A First Course in Computational Physics Receives Great Review in Computing in Science & Engineering Magazine

A First Course in Computational Physics, Second Edition, by Paul L. DeVries and Javier E. Hasbun, was recently reviewed in the IEEE Computer Society bi-monthly magazine, Computing in Science & Engineering.

Reviewer Eric Ayars is an associate professor of physics at California State University, Chico, and had this to say about the text's readability:

By far, the book's best feature is the delightfully clear and understandable explanations of the more complicated aspects of computational physics. The authors' explanation of the fast Fourier transform (FFT), for example, quickly and easily explains its function, why it requires that the number of samples be a power of two, and why it's so much faster than the discrete Fourier transform. Although I've been teaching computational physics for years, their explanation is so clear that it made me realize that I hadn't yet fully grasped the technique's elegance.

Professor Ayars commented about the fact that the text is designed around the use of Matlab®, however, he says,

In my opinion, the text's biggest weakness is that it's written around Matlab, which is an expensive and proprietary software package. However, the authors rarely do anything that requires Matlab, so it's possible to work around this issue...The book's best qualities don't depend on the Matlab examples, and libraries exist for other languages that allow the same functionality as Matlab. It's an excellent book, and well deserving of serious consideration for any computational physics course.

Read the full article by visiting Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Provide Your Students with an Accessible Introduction to DISCRETE MATHEMATICS with Modern Applications!

New for Your Discrete Mathematics Course!

Essentials of Discrete Mathematics  SECOND EDITION David Hunter, Westmont College ISBN: 978-1-4496-0442-6 Hardcover- 494 pp - © 2012

Essentials of Discrete Mathematics, Second Edition is the ideal text for a one-term discrete mathematics course to serve computer science majors as well as students from a wide range of other disciplines.  It introduces students to the mathematical way of thinking, and to many important modern applications.  The material is organized around five types of thinking: logical, relational, recursive, quantitative, and analytical. This presentation results in a coherent outline that steadily builds upon mathematical sophistication. New and Key Features of the Second Edition include: One-term focus. Early introduction to graph theory A range of exercises designed to help students think mathematically, with over 100 new exercises Careful attention to mathematical logic and proof techniques. Coverage of algorithms appropriate for computer science majors, as well as students with no previous programming experience Completely revised and expanded solutions at the end of the text. A wealth of applications, including many applications from areas beyond mathematics and computer science.   Additional Resources include: WebAssign Homework & Grading System Instructor Solutions Manual PowerPoint Lecture Slides Table of Contents: Chapter  1  Logical Thinking Chapter  2  Relational Thinking Chapter  3  Recursive Thinking Chapter  4  Quantitative Thinking Chapter  5  Analytical Thinking Chapter  6  Thinking Through Applications

New AutoCAD® 2011 Resources for Mastery of AutoCAD Training Levels

Jones & Bartlett Learning is pleased to offer three new resources to aid in mastering three levels of AutoCAD software training; introductory 2D AutoCAD, advanced 2D AutoCAD, and 3D modeling with AutoCAD.  All three books are written by Munir Hamad, an AutoDesk Approved Instructor, certified AutoDesk AutoCAD Master, and engineering software specialist who has taught the varying levels of AutoCAD training.

This collection of AutoCAD^® 2011 texts provides new and seasoned users with simple step-by-step procedures on how to create, modify, annotate, and add dimension to any engineering drawing. These invaluable resources are designed for novice users of AutoCAD 2011, as they do not require the reader to have previous CAD experience.

“What makes these resources stand out from the competition is the inclusion of both English and metric units in all the examples, exercises, projects and descriptions,” said Tim Anderson, Sr. Acquisitions Editor with Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Every new copy is accompanied by a DVD that contains all of the book's figures in color and a trial version of AutoCAD^® 2011, which allows the user to set up all the drawing lessons and projects from the books.

Three new AutoCAD 2011 Resources from Jones & Bartlett Learning:

• AutoCAD^® 2011 Essentials (9780763797980), MSRP: $49.95
• AutoCAD^® 2011 Essentials, Comprehensive Edition (9780763798000),
  MSRP: $59.95
• AutoCAD^® 2011 3D Modeling Essentials (9780763797966) , MSRP: $49.95

Visit Jones & Bartlett at Booth 342 at ASEE in Louiseville, KY

Will you be attending the 117th annual ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education) Conference and Expo in Louisville, KY June 20-23?  If so, be sure to visit us at booth #342 where we will be featuring our new titles: Applied and Computational Fluid Mechanics, Digital Signal Processing Using MATLAB and Wavelets Second Edition, AutoCAD 2011 Essentials and Comprehensive Edition, The Essence of Materials for Engineers, and Zill's Fourth Edition of Advanced Engineering Mathematics (available with WebAssign!).

The Essence of Materials is the ideal text for your introductory materials science course.All of our titles are designed to introduce the necessary theory, but also provide your students with examples and applications from industry. Also, most of our titles are accompanied by software and student & instructor resources to help illustrate and enhance the content.

Qualified instructors are encouraged to request review copies at the show, or as always directly from our site www.jblearning.com.  As an added incentive for attending we are offering 20% off the list price on all our featured titles!  But in case you are unable to attend, just use coupon code ASEE2010 at checkout when purchasing dircetly from our site.  Enjoy the conference and we hope to see you there!

Video: Surface Modeling Techniques Part 1, Using Pro/Engineer

This video is from Leo Greene of ECognition.

The topic of "Surface Modeling" is rather broad and somewhat ambiguous. In this three part series we will explore a number of the options and usefulness of the Surface Modeling methodology using Pro/ENGINEER. A short list of the topics covered in this first part are: * Curve from File - IBL (What is in IBL file anyway?) Download Surf-01.ibl * Curve edit / Sparse Curve * Part Accuracy * Model Volume * Copy/Paste "Special" * Boundary Blend * 3D Sketching * Surf Intersect * Shade Quality * Silhouette Edge Display.

For a more comprehensive look into Pro/ENGINEER® including the functionality, technical configuration, and installation, check out Jones & Bartlett Learning's recently published Pro/ENGINEER® Wildfire® 4.0 Essentials.