Applied numerical linear algebra /

Demmel (computer science, Univ. of California, Berkeley) is best known for his work on the LAPACK and ScaLAPACK libraries of numerical linear algebra software (E. Anderson, Z. Bai, C. Bischof, J. Demmel, and J. Dongarra, LAPACK Users' Guide, 2nd ed., 1995; L.S. Blackford, J. Choi, A. Cleary, E. D'Azevedo, and J. Demmel, ScaLAPACK User's Guide, 1997). Demmel writes at a graduate level on numerical linear algebra. Topics include iterative and direct methods for linear systems of equations, least squares problems, eigenvalue problems, and singular value problems. The strongest aspect of the book is its balanced introduction to theory, algorithms, and available software. Compare Demmel with the standard work by G. Golub and C. Van Loan, Matrix Computations (3rd ed., 1996). These latter authors cover a very wide range of topics in a way that makes their book a very useful reference. Demmel offers a smaller number of topics but focuses on the most important, and provides a more readable introduction for beginners. Graduates through professionals. B. Borchers New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology