I teach a course in numerical methods approximately every two years and am always looking for "the ideal textbook." At this time I am using "Elementary Numerical Analysis: Third Edition" by Atkinson and Han. I examined this book to determine if it would be a better selection for the course.

This book covers all of the standard fare for the course:



*) Fundamental analysis of computer error

*) Solving linear systems of equations

*) Interpolation and numerical differentiation

*) Numerical integration

*) Solving nonlinear equations

*) Solving systems of nonlinear equations



The quality of the explanations is slightly weaker than in the Atkinson book, there is nothing specific to point to; I just find the Atkinson book more readable. Algorithms in both books are expressed in Matlab code, so there is no real difference there.

In conclusion, while I found that this book is certainly usable and may even be ranked as my second choice, at this time I will not be adopting in for use in my course.