Numerical Analysis

Rating:
Summary: Middle of the Road
Review: This is one of those books where you have to be able to hit the ground running. The book assumes that the reader knows a great deal about calculus. Don't bother with this book if you have taken a calculus course a few years prior to taking a numerical analysis course. You are going to have to remember everything you did in class, which very little of us do. Well at least those that are not aspiring mathematicians. It's a good book for those who know their stuff. If you really need good complete examples and need some catching up on calculus then you need to go somewhere else. It has a calculus review that lasts one section and did not get me to remember anything. A nice fat calculus book is a good companion to this book.

Rating:
Summary: Good introductory text
Review: This text is very good for introducing the reader to many different concepts in numerical analysis. The book is definitely written from a mathemetician's point of view. If you just need algorithms and aren't looking for the math behind them... I wouldn't reccomend this book, but if you are looking to understand what makes an algorithm work and the tools to know why one algorithm will perform better for your problem than another, I heartily reccomend this book as a good text to start from. One of the best tools included in this book is a large and complete Bibliography which will lead readers yearning for more information on a given topic to good sources. Enjoy