The book serves as a first introduction to computer programming of scientific applications
using the high-level Python language. The exposition is example and problem-oriented where the
applications are taken from mathematics numerical calculus statistics physics biology and
finance. The book teaches Matlab-style and procedural programming as well as object-oriented
programming. High school mathematics is a required background and it is advantageous to study
classical and numerical one-variable calculus in parallel with reading this book. Besides
learning how to program computers the reader will also learn how to solve mathematical
problems arising in various branches of science and engineering with the aid of numerical
methods and programming. By blending programming mathematics and scientific applications the
book lays a solid foundation for practicing computational science. From the reviews: Langtangen
... does an excellent job of introducing programming as a set of skills in problem solving. He
guides the reader into thinking properly about producing program logic and data structures for
modeling real-world problems using objects and functions and embracing the object-oriented
paradigm. ... Summing Up: Highly recommended. F. H. Wild III Choice Vol. 47 (8) April 2010
Those of us who have learned scientific programming in Python 'on the streets' could be a
little jealous of students who have the opportunity to take a course out of Langtangen's
Primer. John D. Cook The Mathematical Association of America September 2011 This book goes
through Python in particular and programming in general via tasks that scientists will likely
perform. It contains valuable information for students new to scientific computing and would be
the perfect bridge between an introduction to programming and an advanced course on numerical
methods or computational science. Alex Small IEEE CiSE Vol. 14 (2) March¿ April 2012 This
fourth edition is a wonderful inclusive textbook that covers pretty much everything one needs
to know to go from zero to fairly sophisticated scientific programming in Python... Joan
Horvath Computing Reviews March 2015
