Capsule Description

Computational Science is a quickly emerging field at the intersection of the sciences, computer science, and mathematics because much scientific investigation now involves computing as well as theory and experiment.  However, limited educational materials exist.  Introduction to Computational Science: Modeling and Simulation for the Sciences fills this void with a flexible, readable textbook that assumes only a background in high school algebra and enables instructors to follow several pathways through the material.

The text embraces two major approaches to computational science problems:  system dynamics models with their global views of major systems that change with time and cellular automaton simulations with their local views of individuals affecting individuals.    Other topics comprise rate of change, errors, simulation techniques, empirical modeling, and an introduction to high performance computing.  While the text is generic, an extensive author-generated website contains tutorials and files in a variety of software packages to accompany the text.  Typically, an instructor selects one system dynamics tool (such as STELLA; Vensim PLE, which is free for personal and educational use; or Berkeley Madonna) and one computational tool (such as Maple, Mathematica, MATLAB, or Excel) for class use.

The numerous examples, exercises, and projects explore science applications.  Moreover, the text covers and consistently employs the modeling process in examples.  Quick Review Questions and answers give immediate feedback to reinforce a student's understanding of the material.  Two chapters of ten modules each provide additional, substantial projects for students to develop individually or in teams.  Reference sections for most modules and a glossary are also included.