5 ms·

Is Hubbard & Hubbard an engineering-type text? I was under the impression that it's very rigorous. It was even used as a textbook at Harvard Math 55.

• jpfr 12y ago
  As a mathematics textbook it of course provides rigorous proofs. But it doesn't neglect to develop intuitive insight (that can be less rigorous yet still very effective). Here's a quote given in chapter two. That's some motivation to develop more mathematical maturity as an engineer! In 1985, John Hubbard was asked to testify before the Committee on Science and Technology of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was preceded by a chemist from DuPont, who spoke of modeling molecules, and by an official from the geophysics institute of California, who spoke of exploring for oil and attempting to predict tsunamis. When it was his turn, he explained that when chemists model molecules, they are solving Schrödinger’s equation, that exploring for oil requires solving the Gelfand-Levitan equation, and that predicting tsunamis means solving the Navier-Stokes equation. Astounded, the chairman of the committee interrupted him and turned to the previous speakers. “Is that true, what Professor Hubbard says?” he demanded. “Is it true that what you do is _solve equations_?”