Boundary Value Problems by David L. Powers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been teaching undergraduate Partial Differential Equations for 31 years. I have tried various textbooks, including classics such as, for example, Brown and Churchill, and other well-known texts, for instance, by Colton, Jeffrey, Pinsky, Duchateu and Zachman, and others. After each such experiment I come back to David L. Powers. It is a perfect undergraduate text on boundary value problems, Fourier methods, and partial differential equations. The level is just right - not too difficult yet not too trivial. The selection of problems is great, with varying level of difficulty. The author's writing is clear and understandable even by medium-level undergraduates.

I have just reread the textbook in preparation for my spring course, so I am listing the date of finishing as December 20, 2014, although the first time I read this book was in 1989.

Of course, the text would be too low level for a graduate course, but it provides a wonderfully clear introduction to Fourier methods. Highly recommended!

Five stars in its particular niche.

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