Product Description

Contains a wealth of topics to allow instructors flexibility in the choice of topics and depth of coverage: Examines

projective motion with and without realistic air resistance. Discusses planetary motion and the three-body problem. Explores

chaotic motion of the pendulum and waves on a string. Includes topics relating to fractal growth and stochastic systems.

Offers examples on statistical physics and quantum mechanics. Contains ample explanations of the necessary algorithms

students need to help them write original programs, and provides many example programs and calculations for reference. 

Customer Reviews (4)

Computational Physics
The computing and mathematical methods don't cloud the physics. An excellent textbook for an undergraduate course in computational physics.

great book for learning a model by simulations

I'm glad I bought this book. I was hesitant at first, while perusing it in the bookstore, because it seemed to be aimed at an audience that is, well, too undergraduate. However the book gets directly to the essence of the algorithms used to carry out simulations: nothing extraneous. Within an hour after sitting down to read a chapter, one can often have the first working code finished. It is through trying simulations, playing with parameters, and seeing what happens that one starts to get a feel for the models which are otherwise just differential equations on paper. The style of exposition is informal and lively. The range of subjects covered is diverse. It presumes the reader is familiar with physics of the models discussed, yet each chapter begins with a short review. The book is organized in a way that permits skipping around, which I like, and I found that the exercises are packed with suggestions and new things to try. All in all it is a very good book for someone who may know next to nothing about a particular physics model and wants to learn it though computer simulation.

Since the publisher doesn't include the "search inside" feature, here is a list of chapter headings:
First numerical problems. Realistic Projectile Motion. Oscillatory Motion and Chaos. The Solar System. Potentials and Fields. Waves. Random Systems. Statistical Mechanics, Phase Transitions, and the Ising Model. Molecular Dynamics. Quantum Mechanics. Vibrations, Waves, and the Physics of Musical Instruments. Interdisciplinary Topics: Protein Folding, Earthquakes, Neural Networks and the Brain, Real Neurons and Actions Potentials, Cellular Automata.

great book
This is a great book. I enjoy reading and using it quite a bit. The focus is realistic simulations, not just simulations. Also, this book has a wide scope: there are sections covering random systems, molecular dynamics, even earthqakes and self-organized criticality. I suspect a second edition might even expand on these topics to include, oh perhaps economic simulations? But as it is it's a superb book. The style is even engaging; just enough theory (but indeed the right amount of it) and some pointed results... Where else would you go to find three-body gravitational simulations and protein folding and the brain as a complex system, in the same book? Note: there are code examples and the programming language is True Basic for the Macintosh. If that's not your cup of tea, it should not be too hard to port that to, say, Matlab or something more universal. Perhaps again for the second edition...

good book for physicists who like to write simulations
This is a great book to get you started using you desktop for more than running your screen saver or surfin' the net. Some sections are dealing with elementary physics but most deal with intermediate to even advanced topics. What's also great about this book is that the author doesn't assume you necessarily remember all of your undergrad physics. You're gently reminded of the key concepts and the bottom line you need to remember and then it's off to the good stuff. I liked this book quite a bit; it's really a great book. Unpretentious and striking the right balance between the theory necessary to write realistic or meaningful simulations. Overall I'd say the word superb applies here. Next edition: expand on stochastic processes a bit more, then you get 5 stars... ... Read more

Product Description
Thoroughly updated and revised for its second edition, this advanced textbook provides an introduction to the basic methods of computational physics, and an overview of recent progress in several areas of scientific computing. Tao Pang presents many step-by-step examples, including program listings in JavaTM, of practical numerical methods from modern physics and related areas. Now including many more exercises, the volume can be used as a textbook for either undergraduate or first-year graduate courses on computational physics or scientific computation. It will also be a useful reference for anyone involved in computational research. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Computational Physics
This book is fairly well written.It is the first edition and is a little out of date when it comes to certain aspects, such as the input method in FORTRAN.The material is fairly well covered and honestly I preferred this edition to the second edition.

