Book excerpt: An Introduction to Numerical Methods using MATLAB is designed to be used in any introductory level numerical methods course. It provides excellent coverage of numerical methods while simultaneously demonstrating the general applicability of MATLAB to problem solving. This textbook also provides a reliable source of reference material to practicing engineers, scientists, and students in other junior and senior-level courses where MATLAB can be effectively utilized as a software tool in problem solving. The principal goal of this book is to furnish the background needed to generate numerical solutions to a variety of problems. Specific applications involving root-finding, interpolation, curve-fitting, matrices, derivatives, integrals and differential equations are discussed and the broad applicability of MATLAB demonstrated. This book employs MATLAB as the software and programming environment and provides the user with powerful tools in the solution of numerical problems. Although this book is not meant to be an exhaustive treatise on MATLAB, MATLAB solutions to problems are systematically developed and included throughout the book. MATLAB files and scripts are generated, and examples showing the applicability and use of MATLAB are presented throughout the book. Wherever appropriate, the use of MATLAB functions offering shortcuts and alternatives to otherwise long and tedious numerical solutions is also demonstrated. At the end of every chapter a set of problems is included covering the material presented. A solutions manual to these exercises is available to instructors.