The state of the art in numerical analysis : A. Iserles, M.J.D. Powell (Eds.): Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1987, xiv+719 pages, UK £55.00, ISBN 0-19-853614-3.

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 103 KB
• Volume: 29
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0378-4754
• DOI: 10.1016/0378-4754(87)90085-1

✦ Synopsis

Book reuiews B.M. Irons and N.G. Shrive: Numerical Methods in Engineering and Applied Science. Ellis Horwood, Chichester, United Kingdom, 1987, 248 pages, UK Z10.95 (paper), UK &29.95/U.S. $54.20 (Cloth), ISBN O-7458-0101-3.

Posthumously published this text is a well motivated, very practical, volume on numerical techniques. There is no pretense that this is a book on numerical analysis, which is a very mathematical subject. Typically, one finds a procedure described followed by experiments to see how it performs and what can go wrong (!).

Irons collaborated widely in engineering and achieved an international reputation in the utilization of finite elements. His grasp of the practical shows in the text. The prose is ingenious since the author gives the reader the feeling that he is witness to the broad experience of the author. Even many of the chapter titles are intriguing: They are 1. Fun, Frustrations, and Tricks of the Trade; 2. The Taylor Series, Etc.; 3. Roundoff, Etc.-Adventures with Pi; 4. Introduction to Graphics; 5. Scattered Points, and "Best" Approximations; 6. Numerical Integration and Ramifications; 7. Magic Points on a Curve; 8. Differential Equations; 9. Equations; 10. Matrices; 11. Eigenvalues; 12. Partial Differential Equations; 13. Splines and Finite Elements; Appendix -Computer Programs.

For its great intuition and breadth the book can be recommended