This self-contained text is organized along a spiral, revisiting the
general topics of graphics, symbolic computation, and numerical
simulation in greater detail and more depth at each turn of the spiral.
The heart of this text is a large number of computer algebra worksheets
or "recipes" that have been designed using MAPLE (Version 10). No prior
knowledge of MAPLE is assumed. All relevant commands are introduced on a
need-to-know basis and are indexed for easy reference.
Aimed at first- and second-year science and engineering undergraduates,
the presentation is driven by examples from a variety of disciplines to
appeal to students in mathematics, physics, engineering, chemistry,
economics, biology, and pre-medicine. The spiral design allows the book
to be effectively used as a computational science text, with each
section of recipes followed by a set of problems. The book may also be
used for self-study and may form the basis of an on-line course.