Mathematics for Engineers and Science Labs Using Maxima

This book is designed to be a vital companion to math textbooks covering the topics of precalculus, calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, and probability and statistics. While these existing textbooks focus mainly on solving mathematic problems using the old paper-and-pencil method, this book teaches how to solve these problems using Maxima open-source software. Maxima is a system for the manipulation of symbolic and numerical expressions, including differentiation, integration, Taylor series, Laplace transforms, ordinary differential equations, systems of linear equations, polynomials, sets, lists, vectors, and matrices. One of the benefits of using Maxima to solve mathematics problems is the immediacy with which it produces answers. Investing in learning Maxima now will pay off in the future, particularly for students and beginning professionals in mathematics, science, and engineering. The volume will help readers to apply nearly all of the Maxima skills discussed here to future courses and research.

Seifedine Kadry, PhD, is currently Associate Professor at Beirut Arab University, Faculty of Sciences, Beirut, Lebanon. He was previously an Associate Professor with the American University of the Middle East in Kuwait. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Research Journal of Mathematics and Statistics and the ARPN Journal of Systems and Software. He worked as Head of the Software Support and Analysis Unit of First National Bank where he designed and implemented data warehouse and business intelligence; he has published several books and is the author of more than 50 papers on applied math, computer science, and stochastic systems in peer-reviewed journals. At present his research focuses on system prognostics, stochastic systems, and probability and reliability analysis. He received a PhD in computational and applied mathematics in 2007 from the Blaise Pascal University (Clermont-II) – Clermont-Ferrand in France.

Pauly Awad is currently affiliated with the American University of the Middle East, Kuwait, where she teaches introduction to mathematics and Calculus. Formerly she taught mathematics at College St. Francois Des Peres Capucins in Beirut, Lebanon. She has a BS degree in computer science and an MS in mathematics education from Lebanese University.