Thorough intro but...
Altohough I am not a fan of Fortran by any means the book (now that many of the original errors are corrected) is extremely thorough and readable, but be aware this is not necessarily for the neophyte. One MUST have a good knowledge of numerical anlaysis since derivations of relevant formulas is scant. The book's strength lies in the breadth of topics covered, here you will not find the often included "sport physics" chapter as an introduction, rather you are introduced to the most common numerical methods used by scientists when an analytical soultion is not feasible. The book does deal with many problems found int physics from scattering to quantum mechancis and molecular modelling, Monte Carlo methods and some case studies of applied physics e.g the chapter including ground water dynamics. In the last chapters the author wisely introduces symbolic computing using Mathematica as an example and this is applauded as many of us are not willing to reinvent the wheel since there many excellent programs like Maple, MathCad, FemLab etc and an introduction to the like is good. He also discusses parallel computing and this is also welcome as it has gained more prevalent use in computational sciences.

A complaint, since the book claims by its title no less, that it is an introduction to computational physics, there should have been explict chapters on or at least a chapter on Sports Physics, Astronomy, Cellular Automata. That said the case studies on molecular dynamics, nuclear waste storage and chaos are great.

All in all, a solid text but one should be aware of the fact that the author (and to some extent, rightly so) assumes that the reader has a solid grasp of numerical analsyis, calculus and physics. Havingsaid that if you need a really simple and thorough, ground up introduction and haven't taken the aforementioned courses then try Giordano's Computational Physics, be warned if you are like me and can barely tolerate Fortran (I grew up on C/C++) then the True Basic code snippets (for Mac) in Giordano's book will irritate you to no end!!

... Read more

Product Description

Assuming no prior knowledge of plasma physics or numerical methods, Computational Methods in Plasma Physics covers the computational mathematics and techniques needed to simulate magnetically confined plasmas in modern magnetic fusion experiments and future magnetic fusion reactors. Largely self-contained, the text presents the basic concepts necessary for the numerical solution of partial differential equations.

Along with discussing numerical stability and accuracy, the author explores many of the algorithms used today in enough depth so that readers can analyze their stability, efficiency, and scaling properties. He focuses on mathematical models where the plasma is treated as a conducting fluid, since this is the most mature plasma model and most applicable to experiments. The book also emphasizes toroidal confinement geometries, particularly the tokamak—a very successful configuration for confining a high-temperature plasma. Many of the basic numerical techniques presented are also appropriate for equations encountered in a higher-dimensional phase space.

One of the most challenging research areas in modern science is to develop suitable algorithms that lead to stable and accurate solutions that can span relevant time and space scales. This book provides an excellent working knowledge of the algorithms used by the plasma physics community, helping readers on their way to more advanced study.

Product Description

Product Description
Computers and computation are extremely important components of physics and should be integral parts of a physicist s education. Furthermore, computation physics is reshaping the way calculations are made in all areas of physics. Intended for the physics and engineering students who have completed the introductory physics course, A First Course in Computational Physics, Second Edition covers the different types of computational problems using MATLAB with exercises developed around problems of physical interest.opics such as root finding, Newton-Cotes integration, and ordinary differential equations are included and presented in the context of physics problems. A few topics rarely seen at this level such as computerized tomography, are also included. Within each chapter, the student is led from relatively elementary problems and simple numerical approaches through derivations of more complex and sophisticated methods, often culminating in the solution to problems of significant difficulty. The goal is to demonstrate how numerical methods are used to solve the problems that physicists face. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An ideal and highly recommended curriculum textbook
Basic physics is essential in the rapidly advancing fields of computer-based computations and engineering. Understanding how numerical methods are to be employed as problem solving techniques in physics is the underlying goal of "A First Course In Computational Physics", a 448-page textbook specifically designed for students by Paul L. DeVries (Miami University) and Javier E. Hasbun (University of West Georgia). After a deftly presented introduction, individual chapters focus on Functions and Roots; Interpolation and Approximation; Numerical Integration; Ordinary Differential Equations; Fourier Analysis; and Partial Differential Equations. Now in a newly updated and expanded second edition, and enhanced for the student with an accompanying CD, an appendix, and an index, "A First Course In Computational Physics" is an ideal and highly recommended curriculum textbook.
... Read more

