Ranked #41 in Numerical Analysis
Numerical Methods that Work, originally published in 1970, has been reissued by the MAA with a new preface and some additional problems. Acton deals with a commonsense approach to numerical algorithms for the solution of equations: algebraic, transcendental, and differential. He assumes that a computer is available for performing the bulk of the arithmetic. The book is divided into two parts, either of which could form the basis of a one-semester course in numerical methods. Part I discusses most of the standard techniques: roots of transcendental equations, roots of polynomials, eigenvalues... more