Many quantities of practical interest in continuum mechanics, environmental mechanics and population ecology, are commonly represented as smooth functions of space and time that are governed by nonlinear partial differential equations. Such equations arise also in differential geometry of smooth manifolds. Some understanding of nonlinear partial differential equations is considered to be essential for any further development of applicable analysis or continuum geometry, with impacts on many other branches of mathematics, physics, chemistry, finance and biology. Topics covered include (i) local formulation of conservation laws, (ii) classical and weak solutions of hyperbolic, parabolic and elliptic equations, (iii) method of characteristics (iv) viscosity solutions of Burgers' equation, (v) reversible and irreversible processes, (vi) integrable nonlinear diffusion equations, (vii) curvature-driven flows, (viii) reaction-diffusion equations and (ix) solitons.
