Scientific computing plays a critically important role in almost all areas of engineering, modeling, and forecasting. The method of finite differences (FD) is a classical tool that is still rapidly evolving, with several key developments barely yet in the literature. Other key aspects of the method, in particular those to do with computations that require high accuracy, often 'fall through the cracks' in many treatises. Bengt Fornberg addresses that failing in this book, which adopts a practical perspective right across the field and is aimed at graduate students, scientists, and educators seeking a follow-up to more typical curriculum-oriented textbooks. The coverage extends from generating FD formulas and applying them to solving ordinary and partial differential equations, to numerical integration, evaluation of infinite sums, approximation of fractional derivatives, and computations in the complex plane.

‘In a journey ranging far wider than the title suggests, Fornberg compels the reader to get fingers on keyboard to explore many areas of modern scientific computing (quadrature, differential equations, complex approximation, fractional derivatives). Written in the author's inimitable 'one-picture-worth-a-thousand-proofs'-style and generously annotated with historical tidbits, this is an enjoyable read from beginning to end.’

J. A. C. Weideman - Stellenbosch University

‘Fornberg is the expert in high-order finite differencing - nobody else could have written this remarkable book.’

Nick Trefethen - Harvard University