Numerical Analysis

The Grass so little has to do,
I wish I were a Hay –

About

Notes for an undergraduate course in applied mathematics (3rd or 4th year). These are divided into a review and four main units:

0. Review
1. Linear Algebra
2. Approximating Functions
3. Root-Finding
4. Calculus and Differential Equations

Previously, the course loosely followed Kincaid and Cheney’s Numerical Analysis: Mathematics of Scientific Computing (3rd edition) and so we occasionally take cues from that text.

Acknowledgments

Work primarily funded by:

• The University of Rochester Libraries: Open Educational Resources grant.
• The University of Rochester Teaching Center: College Course Development Fellowship and Student Course Development Project.

These funds supported the main student contributors.

• Yuankun (Kunko) Zou ’27
• John Nguyen ’25
• Yu Xin ’25

The preparation of these notes benefited greatly from the comments and suggestions of the Math 280W students at the University of Rochester.

License

This open educational resource is available for use under the CC-BY-NC-SA license. We believe strongly that educational material should be free and accessible.

The notes are being edited, expanded, and posted here during first use in a course this semester (Fall 2025). A complete version, along with its cleaned up source files, will be available by the end of December 2025.

Please feel free to write to me with questions or comments!!