Product Description
Numerical methods are playing an ever-increasing role in physics and engineering. This is especially true after the recent explosion of computing power on the desk-top. This text is aimed at helping the user make intelligent use of this power tool. Each method is introduced through realistic examples and actual computer programmes. The explanations provide the background for making a choice between similar approaches and the knowledge to explore the network for the appropriate existing codes. Tedious proofs and derivations, on the other hand, are delegated to references. Examples of unconventional methods are also given to stimulate readers in exploring new ways of solving problems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A good book for starting out in computational Physics
I went thru this book when I first received it, but recently used it as a reference for a computational Physics course I took. I am glad I had it. The only reason for the 4 stars, is no solutions to the problems at the ends of the chapters. I am a firm believer in learning by doing, and this book, although it has some good examples, needs to add answers to the problems, for immediate feedback. Otherwise, it is a good first introduction, and provides an excellent reference.

Fairly good book on computational physics
This book is a fairly decent overview of computational physics. The author covers most of the topics that one would obtain in taking a senior level or first year graduate course in this subject. It could be used successfully in such a course as there are problem sets at the end of each chapter that can be solved most efficiently by writing programs. In addition, the author gives pseudocode throughout the book for the main algorithms. The most useful chapter to me was Chapter 7, which covered Monte Carlo techniques. The author is pretty thorough in his treatment of this subject, and does discuss how to apply this technique in calculating path integrals in quantum mechanics. Unfortunately, he limits his discussion to the harmonic oscillator and does not give any problem sets at the end of the chapter that will allow the reader to apply the techniques to other potentials in quantum mechanics (such as maybe the anharmonic oscillator or the double well potentials). The author also discusses finite difference methods and finite element methods in the last two chapters. The author unfortunately does not discuss the numerical solution of the Boltzmann transport equation, which is of interest to me.Overall though a pretty nice job, and will introduce the new comer to the field. ... Read more

Product Description
This second edition increases the universality of the previous edition by providing all its codes in the Java language, whose compiler and development kit are available for free for essentially all operating systems. In addition, the accompanying CD provides many of the same codes in Fortran 95, Fortran 77, and C, for even more universal application, as well as MPI codes for parallel applications. The book also includes new materials on trial-and-error search techniques, IEEE floating point arithmetic, probability and statistics, optimization and tuning in multiple languages, parallel computing with MPI, JAMA the Java matrix library, the solution of simultaneous nonlinear equations, cubic splines, ODE eigenvalue problems, and Java plotting programs.

From the reviews of the first edition:"Landau and Paez's book would be an excellent choice for a course on computational physics which emphasizes computational methods and programming." - American Journal of Physics ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

review
Not 5 stars only because the the book is an older version of the one in the picture. It has the same content, however.

This book is for advanced physics
The number of stars I gave the book is basically irrelevant.

I'm writing the review to point out that the book should be called: "computations for *advanced* physics".

Most of the topics covered in the book are for second year physics, or advanced topics.That's neither good nor bad, it just depends what you're looking for.If you want to find ways to apply computer programs in a first-years course -- this ain't it.There are probably only a few cases in which the topics are close enough to first-year physics to be relevant (multiple waves on a string; contrasting an idealized model of a pendulum with a "real-one").

Having said that, I give the book some pluses for covering a wide range of physics and mathematical topics, and a bit of a minus for writing that can be fairly opaque. ... Read more

Product Description
This second edition describes the computational methods used in theoretical physics, and has been fully updated. New sections have been added to cover finite element methods and lattice Boltzmann simulation, density functional theory, quantum molecular dynamics, Monte Carlo simulation, and diagonalisation of one-dimensional quantum systems. It covers many different areas of physics research and different computational methodologies, including computational methods such as Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics, various electronic structure methodologies, methods for solving partial differential equations, and lattice gauge theory. Throughout the book the relations between the methods used in different fields of physics are emphasised. Several new programs are described and can be downloaded from www.cambridge.org/9780521833462. The book requires a background in elementary programming, numerical analysis, and field theory, as well as undergraduate knowledge on condensed matter theory and statistical physics. It will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in theoretical, computational and experimental physics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Great for beginners
This is a really good book for people starting out on computational modelling like me.I am currently doing a graduate degree in Materials Science and Engineering and this book has proven to be enormously useful.

