Publisher's Synopsis
Must we learn mathematics as in the 1800s ? If you aspire to be a scientist or an engineer you may be frustrated by the very formal structure of mathematics. In particular, you may find proofs difficult to follow. If you only need to apply mathematics, however, you may take the attitude that proofs are an affair between the professional mathematician and his Creator. You may safely trust the learning of dead mathematicians, since their theorems have been thoroughly verified by those now living. You must first explore the meaning of the main concepts, but from there on you can begin to apply the mathematical knowledge accumulated during the past centuries. This volume illustrates the most important concepts and results of college mathematics in the form of numerical examples. The standard language used is MATLAB(R), chosen for its remarkably simple syntax. While working through the examples you learn a primitive but useful subset of the MATLAB commands. This arsenal suffices to solve large systems of linear equations (even with complex coefficients), calculate derivatives and integrals, and solve ordinary differential equations up to second order. The book starts with elementary arithmetic, algebra, and tri-gonometry, and the final chapters extend the treatise to Fourier analysis. After digesting all the examples you will have gained intuitive and practical understanding of mathematics and are in a position to apply it on your own. In addition, you have become familiar with one of the most popular programs for com-putation.
