An accessible yet rigorous mathematical introduction, this book provides a pedagogical account of the fundamentals of numerical analysis. The authors thoroughly explain basic concepts, such as discretization, error, efficiency, complexity, numerical stability, consistency, and convergence. The text also addresses more complex topics like intrinsic error limits and the effect of smoothness on the accuracy of approximation in the context of Chebyshev interpolation, Gaussian quadratures, and spectral methods for differential equations. Another advanced subject discussed, the method of difference potentials, employs discrete analogues of Calderon’s potentials and boundary projection operators. The authors often delineate various techniques through exercises that require further theoretical study or computer implementation.

By lucidly presenting the central mathematical concepts of numerical methods, A Theoretical Introduction to Numerical Analysis provides a foundational link to more specialized computational work in fluid dynamics, acoustics, and electromagnetism.