Don't buy this (unless you LOVE condensed matter physics)
Ok, ok, my title seems a little aggressive, but trust me, if you are looking for a *computational physics* (C.P.) book, this is not a good choice. I have been lecturing an introductory computational physics course for two years, and, by far, the most adequate books I found (and use) were Giordano & Nakanishi and Landau & Páez ones. Dr. Thijssen's book is highly concentrated on condensed matter physics, and it has *too few* graphics, figures, or illustrations. In my sincere opinion, is by far the worst book on C.P. I have bought, and I do not recommend it, at least for those who want to learn C.P. "from scratch". Ok, ok, it can be considered a "high level" book (maybe adequate for graduate courses), but I think that it lacks the main points on "pure" C.P. The reason for the two stars is because I am a condensed matter physicist, and therefore the book will at least serve as an additional reference on this subject.

A rare book deals with both computation and physics
I read several computational physics books before but never finished the second chapter. Most books on this subject expect the reader to become an expert after reading them, which is impossible! The authors themselves spent years to achieve their levels so they should have a practical expectation for the readers, especially undergraduates.

I am not saying Thijssen's book is easy. It's far from the truth. I am only saying that Thijssen knows about the reader's difficulty when reading this book and doing its exercises! He not only explains the physics problem but also illustrates the technique to do the computation.

Even though, this book is not for beginners, it's ideal for graduate students on experimental physics (students on theoretical physics need to know beyond this book). Also, it will save the read tons of time if he use Mathematica instead of C or Fortran for programming.

The best computational physics book available
This is a very decent book on computational physics, focusing primarily on condensed matter. It's up there with Allen and Tildesley's "Computer Simulation of Liquids", though with a broader selection of subjects and more suited to physicists.

There are inevitable errors, some of which would take a bit of effort to fix were it not for the error web page the author maintains.

Many problems in condensed matter are tackled, always with a view toward implementing an actual numerical investigation (this may sound like a given, but several other texts seem to shy away from actually using a computer, exploiting some variant of 'computational' in the title as an excuse to write yet another redundant physics text that is only cursorily computational). Often, nice snippets of pseudocode are presented, along with suggestions for numerical control parameters to use and the corresponding numerical results obtained - so one can try things out and check the answer. Indeed, the book is best used if one sets about to write code to solve problems, both in the main text and in the exercises at the chapter ends. As is often the case, however, getting a piece of new code to behave correctly can be a bit of a pain, which becomes easier only with experience.

In a real sense, the text helps bring some physics to life, and one is rewarded, I think, with a clearer understanding, and some powerful tools at one's disposal.

Though it doesn't have any real competitor, there is room for a second edition: along with correcting errors, several subjects could do with a bit more discussion or even extensive treatment, and other things could profitably be included, e.g., a DFT implementation of Car-Parrinello quantum atomic dynamics.

stepping stone to a serious research.
I found this book as thorough as I can think of without losing
the depth.
Probably, this book is not intended for anyone without a
solid physics background. You need to have a solid senior level
or beginning graduate school level physics to fully
appreciate the content. If you are not that prepared, then
read first "An Introduction to Computer Simulation Methods"
by H. Gould and J. Tabochnik.

I think that the price of the book is very reasonable now.
It used to be 50$+ just a year ago. Cetainly, by NOT
including the CD they could keep low the cost of
production.






... Read more

Product Description
Because of its rich object-oriented features, C++ is rapidly becoming the programming language of choice for science and engineering applications. This text leads beginning and intermediate programmers step-by-step through the difficult aspects of scientific coding, providing a comprehensive survey of object-oriented methods. Numerous aspects of modern programming practice are covered, including object-oriented analysis and design tools, numerical analysis, scientific graphics, software engineering, performance issues and legacy software reuse. Examples and problems are drawn from an extensive range of scientific and engineering applications. The book also includes a full set of free programming and scientific graphics tools that facilitate individual learning and reduce the time required to supervise code development in a classroom setting. This unique text will be invaluable both to students taking a first or second course in computational science and as a reference text for scientific programmers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good Introduction
Knowing C++ is important if one if going to do scientific programming.I can say the book gives a broad introduction, I can't say it was "fun".Computational Physics is the kind of text you study then put down and do back to it rather than plowing straight through.A good overview for serious programmers.

the best
This is a very good book, the codes are clear and
written from a computational point of view. It is easy
to set up the software. I agree with the authors self
remraks except that he should wirte up some harder examples
in the end. But still, the best.

