An Introduction to Numerical Methods and Analysis [Hardcover]

James F. Epperson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471316474 | ISBN-13: 978-0471316473 | Publication Date: August 27, 2001 | Edition: 1

Emphasis on "cause and effect" in numerical mathematics.
* Flexibility with computing languages--the book is not specific to any one computing language.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“…carefully structured with many detailed worked examples…” (The Mathematical Gazette, July 2003)

"...an up-to-date and user friendly account..." (Mathematika, Vol 49, 2002)

"outstandingly appealing with regard to its style, contents, considerations of requirements of practice, choice of examples and exercises." (Zentrablatt Math, Vol. 980, No.05, 2002)

From the Back Cover

Praise for the First Edition

". . . outstandingly appealing with regard to its style, contents, considerations of requirements of practice, choice of examples, and exercises."
—Zentrablatt Math

". . . carefully structured with many detailed worked examples . . ."
—The Mathematical Gazette

". . . an up-to-date and user-friendly account . . ."
—Mathematika

An Introduction to Numerical Methods and Analysis addresses the mathematics underlying approximation and scientific computing and successfully explains where approximation methods come from, why they sometimes work (or don't work), and when to use one of the many techniques that are available. Written in a style that emphasizes readability and usefulness for the numerical methods novice, the book begins with basic, elementary material and gradually builds up to more advanced topics.

A selection of concepts required for the study of computational mathematics is introduced, and simple approximations using Taylor's Theorem are also treated in some depth.

The text includes exercises that run the gamut from simple hand computations, to challenging derivations and minor proofs, to programming exercises. A greater emphasis on applied exercises as well as the cause and effect associated with numerical mathematics is featured throughout the book. An Introduction to Numerical Methods and Analysis is the ideal text for students in advanced undergraduate mathematics and engineering courses who are interested in gaining an understanding of numerical methods and numerical analysis. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (August 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471316474
• ISBN-13: 978-0471316473
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,763,600 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars very well written, but missing important topics, May 9, 2009

By 

X. Jiao - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Introduction to Numerical Methods and Analysis (Hardcover)

I would give this book 4 stars, but I had to give it 3 stars to counter the earlier review, which seems to be very skewed.

For the topics that are covered in the book, this book is extremely well written and readable, and it balances practical and theoretical aspects very well. This is not typical for numerical analysis books! Unfortunately, this book lacks some important topics that should be in an introductory textbook. For example, optimization is so important and ubiquitous in numerical computations, and it is no more advanced than eigenvalue problems and PDEs, so it is surprising to me the subject is not even mentioned in the book. Also the book does not have a section on numerical differentiation, but instead scattered it into sections 2.2 and 6.10.1 without introducing the concepts and terminology properly. These deficiencies make the book ill-suited as a primary textbook or a reference book. Heath's Scientific Computing book is at about the same level of exposure as this book and is equally well written, while being far more comprehensive.

3 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What does it mean?, January 28, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: An Introduction to Numerical Methods and Analysis (Hardcover)

I found this text book to be well thought out and presented in a mannor that I could digest more easily. I actually enjoyed (as much as a person can) working these problems. At the end of the semester I had really used this text book and my understading of more advanced math concepts had reached a new level.