Gnu Scientific Library: Reference Manual [Paperback]

Mark Galassi (Author), Brian Gough (Author), Gerard Jungman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2001

The GNU Scientific Library (GSL) is a free numerical library for C and C++ programmers. This reference manual is the definitive guide to the library.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

All the money raised from the sale of this book supports the development of the GNU Scientific Library. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: Network Theory Ltd. (December 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 095416170X
• ISBN-13: 978-0954161705
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,919,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authoritative reference for GSL, January 9, 2006

By 

Bruce Nourish "bjan" (Phoenix, Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GNU Scientific Library Reference Manual - 2nd Edition (Paperback)

This is a printed version of the GSL Reference Manual that's available on gnu.org, so there's no content here you couldn't get for free on the internet, and you have the privilege of trying as much as you want before you buy. I purchased the book for the convenience and ease-of-reading that comes with a printed volume, and to help support Free Software development. The typeset equations are much easier on the eye than the text renderings; the binding and printing are of very high quality. The price is very reasonable. One disadvantage, common to all paper documentation, is that it will eventually go out of date. Bottom line: if you use GSL, you'll get your money's worth from this book.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME!!!!, May 9, 2006

By 

Rahul Bhattacharjee - See all my reviews

This review is from: GNU Scientific Library Reference Manual - 2nd Edition (Paperback)

This is a great manual. Professionally written and very easy to read. GSL is a lot easier to use than Numerical Recipes.

Galassi et al have provided many examples to illustrate generic uses for library functions. Knowlege of C-programming is required, especially pointers and structures. The manual is available for free on the web, but the printed edition is bound and convenient to read. Plus, GSL is free and open-source, and buying this manual throws some cash the developers' way.

It's unlikely that the manual will be outdated anytime soon, as GSL developers are satisfied with the library and don't plan to make any major changes (or so they say on their website) apart from minor bugfixes.

Among a few issues with GSL are that GSL's handling of complex datatypes is a little clumsy IMHO, and their matrix diagonalization routines are not so great, and only work for hermitian matrices. Of course, you can use LAPACK for non-hermitian matrices. Also, they should provide some tips and tricks used to simplify programs using GSL.

I've tried out their BLAS stuff, their ODE integrators (they have rk4 & 5, Prince Dormand, Gaussian integration stuff and Bulirsch-Stoer), their special functions and their quadrature stuff. The libraries seem pretty thread safe (as they say) as I'm running them on SMP systems and haven't have any problems yet.

Overall, fine work.

4 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good manual for GSL, January 5, 2007

By 

Bong Cheol Park - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GNU Scientific Library Reference Manual - 2nd Edition (Paperback)

I think that this book is a good manual for GSL.