Diff. eq. is a difficult topic. Not only you need to have a good understanding of a lot of other mathematic topics (derivatives, integrals etc) to properly understand it since it builds upon those but you also need somebody to guide you on how to think when solving such problems (i.e you'll need to solve diff. eq. together with your teacher).
Yeah - I never studied differential equations in college; I sort of know what they are, and that there's a famous problem that involves a snow-plow plowing a field while it's still snowing, but that's about it. I've always been curious, though, so I clicked through the link. Per the introduction, I jumped ahead to the "what do you need to know from calculus" appendix just to see how much I did remember. Derivatives, integrals, ok, sure I remember that. Trigonometric functions? Um, yeah, I think I remember that - adjacent over hypotenuse, tangent, theta, sounds familiar. Half-angle, double-angle... getting rustier, but I think I remember that stuff. Hyperbolic functions? Oh, boy... yeah, something to do with the way power lines hang. I remember remembering that once. Integration by parts? Oh, man, I don't know if I ever learned that. Geometric series? Power series? Binomial expansion? I read about those in TAOCP, but if I ever studied those in class, it went in one ear and out the other. And that's what I need to know to start reading... maybe I do need a teacher.
