Customer Reviews

Numerical Recipes in Pascal (First Edition): The Art of Scientific Computing

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In my work, I routinely write statistical programs which require algorithnms such as are contained in books like this. I own this book and the 1st and 2nd editions of Numerical Recipes in C. I had hoped that a 2nd edition for Pascal would be available. If publishers pay attention to the previous reviewer, I fear it will not be forthcoming. While I can not attest to the value of most of the algorithms contained in this book, those which I needed worked very well indeed and the surrounding discussions were enlightening and often witty. For those of us who need to write stand-alone programs for the great unwashed, piecing together routines from standard packages which require a knowledge of the package (and presumeably of what you are doing) is not an option. In those situations, a book such as this is indispensible.

If you ever had to program a complicated numerical algorithm, such as SVD decomposition, Bessel functions, eigensystems or Fourier transform, you will know how useful this book is. All those problems, and many others, are presented, the theory is explained and the full code of a routine, which solves it, is given. This version brings the codes in Pascal, but there are versions for FORTRAN, C++ and Basic. If you need any routine, you just have to "cut and paste" it from the book into your program.

Numerical Recipes (and N.R. in Pascal) is among my most-used reference books. This is not merely a book to help programmers shortcut through horrific number-crunching code. It is also a well-written text on the theory and practice of numerical methods. I can't imagine doing my job without it!

As a programming dinosaur, I am grateful for a reference book that talks to me about advanced math programming in my native language. A non-computer science major in college, I learned to program in an introductory Pascal class and didn't go back to it for a few years. So, although I've accreted a few programming languages in the decades since, it feels like going home to read an algorithm in Pascal. This book is on my shelf for the times I need to step through a stat or math algorithm to understand it a little better.

The authors intended the book as a reference for more active programmers, and it is structured accordingly. The Table of Contents helps readers quickly find procedures of interest or--just as important--establish that they are not covered. The book begins with linear algebra and progress through topics of increasing complexity to partial differential equations. The authors' presentation style combines native Pascal code (not pseudocode), mathematical equations where appropriate, and an over-the-shoulder, buddy-in-the-next-cubicle, style of informal instruction, advice-giving, and warning. Good reference and good emotional support.

Like me, you will probably pick chapters and sections based on your individual needs and interests. I've benefitted most from the section on singular value decomposition (2.9) and chapter on Eigensystems (11). The chapters on Random Numbers (7) and Sorting (8) also shed some light on processes I usually don't think much about.

If you are a Pascal dinosaur and occasionally need to think about scientific computing, this book is for you. If you are from a more recent generation, you may benefit more from Numerical Recipes in C++ or A Numerical Library in Java for Scientists and Engineers. May the earth thunder as you pound out mighty algorithms on your keyboard! :)

Important book. Well defined algorithems. Great spectra of problems solved.
Unfortunately the authors overtook the programming stile from Kernigan, which ist C-based and not structured. The programming stile from Wirth would have made the book to a big clasic.

The algorithms given and explained in this book are good, but nowadays most of them are contained in any standard numerical software (such as Matlab).