Scientific computing is the study of how to use computers effectively to solve problems that arise from the mathematical modeling of phenomena in science and engineering. It is based on mathematics, numerical and symbolic/algebraic computations and visualization. This book serves as an introduction to both the theory and practice of scientific computing, with each chapter presenting the basic algorithms that serve as the workhorses of many scientific codes; we explain both the theory behind these algorithms and how they must be implemented in order to work reliably in finite-precision arithmetic. The book includes many programs written in Matlab and Maple – Maple is often used to derive numerical algorithms, whereas Matlab is used to implement them. The theory is developed in such a way that students can learn by themselves as they work through the text. Each chapter contains numerous examples and problems to help readers understand the material “hands-on”.

Teaches problem-solving using two of the most important mathematical software packages: Maple and MATLAB. This new edition contains five completely new chapters covering new developments.

From the reviews: ".. An excellent reference on undergraduate mathematical computing." (American Mathematical Monthly) "... manuals for such systems (Maple and MATLAB) tend to use trivial examples, making it difficult for new users of such systems to quickly apply their power to real problems. The authors have written a good book to address this need. ... the book is worth buying if you want guidance in applying Maple and MATLAB to problems in the workplace..." (Computing Reviews) ".. The presentation is unique, and extremely interesting. I was thrilled to read this text, and to learn the powerful problem-solving skills presented by these authors. I recommend the text highly, as a learning experience, not only to engineering students, but also to anyone interested in computation." (Mathematics of Computation)

Modern computing tools like Maple (symbolic computation) and MATLAB (a numeric computation and visualization program) make it possible to easily solve realistic nontrivial problems in scientific computing. In education, traditionally, complicated problems were avoided, since the amount of work for obtaining the solutions was not feasible for students. This situation has changed now, and students can be taught real-life problems that they can actually solve using the new powerful software. The reader will improve his knowledge through learning by examples and he will learn how both systems, MATLAB and Maple, may be used to solve problems interactively in an elegant way. Readers will learn to solve similar problems by understanding and applying the techniques presented in the book. All programs can be obtained from a server at ETH Zurich.