Essential MATLAB for Engineers and Scientists 3rd Edition

Essential MATLAB Contents

Part I Essentials

• Introduction
• MATLAB fundamentals
• Program design and algorithm development
• MATLAB functions & *data import-export utilities
• Logical vectors
• Matrices of numbers & arrays of strings
• Introduction to graphics
• Loops
• Errors and pitfalls
• Function M-files
• Vectors as arrays & *advanced data structures
• More graphics
• Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs)

Part II Applications

• Dynamical systems
• Simulation
• More matrices
• Introduction to numerical methods

Preface to Essential MATLAB for Engineers and Scientists

The main purpose of planning the third edition of this book was to upgrade it to cover the latest version of MATLAB (Version 7.2 Release 2006a).

The other purpose was to maintain the objectives of the late Brian D. Hahn as stated in the prefaces of the first and second edition.

In his prefaces to the first and second edition, he pointed out the following: This book presents the MATLAB computer programming system as a problem-solving tool for scientists and engineers who have no prior knowledge of computer programming.

It is based on a teach-yourself approach; readers are frequently invited to experiment for themselves in order to discover how particular constructs work. The text was originally written as a companion to a hands-on course at the University of Cape Town.

Most of the students taking the course had little or no computing experience and came from disadvantaged backgrounds. Consequently, the book assumes that readers have no knowledge of computing, unlike most similar books on MATLAB.

MATLAB is based on the mathematical concept of a matrix. Again, unlike most comparable books, this text does not assume any knowledge of matrices on the part of the reader; in fact, the concept is developed gradually, as the context requires it.

Since the book is written primarily for scientists and engineers, some of the examples of necessity involve some first-year university mathematics, particularly in the last chapter.

However, these examples are self-contained, and omitting them will not detract from the development of your programming skills.

MATLAB can be used in two distinct modes. In keeping with the present age’s craving for instant gratification, it offers immediate execution of statements, or even groups of statements, in the Command Window. For the more patient, it also offers conventional programming by means of script files. This book makes good use of both modes.

On the one hand, it encourages the use of cut-and paste techniques to take full advantage of the interactive Windows environment, while on the other hand also stressing programming principles and algorithm development, with the help of structure plans.

Although most of MATLAB’s basic features are covered, the book is neither an exhaustive nor systematic reference manual, since this would not be in keeping with its informal style

. Constructs, such as for and if, are not therefore always introduced in their most general form initially, as is common in many texts, but rather more gradually in the most natural places throughout the book.

On the other hand, many texts present these constructs somewhat superficially; this book attempts to discuss them thoroughly.

For the curious, there are helpful syntax and function quick references in the appendices. MATLAB by its nature lends itself to a number of pitfalls for the unwary beginner. The text warns the user of these wherever possible.

The fundamentals of MATLAB are motivated throughout with many examples, from a number of different scientific and engineering areas, such as simulation, population modeling, and numerical methods, as well as from business and everyday life.

Beginners, as well as experienced programmers wishing to learn MATLAB as an additional language, will, therefore, find plenty of interest in the book.

Emphasis is also placed on programming style throughout the book—writing clear and readable code. Each chapter concludes with a summary of the MATLAB features introduced in the chapter.

There is a large collection of exercises at the end of each chapter, gleaned from the author’s many years’ experience of running hands-on programming courses for beginners and professionals alike, in BASIC, Pascal, C, C++, and MATLAB.

Complete solutions to many of the exercises appear in an appendix. There is a comprehensive and instructive index. For the second edition, in working my way through Version 6, I found so many interesting new features (for example, GUIs) that I was unable to resist incorporating most of them into the text. Consequently, I decided to split the book into two parts.

Part I contains what I consider to be the real essentials; Part II has everything else. In this edition I have attempted to retain the style and approach of the first edition: informal, aimed at beginners, and with plenty of examples from science and engineering.

Several of the chapters from the previous editions, which feature the essential elements of MATLAB, have been brought together to form Part 1. In addition, I have added two new chapters.

These are Chapters 3 and 14. Chapter 3 describes a structured step-by-step method to achieve the top-down design and algorithm development. The steps in the design process are applied in several examples.

The intention is to get students thinking about how they need to formulate a problem to successfully utilize MATLAB. Chapter 14 on Dynamical Systems provides straightforward applications of the tools described and examined in the first 10 chapters.

The problems solved are on relatively simple dynamical systems of engineering and scientific interest. Since this book is an introductory course on MATLAB, a tool for technical computing, the examples are mathematical formulations of problems from first courses in science and engineering.

The purpose of the text is to provide instruction on how to solve the mathematical problems needed to gain insight into science and engineering. Thus, these eleven chapters (skipping over the sections marked with an asterisk) are sufficient for the first course in MATLAB.

(For the computer and programming-calculator wise students, the chapters on more advanced topics should help them get into the application of MATLAB to solve the more complex problems confronted in upper-division courses at university and, subsequently, on the job.)

This book can be used as a course textbook or for student self-study. For the latter, it is a useful supplemental text for any course in science and engineering.

The instructor, of course, provides the necessary encouragement, enthusiasm, and guidance to help the student begin to learn the power of MATLAB to solve numerous problems that engineers and scientists formulate in terms of mathematics and, hence, help the student begin to master MATLAB.

The book is written as a sequence of exercises, and the reader would benefit from doing the exercises within the text as well as doing some of the exercises at the end of the chapters. To the student: I recommend that you read the text while you are at your computer so that you can do the exercises with MATLAB.

It will be useful and fun for you to go through the exercises with the purpose of discovering how MATLAB does what it is commanded by you to do. You learn how to use a tool like MATLAB through hands-on experience.

This, of course, is a good thing because it is quite pleasurable to learn by doing and, hence, discover how to use MATLAB to enhance your learning of engineering and science by tapping the wealth of capability at your disposal in MATLAB.

You will discover immediately that computer tools produce correct answers only when commands and input data are accurate and correct (no typographical errors are tolerated). ‘Debugging’ finding the errors in your typed command lines is a big part of the game that is played when you create computer programs to solve your technical problems.

Going from the development of a structured-plan to the translation of your plan into a series of commands in MATLAB, debugging and, ultimately getting answers is very rewarding as you will discover.

Enjoy! On-line supplements: In addition to the material covered in the text, for the instructors who adopt the text and for students who purchase the text, there is a website that provides a set of examples on a variety of topics as well as exercises, further problems and Powerpoint slides to help instructors, students and self-learners discover the wealth of capabilities of MATLAB.

Go to www.textbooks.elsevier.com for more information. I wish to acknowledge the support of Mary and Clara and dedicate this book to them.

Essential MATLAB for Engineers and Scientists PDF

Author(s): Brian D. Hahn; Daniel T Valentine

Publisher: Academic Press, Year: 2019

ISBN: 0081029977, 9780081029978

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