From the Author:
This book was developed during many years of teaching scientific programming to engineers and scientists in both electrical engineering and physics courses.About 1/3 of the text is accessible to beginning programmers even at a high-school level, while the last part of the book can serve as a second-term undergraduate scientific programming course or as a reference text.While the title indicates that a major focus of the text is computational physics, the book contains problems and examples from numerous scientific and engineering disciplines and can be employed across a wide variety of course offerings.

Because of the practical difficulties faced by beginning students, a first course in scientific programming generally requires very significant personal intervention by the instructor or laboratory assistant.This book effectively removes this issue by providing a common base of free Windows software on CD-ROM that is meticulously documented in the text (the software is also available for Linux).The reader is introduced to programming through numerous assignments containing real-world technical problems.The assignments at first contain nearly the entire program to be developed; as the book develops, however, fewer code sections are provided.This method allows the user to absorb proper program structure while avoiding frustrating and confusing stylistic traps.A solution manual is made available to instructors through Cambridge University Press (see their website for errata) while the CD-ROM also contains copies of all programs presented in the text.

This book presents a compact but completely unified picture of modern programming practice as it applies to scientific programming.The fundamental, underlying principles of the C++ language and scientific programming are stressed in order to simplify retention of complex C++ syntax and of the mathematical and physical content.More involved topics in numerical analysis, scientific programming methods and C++ are presented in an intuitive and easily-understood manner.Examples of the subjects covered are: software engineering principles (UML), numerical analysis, scientific graphics programming, the Standard Template Library (STL), Monte-Carlo methods including the Metropolis and multicanonical techniques, partial differential equation solvers, calling Fortran from C++, C++ program optimization.

not as abstract as a pure physics text
This book can serve several audiences. It teaches both computational physics and the use of C++ in writing object oriented code. Clearly, if you are already know one of these topics, but not the other, then the book is a natural fit. You can concentrate on what is essentially half the book.

The more challenging task is if you are unfamiliar with both. Well, it is reasonable to assume that you know some physics, say at the first year undergraduate level. And perhaps you have done some programming, in a procedural language like Fortran or Basic.

The amount of abstractions, or rather the level of difficulty in this, is less than in a typical physics text that is explaining Maxwell's Equations or Einstein's Special Relativity. The physics in the book revolves around trying to compute certain numbers in an efficient manner.

While from a programming standpoint, computational physics examples are given as an important use case, to help the student grasp the OO concepts. ... Read more

Product Description
Unlike existing texts, this book blends for the first time three topics in physics - symmetry, condensed matter physics and computational methods - into one pedagogical textbook. It includes new concepts in mathematical crystallography, experimental methods capitalizing on symmetry aspects, non-conventional applications such as Fourier crystallography, color groups, quasicrystals and incommensurate systems, as well as concepts and techniques behind the Landau theory of phase transitions. Ideal for graduate students in condensed matter physics, materials science, and chemistry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

excellent book on group theory and its applications to condensed matter physics
This is an excellent book on group theory and symmetry and their applications to crystallography and condensed matter physics. It also includes Onsager's reciprocity relations and quasicrystals. There is also a chapter on Landau's theory of phase transitions. Sample Mathematica programs are interspersed throughout the book. The detailed derivations and clear explanations are geared towards helping students learn the subject. ... Read more

Product Description
Quantum Wells, Wires and Dots, 3rd Edition is aimed at providing all the essential information, both theoretical and computational, in order that the reader can, starting from essentially nothing, understand how the electronic, optical and transport properties of semiconductor heterostructures are calculated. Completely revised and updated, this text is designed to lead the reader through a series of simple theoretical and computational implementations, and slowly build from solid foundations, to a level where the reader can begin to initiate theoretical investigations or explanations of their own.

  ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent Book
This book is the best you are going to find for new quantum electronics.It covers all the essentials (wells, wires and dots as the title says) and, AND it gives you all the code used to generate every figure.This way you can work all the numbers and equations yourself.Yes, it is very expensive, but hey, Harrison has to eat man; a book like this has a real limited audience, so you have to bear the cost to be elite.

