Approximation Theory and Approximation Practice is a textbook on classical polynomial and rational approximation theory for the twenty-first century. It is aimed at advanced undergraduates and graduate students across all of applied mathematics.
This book differs fundamentally from other works on approximation theory:
The emphasis is on topics close to numerical algorithms.
-Everything is illustrated with Chebfun.
-Each chapter is a PUBLISHable Matlab M-file, available online.
-The emphasis is on theorems and methods for analytic functions, which appear so often in applications, rather than on functions at the edge of discontinuity with their seductive theoretical challenges.
-Original sources are cited rather than textbooks, and each item in the bibliography is accompanied by an editorial comment.
Nick Trefethen is Professor of Numerical Analysis at Oxford University and a Fellow of the Royal Society. During 2011–2012 he served as President of SIAM.