This book offers an introduction to the algorithmic-numerical thinking using basic problems of linear algebra. By focusing on linear algebra, it ensures a stronger thematic coherence than is otherwise found in introductory lectures on numerics. The book highlights the usefulness of matrix partitioning compared to a component view, leading not only to a clearer notation and shorter algorithms, but also to significant runtime gains in modern computer architectures. The algorithms and accompanying numerical examples are given in the programming environment MATLAB, and additionally – in an appendix – in the future-oriented, freely accessible programming language Julia. This book is suitable for a two-hour lecture on numerical linear algebra from the second semester of a bachelor's degree in mathematics.

Folkmar Bornemann is Professor for Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing at the Technical University of Munich.