introducing ordinary differential equations, covering standard solution methods and their applications. Commenters describe it as well designed but slow-paced.
Commenters describe it as a very well-designed MIT introduction to differential equations, though one notes it moves slowly.
Mathematicsbeginnerfreevideo lectures#ordinary differential equations#mit#linear systems#applied math
Recommendations by year
20062026
There is a course [0] from MITx that should be right for you. I had started it once, and it was very well-designed. But it was a bit slow-paced for my taste and I did not finish it.
For textbooks, I can recommend you the fantastic book- Non-Linear Dynamics and Chaos by Steven Strogatz. It is fully concerned with chaos theory and applications of DEs.[1]
I recommended these to you since you are looking for "practical" stuff.
A lot of DE courses deal with DEs mechanically, i.e. "here's this method, here are some examples, and this is how you use the method to solve it". I don't really like this approach, and I have never needed them outside college. If you like this, then look no further than Paul's Online Notes [4].
Here is also something you could consider: "Differential Equations: From Calculus to Dynamical Systems: Second Edition by Virginia W. Noonburg" [2] I haven't read it in full, but AMS generally has good taste when it comes to authoring good textbooks.
I also second the suggestion to check out stuff from Steve Brunton. [3]
If you want something practical, you might have a field in mind. So, you could also choose to read a basic course, and then dive into the field itself by looking up "Differential Equations in X books" where X is Physics, Biology, Finance, etc. For the absolute basics, Khan Academy is also good. I also mentioned two in the original post. Riley, Hobson, Bence is better for your needs.
I have recently come across Differential Equations with Applications and Historical Notes By George F. Simmons [5]. It might also float your boat.
I am aware that I have given you too many choices. But learning DEs is a months-long endeavor and I want you to spend at least some hours choosing your textbook/course/hybreed before you start your journey. This is how I chose my books in college. Multiple teachers, seniors would suggest ~10 books on each topic, and I would go to the library and spend two full days skimming through all of them, and choose 1-2 books.
[0]: https://mitxonline.mit.edu/courses/course-v1:MITxT+18.03.1x
[1]: https://www.stevenstrogatz.com/books/nonlinear-dynamics-and-...
[2]: https://bookstore.ams.org/text-43
[3]: https://databookuw.com/
[4]: https://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/classes/de/de.aspx
[5]: https://www.routledge.com/Differential-Equations-with-Applic...