Fundamentals of Matrix Computations

by David S. Watkins

Book Overview

Offered here is an unintimidating introduction to the basic matrix computations of science and engineering. Topics include the solution of linear equations by Gaussian elimination and the related LU decomposition, the QR decomposition and the least squares problem, eigen-system computations, and the singular value decomposition. Algorithms are introduced early in the discussion of each major topic, which allows students to start programming right...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471614149
• ISBN13: 9780471614142
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 449 Pages
• Weight: 2.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.3" x 10.2"

Customer Reviews

Awesome book

I used this book to learn iterative methods and absolutely loved it. The explanations are clear and the coverage of techniques is very comprehensive. The chapters on SVD (see cover illustration) and eigenvalue decomposition are also very well explained. I found it to be engaging and more approachable for a novice than Golub and van Loan (which by the way, you *should* read after reading Watkins :-))

good, but not the best

when i first saw this book, i was very excited. i would have rated it 5 stars at that time. It's a much easier read than Golub's "matrix computations" and Demmel's "Applied Numerical Linear Algebra".but then I saw Trefethen and Bau's "Numerical Linear Algebra", and I was totally amazed by that book. By comparison, this book by Watkins can only be rated 4 stars. It just doesn't match up to Trefethen's book in terms of elegance, smoothness, intuitiveness, and more importantly, focusing on the essence instead of being buried in the details.if you are really interested in the topic of matrix computation, I suggest you start with Trefethen's book, and use Golub's book as reference later on.

interesting alternative to golub/van loan

This book is not that famous as the golub/van loan bible but it is more than competitive. Especially for undergraduate or even graduate students who want to become familiar with computational aspects of linear algebra the bible might be to compact; watkins gives one more help to understand the main ideas.