"This is a phenomenal effort. Virtualy anyone involved in scientific computing, from engineers, to physicists, to social scientists, will find information and methods applicable to their specific needs, or helpful subroutines that can be inserted into the reader's existing programs....No matter what language you program in, these packages are classics, both as a textbook or reference. They are an essential and valuable addition to the academic, professional, or personal library."

--Internet

"Anyone who writes (or is curious about) computer codes to solve many of the common numerical problems in science and engineering will want to own this large book. The writing is authoritative (two of the authors have published first-rate research in writing code for astrophysics problems), but never dull. Flashes of humor appear at regular intervals, in the appropriate places, and as hard as it may be to believe, this book is interesting even as casual reading! I recommend this book highly, and both the authors and the publisher are to be commended for an outstanding piece of work."

--Paul J. Nahin, Science Books and Films

"This encyclopedic book should be read (or at least owned) not only by those who must roll their own numerical methods, but by all who must use prepackaged programs."

--Mike Holderness, New Scientist

Cambridge University Press
March, 2000

This is the greatly revised and greatly expanded Second Edition of the hugely popular Numerical Recipes: The Art of Scientific Computing. The product of a unique collaboration among four leading scientists in academic research and industry Numerical Recipes is a complete text and reference book on scientific computing. In a self-contained manner it proceeds from mathematical and theoretical considerations to actual practical computer routines. With over 100 new routines bringing the total to well over 300, plus upgraded versions of the original routines, this new edition remains the most practical, comprehensive handbook of scientific computing available today.

Highlights of the new material include:

• A new chapter on integral equations and inverse methods
• Multigrid and other methods for solving partial differential equations
• Improved random number routines - Wavelet transforms
• The statistical bootstrap method
• A new chapter on "less-numerical" algorithms including compression coding and arbitrary precision arithmetic.

The book retains the informal easy-to-read style that made the first edition so popular, while introducing some more advanced topics. It is an ideal textbook for scientists and engineers and an indispensable reference for anyone who works in scientific computing. The Second Edition is available in FORTRAN, the traditional language for numerical calculations and in the increasingly popular C language.