The numerical solving of linear and partial differential equations is a subject that Cheney and Kincaid’s Numerical Mathematics and Computing discusses thoroughly.  We have yet to cover it in class, but I feel it is one of the most important fields of numerical computation.  Finite element analysis is a significant and widely used application of […]

Many of us have seen Fourier analysis before and may note that it can seem complicated at first glance, but it is comforting to realize that it is well suited to computational solutions. This is the purpose of Discrete Fourier Transforms (DFT), which allow us to reap the virtues of Fourier analysis without the […]

Most of us have discovered by now how useful root-finding algorithms can be in rendering surfaces to create images.  Newton’s root-finding method, however, is also often used to create beautiful and varied images by generating fractals.
            Fractals, made famous by Benoit Mandelbrot, are mathematically generated images with patterns of self similarity that cannot be described […]