The code is all C code and can be run in unix or linux.You can also get an emulator (cygwin.com) or translate into your favorite C.The author has a great website with errata and software updates.

Again, the ability to follow along by running your own code helps really bring the information across.The book and the code are both well written.

Excellent book.

a great work
It is a great work of this book. I think it is very useful to readers with all kinds of levels. But it is a pity I can't buy it in my own country-mainland of China.Could you give me a chance? Thanks! ... Read more

Product Description
This volume contains the proceedings of the first Graduate Summer School on Computational Physics on ``Finite Elements in Physics'', organised by the Computational Physics Group of the European Physical Society (EPS). The main idea of these graduate courses is to present physicists with a specific numerical domain, starting from basic theory and moving to the more advanced applications. The proceedings present a basic course on the finite element method and include descriptions of all the 1 and 2 dimensional triangular and quadrangular linear quadratic and cubic conforming elements with their convergence properties. ... Read more

Product Description

With a primary focus on examples and applications of relevance to computational scientists, this brilliantly useful book shows computational scientists how to develop tailored, flexible, and human-efficient working environments built from small scripts written in the easy-to-learn, high-level Python language. All the tools and examples in this book are open source codes. This third edition features lots of new material. It is also released after a comprehensive reorganization of the text. The author has inserted improved examples and tools and updated information, as well as correcting any errors that crept in to the first imprint.

Customer Reviews (10)

Excellent Text and Reference!
As an intermediate Python programmer, this excellent book has become my go to reference for useful intermediate and advanced techniques that I can locate and learn quickly. The writing is clear and not overly verbose. In addition to a wide array of numerical and scientific examples, the book is helpful for a wide range of programming issues, such as gluing together disparate legacy applications, interfacing to C++, regression testing numerical code, building GUI's, web programming, etc.

Outstanding introduction to Python and Numpy
I've bought what seems to (my wife) be every Python book out there and I can't tell you how sick I am of spam, spam, spam code! (trivial and obfuscated Python code examples with a common theme focused around one Monty Python skit or another...) Spam code seems to prevail in other Python books.

Here finally is a book with code examples that are very clear, are immediately useful to the serious programmer and filled with real life discourse on relative performance differences between Python and other languages that have a reputation for speed.There are clear examples of 'number crunching', producing images and even video animations, hooks into other scientific packages such as MathLab, etc.

If you are interested in really learning Python, want to come away from an hour or twos worth of coding experience with a module or two that you can use tomorrow and are not interested in code examples extolling Monty Python silliness, then this is the book for you.

While this book is about twice as expensive as many of my other Python books, I wish I had purchased this one first.Even though I've been using Python, seemingly every day, for two years, I kept finding nuggets in this book with what seemed to be every turn of the page.My focus right now is processing extremely large data sets of binary data but I'll soon be looking at image processing and I know I'll be reaching for this book over and over again.Don't hesitate!Just buy the book!

*The* reference for folks who work with Matlab
I'm giving this book five stars because it was basically written for me.I don't mean that literally, of course.I say that because the usual methods of googling for answers and reading the manual do not work when you are trying to push the limits of what a tool is capable of doing.I do numerical computations for a variety of things -- finding patterns in large data sets, automating data collection and analysis, converting raw serial output into convenient CSV, plotting multidimensional datasets etc.Over the years, I have collected a large number of productivity habits with Matlab, which allows me to do ridiculously convoluted things in a short period of time.You just have to read the introduction of any Python manual to understand why I am switching from Matlab to Python.The problem is -- what will replace all these productivity habits?They need to be replaced with "Pythonic" habits, something that can take years of practice.

The beauty about Langtangen's book is that it runs through every one of those techniques.Instead of giving a basic example (what your google search would have provided) or a complete list of, ahem, useless techniques (what the manual would have provided), you get exactly what a seasoned data analyst needs to know to get moving with state-of-the-art commands.The author also discusses optimizations and alternatives in each chapter.

