Time:  Tu-Th  11:00-12:15

Text:  Please note:  I am considering changing the text.  Please do not buy it yet. Taubes: Modeling Differential Equations in Biology (Prentice-Hall)

Prerequisites:  Calculus and  interest and knowledge in some area of  science

Topics:  The course covers basic material on systems of ordinary differential equations . Applications are emphasized . Some material on side topics such as logarithms and exponentials, discrete iterative models, matrices and partial differential equations is included.

 Some of the applications discussed in past years:

• competing species
• HIV virus
• Preditor-prey models
• epidemics
• iceflow in the Greenland icecap
• the ozone layer
• restoration ecology
• enzyme kinetics
• Hodgekin-Huxley equations
  
• parasites
  
   

Part of the grade is based on class presentations and projects (which may be done in groups). In class work sheets will be used to practice the details of calculation.  Students will learn to use simple software programs to graph functions and to solve differential equations. There will be a TA in addition to the professor.

 
Frequently asked questions:

$$I am a math major.  Can I take the course?  Yes, but you should be interested in science, or you will find it difficult and boring.  If you have taken both linear algebra and differential equations, you will find the mathematical content pretty straightforward.  I would not advise taking the course if you have had math 346 (applied linear algebra).

$$Can I get credit for math 375 and math 427K?  Yes.  There is a very small overlap of material, but it is not significant unless you took math 427K from me last spring.

$$Can I use math 375 as a replacement for math 427K?  Yes, at least  if you are a math major.

$$Is the computer work very time consuming? The computer work is kept down to one assignment every other week. However it is important in science today to use computers, so we do this. 

$$I am interested in **** (pharmacology, geology,  water quality etc. etc.)  Do we cover this in the course? Not necessarily, but you are expected to do a project, and you can do a project on whatever you are interested in.  I have better references on some topics than others. Your science professor may help with other suggestions.

$$Will the course be taught again next spring (fall)? Professor Davis will teach the course next in the Spring of 2007.

 $$Will the course help me get into graduate school in my science?   As
far as we can tell, the students who took the course in past years did well in their applications to graduate school.

$$I plan to be a high school teacher.  Will this course be useful? Yes, the course would be very useful, but you have to know both math and science.  It might turn out to be difficult.