Computers and computation are extremely important components of physics and should be integral parts of a physicist's education. Furthermore, computational 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. Topics 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 the review published in Computing in Science & Engineering magazine, March/April 2011 (Vol. 13, No. 2) 2011 IEEE, Published by the IEEE Computer Society
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Für höhere Schule und Studium
Für Beruf und Forschung
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ISBN-13
978-0-7637-7314-4 (9780763773144)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Paul L. DeVries received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, and is currently a Professor of Physics at MiamiUniversity in Oxford, Ohio.' He is actively involved with liberal education and the Honors program, and regularly teaches courses in Astronomy, and the History of Astronomy, to liberal arts students.' However, his primary interests are in computational physics, including image analysis, and in teaching the art of computational physics to the next generation of physicists.' Javier E. Hasbun has a PhD in physics from the State University of New York at Albany. He is a professor of physics at the University of West Georgia where he has been teaching physics for the past 15 years. He is a member of the American Physical Society, Sigma Xi Scientific Research Soceity, and the Georgia Academy of Science. He has over 30 publications in professional journals and over 70 presentations dealing with teaching and/or research in physics.
