The new and exciting field of computational science, and in particular sim-ulational science, has seen rapid change since the first edition of this book came out. New methods have been found, fresh points of view have emerged, and features hidden so far have been uncovered. Almost all the methods presented in the first addition have seen such a development, though the basics have remained the same. But not just the methods have undergone change, also the algorithms. While the scalar computer was in prevalent use at the time the book was conceived, today pipeline computers are widely used to perform simulations. This brings with it some change in the algorithms. A second edition presents the possibility of incorporating many of these developments. I have tried to pay tribute to as many as possible without writing a new book.
In this second edition several changes have been made to keep the text abreast with developments. Changes have been made in the style of presentation as well as to the contents. Each chapter is now preceded by a brief summary of the contents and concepts of that particular chapter. If you like, it is the chapter in a nutshell. It is hoped that by condensing a chapter to the main points the reader will find a quick way into the presented material.
Many new exercises have been added to help to improve understanding of the methods. Many new applications in the sciences have found their way into the exercises. It should be emphasized here again that it is very important to actually play with the methods. There are so many pitfalls one can fall into. The exercises are at least one way to confront the material.
Several changes have been made to the content of the text. Almost all chapters have been enriched with new developments, which are too numerous to list. Perhaps the most visible is the addition of a new section on the error analysis of simulation data.
It is a pleasure to thank all students and colleagues for their discussions, especially the students I taught in the summer of 1988 at the University of Lisbon.