The book is also the best source for explaining *why* NumPy should be used by people working with large datasets.Folks love to create toolkits for Python, but some of these are a list of non-intuitive shortcuts that don't provide a substantial improvement over basic Python.Langtangen goes through the pain of explaining the benefits of the package (chapter 4.1.4), so that you can decide for yourself if NumPy is useful for your application.

I will not comment on the parts of the book that deal with C and FORTRAN integration because I leave that to more able programmers.I also will not comment on the extensive GUI building chapters because I do not build GUIs.I will point out, though, that I have derived full value out of this book simply by reading, and re-reading chapters 2, 3, 4 and 8.Some will argue that there is too much "basic Python" in these chapters for the whole to be considered advanced computational science -- my opinion is that even when the author describes "basic Python", his examples and intuition make it so that even one who has read a couple of reference books cover-to-cover will learn something about using "basic Python" to perform numerical analysis in a more efficient way.In fact, the book is a testament to doing really convoluted things in a really compact and elegant manner!

Absolutly Outstanding
Python Scripting for Computational Science is both an introduction to the Python language and an excellent reference for the intermediate developer.The approach taken by the author is to present the language in the form of tasks to be solved accompanied by example code.As expected for a book on scientific computing the modules covered in the examples emphasize numerical packages but this in no way detracts from the applicability to general Python enthusiast.

What really makes this book more than just another Python introduction is that the author bridges the gap between complied and interpreted code.He demonstrates how the speed of execution of compiled code can be tied to the rapid pace at which scripts can be developed.Examples are provided for interfacing C, C++ and FORTRAN code with Python.Calls to precompiled applications are also covered and the examples were easily adapted to my favorite computational tools.One of the risks with doing numerical work in a scripting language is the possibility of straying into computationally intensive tasks to which interpreted code is not well suited .Latter chapters discuss how to identify these portions of your code and how to migrating these tasks to a compiled language.

good book
If you want to learn Python, you should get it. Author do not build some "big" application (like "internet store software" or "bookstore software") from beginning to end, but rather give you a lot of practical examples of using python.

It is not like in others book that examples include only learned functions/methods, but use topics from the rest of book (you have example on page 25 and note that explanation of this and that function you found on page 543). By that you have interesting examples to use in real-world problems, not only examples to explain freshly learned topic.
In other books interesting examples of use python you found on page 3234, because only when author introduce all useful functions. In this book nice examples is even on first pages.


You learn how to use numerical packages (numpy) in python, using some useful tricks on lists and arrays, introduce to using graphical interface in Tk. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
The Adomian decomposition method enables the accurate andefficient analytic solution of nonlinear ordinary or partialdifferential equations without the need to resort to linearization orperturbation approaches. It unifies the treatment of linear andnonlinear, ordinary or partial differential equations, or systems ofsuch equations, into a single basic method, which is applicable toboth initial and boundary-value problems.
This volume deals with the application of this method to many problemsof physics, including some frontier problems which have previouslyrequired much more computationally-intensive approaches.
The opening chapters deal with various fundamental aspects of thedecomposition method. Subsequent chapters deal with the application ofthe method to nonlinear oscillatory systems in physics, the Duffingequation, boundary-value problems with closed irregular contours orsurfaces, and other frontier areas. The potential application of thismethod to a wide range of problems in diverse disciplines such asbiology, hydrology, semiconductor physics, wave propagation, etc., ishighlighted.
For researchers and graduate students of physics, applied mathematicsand engineering, whose work involves mathematical modelling and thequantitative solution of systems of equations.
... Read more

