References

I have decided not to ask you to purchase a textbook for the course, because I will tend to hand out notes to cover the bulk of the background material. However, you will doubtless want to supplement these notes, particularly when it comes to projects.

Three years ago we used P. DeVries, A First Course in Computational Physics. This book provides a very readable introduction to lots of basic things, and makes sure to get some physics into each chapter, although the emphasis is not as "physical" as in the book by Gould and Tobochnik. I will lean on DeVries for some of the early material of the course, and place a copy on reserve in the library.

H. Gould and J. Tobochnik, An Introduction to Computer Simulation Methods, Second Edition (Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1996). This book takes a practical, hands-on approach and has a fabulous wealth of topics and projects. It is a little light on the theory of computation, especially compared to most introductory texts in this field. However, Gould and Tobochnik put the emphasis squarely on the physics and write in a way that invites you to explore on your own.

I also highly recommend you have a glance at W. H. Press, B. P. Flannery, S. A. Teukolsky, and W. T. Vetterling, Numerical Recipes, which has grown to be almost a Bible for working scientists. Many commercial programs (Igor, Origin, etc.) advertise that their routines implement those described in Numerical Recipes. The approach is a bit less transparent than DeVries, but it is deeper and broader.

Those who speak MATLAB may be interested in A. L. Garcia, Numerical Methods for Physics, which features many example MATLAB codes.

H. Gould and J. Tobochnik, An Introduction to Computer Simulation Methods, Second Edition (Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1996),
D. W. Heermann, Computer Simulation Methods in Theoretical Physics, Second Edition (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1990).

The following is a list of references for Physics 170, arranged alphabetically. Some of these books should be available on two-hour reserve at Sprague. Other references will be put on reserve as needed. The books preceded by an asterisk will be especially useful to you.

Acton: Numerical Methods that Work, Harper and Row, 1970. A very readable discussion of some pitfalls and workable approaches in numerical computing. Still valuable in spite of its age. See also Real Computing Made Real, Princeton, 1996. Invaluable methods and tips by a master.
Borse: Numerical Methods with MATLAB, PWS 1997. Good MATLAB examples on the net.
Burden and Faires: Numerical Analysis, PWS-Kent 1989. A good standard treatment.
Garcia: Numerical Methods for Physics, Prentice Hall 1994. Good problems and, like Borse, examples using FORTRAN and MATLAB on the network for you to examine and use.
Giordano: Computational Physics, Prentice Hall, 1997.
Golub and Ortega: Scientific Computing and Differential Equations; Introduction to Numerical Methods, Academic Press 1992.
Harrison: Computational Methods in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology: An Introduction, Wiley, 2001.
Kahaner, Moler, and Nash: Numerical Methods and Software, Prentice Hall. Standard text.
Koonin: Computational Physics, Benjamin Cummings, 1986. Probably the best and most advanced treatment of most of the main physics topics of the course. A disk of Basic or FORTRAN program examples is included.
Lindfield, Penny: Numerical Methods using MATLAB, Ellis Horwood 1995. Very good and detailed numerical analysis examples.
Merrill: Using Computers in Physics, Houghton Mifflin, 1976. A clear and concise survey of many applications. OK, but dated.
Press, Flannery, Teukolsky, Vetterling: Numerical Recipes, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1992. Outstanding and popular collection of numerical algorithms. You should get familiar with this reference, but it’s often criticized for lack of robust input/output checking and error notification.
Stauffer: Introduction to Percolation Theory, Taylor & Francis (1985). An interesting and enjoyable introduction by one of the originators of the field.
Stoer and Bulirsch: Introduction to Numerical Analysis, Springer Verlag, New York 1980. A very well regarded work; some classic and standard methods.
Thompson: Computing for Scientist and Engineers, Wiley 1992. A good guide to algorithms and machine dependency.