Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles . This book gives an introduction to numerical analysis, and it is intended for use by undergraduates in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering. With this background, the book can be used for a sophomore-level course in numerical analysis. The last two chapters of the textbook are on numerical methods for linear algebra and ordinary differential equations. A background in these subjects would be helpful, but these chapters include the necessary theoretical material.
Students taking a course in numerical analysis do so for a variety of reasons.
Some will need it in other subjects, in research, or in their careers. Others will be taking it to broaden their knowledge of computing. When I teach this course, I have several objectives for the students. Second, they should gain some appreciation of the concept of error and of the need to analyze and predict it. And third, they should develop some experience in the implementation of numerical methods using a computer.