Differential Equations: A Historical Refresher

TL;DR

This paper provides a historical overview of the development of differential equations, highlighting key milestones, methods, and approaches from Newton to modern techniques.

Contribution

It offers a concise historical account of the evolution of differential equations, emphasizing significant developments and solution methods.

Findings

Historical milestones in differential equations

Development of solution methods for first and second order equations

Introduction to series solutions and qualitative analysis

Abstract

This paper presents a brief account of the important milestones in the historical development of the theory of differential equations. The paper begins with a discussion on the date of birth of differential equations and then touches upon Newton's approach to differential equations. Then the development of the various methods for solving the first order differential equations and the second order linear differential equations are discussed. The paper concludes with a brief mention of the series solutions of differential equations and the qualitative study of differential equations.