Product Description
This volume on black holes can be seen as a sequel toPhysics of Black Holes, published by Kluwer AcademicPublishers in 1989. The authors are recognised experts in their field,and have many years' experience in teaching courses on generalrelativity and black holes. The present work covers practically all aspects of black hole physicsand its astrophysical applications. Among the topics treated in depthare: spacetime of stationary black holes, general theory of blackholes, black hole perturbations, black hole numerics, black holeelectrodynamics, black holes in unified theories of gravity, quantumblack holes, final states of evaporating black holes and theinformation loss puzzle. Special attention is paid to the role ofblack holes in astrophysics and observational evidence of black holeexistence. Many exotic subjects linked with black holes, such as whiteholes, wormholes, and time machines are discussed in detail. Numerousappendices cover mathematical aspects of general relativity and blackholes and quantum field theory in curved space time. This makes thebook practically self-contained. Extensive references provide thereader with a guide to the literature in this field. Audience: This book will be of interest to researchers andpostgraduate students whose work involves relativity and gravitation,statistical physics, thermodynamics, active galactic nuclei andstellar physics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Frolov and Novikov's Black Hole Physics
I referenced these authors and also Klapdor-Kleingrothaus and Zuber (see my review of their book) in my paper on Quantum Gravity delivered before Professor Kursunoglu's Orbis Scientiae Quantum Gravity conference inDecember, 1999 (see my review of Kursunoglu).The Editor has summarizedthe book in his usual excellent way, and here I should just add that thereis much material in this book not covered in others, includingrelationships with 2+1 dimensional quantum gravity (see my review ofCarlip, black holes inside monopoles, dilatons, quantum hair, etc. Everyone should buy this book and, if necessary, hire a consultant or tutorto translate it into more simple English. ... Read more

Product Description

Nuclear engineering has undergone extensive progress over the years. In the past century, colossal developments have been made and with specific reference to the mathematical theory and computational science underlying this discipline, advances in areas such as high-order discretization methods, Krylov Methods and Iteration Acceleration have steadily grown.

Nuclear Computational Science: A Century in Review addresses these topics and many more; topics which hold special ties to the first half of the century, and topics focused around the unique combination of nuclear engineering, computational science and mathematical theory. Comprising eight chapters, Nuclear Computational Science: A Century in Review incorporates a number of carefully selected issues representing a variety of problems, providing the reader with a wealth of information in both a clear and concise manner. The comprehensive nature of the coverage and the stature of the contributing authors combine to make this a unique landmark publication.

Targeting the medium to advanced level academic, this book will appeal to researchers and students with an interest in the progression of mathematical theory and its application to nuclear computational science.

Product Description

This introduction to Scientific Computing illustrates several numerical methods for the computer solution of certain classes of mathematical problems. The authors show how to compute the zeros or the integrals of continuous functions, solve linear systems, approximate functions by polynomials and construct accurate approximations for the solution of differential equations. To make the presentation concrete, the programming environment Matlab is adopted as a faithful companion.

Customer Reviews (2)

Inappropriate for USA market
This is an el-cheapo British attempt to teach Matlab to scieneers, inapropriate for American readers.

easy to understand and use algorithms
As you would expect from Springer, here is a technically very accurate book. It goes over the main concepts of numerical analysis, which the authors call "scientific computing". Same thing, really. Unlike earlier years, where someone studying this field would have to write out her own Fortran code to apply the methods, we now have MATLAB. The authors chose this powerful package as one in which to explain and implement the algorithms.

These algorithms are essentially unchanged from what a book on the topic might have described, 20 years ago. Finding numerical integrals, roots of equations, solving linear systems of equations etc.

But using MATLAB helps streamline any coding. And you are encouraged to code, in the problems supplied by the book. There are even answers to some of these. So quite apart from understanding the concepts, a bonus is that you can become quite adept at fully using MATLAB's abilities as a research tool. ... Read more

Product Description
Computers are one of the most important tools available to physicists, whether for calculating and displaying results, simulating experiments, or solving complex systems of equations. Introducing students to computational physics, this textbook reveals how to use computers to solve mathematical problems in physics and teaches students about choosing different numerical approaches. It also introduces students to many of the programs and packages available. The book relies solely on free software: the operating system chosen is Linux, which comes with an excellent C++ compiler, and the graphical interface is the ROOT package available for free from CERN. ... Read more

Product Description

This book details the necessary numerical methods, the theoretical background and foundations and the techniques involved in creating computer particle models, including linked-cell method, SPME-method, tree codes, amd multipol technique. It illustrates modeling, discretization, algorithms and their parallel implementation with MPI on computer systems with distributed memory. The text offers step-by-step explanations of numerical simulation, providing illustrative code examples. With the description of the algorithms and the presentation of the results of various simulations from fields such as material science, nanotechnology, biochemistry and astrophysics, the reader of this book will learn how to write programs capable of running successful experiments for molecular dynamics.