Numerical Methods for Scientists and Engineers

By Richard Hamming

Book Overview

Numerical analysis is a subject of extreme interest to mathematicians and computer scientists, who will welcome this first inexpensive paperback edition of a groundbreaking classic text on the subject. In an introductory chapter on numerical methods and their relevance to computing, well-known mathematician Richard Hamming ("the Hamming code," "the Hamming distance," and "Hamming window," etc.), suggests that the purpose of computing is insight, not merely numbers. In that connection he outlines five main ideas that aim at producing meaningful numbers that will be read and used, but will also lead to greater understanding of how the choice of a particular formula or algorithm influences not only the computing but our understanding of the results obtained.The five main ideas involve (1) insuring that in computing there is an intimate connection between the source of the problem and the usability of the answers (2) avoiding isolated formulas and algorithms in favor of a systematic study of alternate ways of doing the problem (3) avoidance of roundoff (4) overcoming the problem of truncation error (5) insuring the stability of a feedback system.In this second edition, Professor Hamming (Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California) extensively rearranged, rewrote and enlarged the material. Moreover, this book is unique in its emphasis on the frequency approach and its use in the solution of problems. Contents include: I. Fundamentals and AlgorithmsII. Polynomial Approximation- Classical TheoryIll. Fourier Approximation- Modern TheoryIV. Exponential Approximation ... and moreHighly regarded by experts in the field, this is a book with unlimited applications for undergraduate and graduate students of mathematics, science and engineering. Professionals and researchers will find it a valuable reference they will turn to again and again. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486652416
• ISBN13: 9780486652412
• Release Date: March 1987
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 752 Pages
• Weight: 1.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.4" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

Are you technical?

The price is immaterial. Hamming is the recognized expert in coding and many fields of mathematics. The writing is surprisingly easy to follow. (none of that - solution is left as an exercise for the student). You need this book if you do any kind of mathematics on a PC. We're talking DSP, simulations, whatever. Okay, price counts - it's cheap, outstanding info.

Gives an intuitive feel for numerical methods

Chances are, if you have a degree in engineering of any kind, you have seen all of the numerical methods outlined here before. However, the purpose of this book is not just to detail how to perform different kinds of calculations. Instead, the author is attempting to give you an intuitive feel for the mathematics as well. The book starts with an essay on numerical methods that discusses the book's five main ideas starting...

Like no other book on numerical methods I have read.

I sympathise with the reviewer who said this is one of the fewbooks on numerical methods he could stand. I will go furtherand say this is a book that can be enjoyed. Example: section 2.8 "The Frequency Distribution of Mantissas" explains why the leading digits of of decimal numbers are not uniformlydistributed, a result that is surely counterintuitive. There ismuch more material of interest in this book too. It doescontain...

The Purpose of Computing is Insight, Not Numbers

Throughout the book, that motto is repeated.By reading and absorbing the material in this book, the reader is left with the tools and the insights necessary to derive their own numerical methods.No longer will numerical methods be memorized as textbook formulas -- now the reader can adapt and derive a formula to solve a specific problem, instead of trying to fit one of a small number of textbook formulas to a problem.The...

Can numerical analysis be fun?

This is the only book on numerical methods I can stand. But, not only can I stand it: now I love it. It's one of the cleverest books I ever met. Hamming must be a genius of insight. Even if you wrote your thesis on differential equations, I bet you will be enriched by reading his considerations on them, from the numerical precision viewpoint. The same is true for Fourier methods, only much more, as this is the main topic of...