Abstract

The topic with which I regularly conclude my six-term series of lectures in Munich is the partial differential equations of physics. We do not really deal with mathematical physics, but with physical mathematics; not with the mathematical formulation of physical facts, but with the physical motivation of mathematical methods. The oftmentioned “prestabilized harmony” between what is mathematically interesting and what is physically important is met at each step and lends an esthetic - I should like to say metaphysical -- attraction to our subject.

The problems to be treated belong mainly to the classical matherhatical literature, as shown by their connection with the names of Laplace, Fourier, Green, Gauss, Riemann, and William Thomson. In order to show that these methods are adequate to deal with actual problems, we treat the propagation of radio waves in some detail in Chapter VI.