Book excerpt: A convenient single source for vital mathematical concepts, writtenby engineers and for engineers. Builds a strong foundation in modern applied mathematics forengineering students, and offers them a concise and comprehensivetreatment that summarizes and unifies their mathematical knowledgeusing a system focused on basic concepts rather than exhaustivetheorems and proofs. The authors provide several levels of explanation and exercisesinvolving increasing degrees of mathematical difficulty to recalland develop basic topics such as calculus, determinants, Gaussianelimination, differential equations, and functions of a complexvariable. They include an assortment of examples ranging fromsimple illustrations to highly involved problems as well as anumber of applications that demonstrate the concepts and methodsdiscussed throughout the book. This broad treatment also offers:*Key mathematical tools needed by engineers working incommunications, semiconductor device simulation, and control theory* Concise coverage of fundamental concepts such as sets, mappings,and linearity * Thorough discussion of topics such as distance,inner product, and orthogonality * Essentials of operatorequations, theory of approximations, transform methods, and partialdifferential equationsIt makes an excellent companion to lessgeneral engineering texts and a useful reference for practitioners.