Solving Problems in Scientific Computing: Using MAPLE and MATLAB Gander, Walter; Hrebicek, Jiri and Hebiek, J.

Modern computing tools like Maple (symbolic computation) and MATLAB (a numeric computation and visualisation 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. This second edition has been expanded by two new chapters. All programs can be obtained from a server at ETH Zurich.

From the reviews of the second edition: "... The authors of this book have excelled by linking the title to two well-known mathematical packages, Maple and MATLAB. There are good reasons for this. Maple is supremely competent in symbolic mathematics and MATLAB in numerical and engineering calculations. MATLAB users can also gain access to Maple functions through an optional MATLAB symbolic mathematics toolbox, which is a version of Maple recast to suit MATLAB users. The authors have been involved with mathematical software for many years and are well qualified to serve as guides in this difficult field. They have chosen a particularly wide range of well-defined problems, such as the three body problem, radar and heat flow, to illustrate the methods involved. They explain the theory adequately and give examples of Maple and MATLAB code. ... Although some of the problems chosen may not be to everybody's taste, teachers of mathematical applications and modelling should have this book. Many people interested in mathematics as a hobby will aslo find it worthwile." Scientific Computing World "... 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 The third edition of this book has been enlarged by six new chapters; some of the previous chapters have been substantially revised. The index has been considerably enlarged: there are now three parts, two of them contain all the commands of Maple and Matlab that are used in this book. All chapters have been adapted to the newest versions of Maple (Version 5 Release 4) and Matlab 5.