Customer Reviews

Getting Started with MATLAB 5, A Quick Introduction for Scientists and Engineers

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

We all know the awesome power of Matlab, and if this powerintimidates you and you have never used Matlab (or Gauss, for thatmatter) before, you will get a taste of what Matlab is like and how it works in this book, which is written specifically for beginners.

But frankly, you'd get just as much -- and more -- information from the Matlab User's Guide, which comes ()with the software.() It unfortunately does not go beyond the most basic functions of Matlab, and at the end you will still be left wondering what Matlab really can do -- and what it can do *for you*.

Case in point: the discussion on functions (something that always intimidates me when I learn a new language/package) starts out easy, and suddenly becomes confusing, leaving the reader yearning for more information and more examples. The lack of good examples is another problem with this slim ()volume.

A good introductory book should be like DiIorio's "SAS Applications Programming": easy enough to NOT intimidate the beginner, yet deep and comprehensive enough to enable the reader to get real work done -- and to encourage the reader to learn more advanced topics. (After all, we use stats software like Matlab to get real work done, not just to impress our girlfriends.) While this book may seem "friendly" at the start, its total lack of depth unfortunately can make one feel even more intimidated about Matlab.

This is the best introduction to MATLAB that I have found. It is better other starter books of twice the number of pages. The treatment of the graphic power of MATLAB is covered well beyong the simple XY graphs. Dr. Etter's books on MATLAB are the best pure introduction to MATLAB especially for the undergraduate mechanical/electrical engineering students. Dr. Pratap's book unlike Etter's book is not primarily concerned with engineering applications. For the engineer confortable in their own discipline, this is the best starter book. The access to the integration algorithms and how to write the associated function files is covered better and more suscintly than any other book I have seen introductory or otherwise. Highly recommend for any academic or professional setting where MATLAB is the weapon of choice.

I found the text to be very informative. The index was exceedingly useful. As a student who was thrusted into learning Matlab without any formal instruction, I found this text to be a "grade-saver." This text has excellent figures. An explanation next to various lines in the sample programs was an exceptional feature. I recommend this text to any student or Novice who, on short notice, must have a working knowledge of Matlab.

If you're in the mood to completely waste $25, go ahead and buy this book. There's free online documentation and help files that blow this book out of the water; search for help elsewhere if you want to have any idea how to use Matlab.

Although this book didn't cover many of advanced usages,it is very good for beginners.It is well organized and thin,so I caught up quickly and worked out my assignments by it. I recommend it to the beginners and who wants to learn MATLAB within a short period.

I am biased. I know this book and the author well. But! I have seen literally hundreds of students at Cornell get started with Matlab with relatively little pain using this book. It starts with simple tutorials. Four hours with these and you can actually do useful things in Matlab. The later material is a good intro and a good reference. The book is not made for a Matlab course but for a person who wants/needs to use Matlab for their work or courses. This is a book that can wean some students of their calculators and begin using a much more powerful tool. It is a book that can coax some who use Fortran, Basic, or C++ into using an equally powerful but easier to use tool.

Well, I like this book, and refer to it often. It is concise, and written in a friendly way. There are some errors in it, but they are easy enough to spot. To me, this is an excellent book for the beginner to start with. Lightweight, yet gives a broad taste of MatLab's capabilities.

I really liked this book, and I am NOT a beginnerin Matlab. I learnt Matlab somewhat haphazardly, starting with version 3.0 years ago. Recently I had to introduce many in my company to Matlab and I used this book as a starter's guide. We were off to a great start with this book!

The only redeeming value to this book is the author (genuinely?) tries to be helpful to the beginner, but fails in this effort. The examples are trivial, the organization poor, and after reading it neither my partner nor I could say we learned Matlab. We ended up playing with Matlab's built-in demo (use the "demo" command) to learn it. We both think this is the worst stats software book we've read.

If you are a total Matlab newbie and can find a copy of this book in the library, read it. Otherwise check out other books, or just use the Matlab demo.

True to the title, this book is a leg up in Matlab if you have never used it before. However, unless you are working at the most basic level, this book will leave you wishing you had a more complete reference.