Numerical and Statistical Methods with SCILAB for Science and Engineering [Paperback]

Gilberto Urroz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2001

Mathematics and statistics with the free software SCILAB (http://www-rocq.inria.fr/scilab/)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gilberto E. Urroz is an Associate Professor of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering and a researcher at the Utah Water Research Laboratory, both at Utah State University, in Logan, Utah. He has been a teacher of engineering disciplines for more than 15 years both in his native Nicaragua and in the United States. His teaching experience includes courses on introductory physics, engineering mechanics, probability and statistics for engineers, computer programming, fluid mechanics, hydraulics, and numerical methods. His research interests include mathematical and numerical modeling of fluid systems, hydraulic structures, and erosion control applications. Dr. Urroz is an expert on the HP 48 G and HP 49 G series calculator, and on specialized mathematical software such as Maple and SCILAB. He has written several books on applications of these computing devices and software to disciplines such as engineering mechanics, hydraulics, and science and engineering mathematics

Product Details

• Paperback: 593 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (April 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588983048
• ISBN-13: 978-1588983046
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.9 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,657,238 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Time Tested Excellent Introduction to a Marvelous Tool, April 6, 2008

By 

Dave (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Numerical and Statistical Methods with SCILAB for Science and Engineering (Paperback)

Although I agree with the previous reviewers comments (this is not a review on the reviewer BTW), and I admit I am probably not as experienced with SCILAB as these reviewers, I have to say I found this work _the_ most useful book on Scilab to date. That is, from an introductory point of view. Note that this book is slightly out-of-date due to the progress made in Scilab since 2001 (I believe Dr. Urroz was using 2.x of Scilab when he wrote this book). That is not an issue for the most part. I'm using Scilab in Windows so I can not comment on the differences between the version 4.2.1 and the version used in the book (e.g. menu items such as no "reset" item, and some command differences), but I have had no difficulty as I work my way through the book.

Dr. Urroz starts in a similar fashion to so many MATLAB books I've read taking the user from the start; installation, starting the program, basic commands, basic build-in functions, user functions, I/O, etc. and moved on to the core of numerical and statistical methods. I can only say I wish Dr. Gilberto would update this volume with more insider information (e.g. building libraries, authoring help files, etc.) although this is clearly a numerical and statistical methods book; perhaps a short volume 0 with such nice to know aspects.

For one just starting with Scilab with a basic knowledge of MATLAB combined with online material, I found this work to be a good choice. Finally, I must say that it so nice to have a great alternative to an exorbitantly overpriced product from Mathworks.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction, August 18, 2007

By 

topoman "topoman" (Newark, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Numerical and Statistical Methods with SCILAB for Science and Engineering (Paperback)

The text can be used to parallel courses in calculus, linear algebra, numerical analysis and statistics. Examples are presented in an order compatible with the order in which they would appear in the associated math course, not just in order of scilab implementation complexity. Each math concept introduced is briefly explained, so that a reader can progress even if some of the underlying material is not totally familiar.
Of course, such an approach makes for a bulkier volume, but the gain in readability more than compensates.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must-have as a second book in Numerical Methods, January 11, 2007

By 

Saulo Bortolon - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Numerical and Statistical Methods with SCILAB for Science and Engineering (Paperback)

If your school wants to shift from Matlab to an open-source alternative, consider take this book as your 2nd title in Numerical Methods. Together with a more formal, mathematic-oriented textbook, your students have a broad coverage for the subject.

Examples and exercises are well chosen; source code is written in a consistent way; Prof. Urroz homepage offers additional material; take a look at it.

There is only one drawback: both books are necessary to a full coverage. This brings an extra cost. However, may be your course will need only one of them.

We adopted both these books in our course, anyway.