The computation of special functions is a fundamental aspect of numerical analysis in virtually all areas of engineering and the physical sciences. Because most of these special functions are in the form of infinite series or infinite integrals, their solutions are quite complicated. Fortunately, the difficulty has been lessened considerably by the advent of powerful personal computer hardware and software. Yet, until now, there has been no single-source reference offering comprehensive coverage of the automated computation of special functions.

Computation of Special Functions is a valuable book/software package containing more than 100 original computer programs for the computation of most special functions currently in use. These include many functions commonly omitted from available software packages, such as the Bessel and modified Bessel functions, the Mathieu and modified Mathieu functions, parabolic cylinder functions, and various prolate and oblate spheroidal wave functions. Also, unlike most software packages, this book/disk set gives readers the latitude to modify programs according to special demands of the sophisticated problems they are working on. The authors provide detailed descriptions of the programs algorithms as well as specific information about each program's internal structure.

To facilitate quick reference, each chapter follows the same, three-part format. The first part covers major properties and important formulas needed for computation. The second part of each chapter contains a description of the algorithm or algorithms at the heart of the FORTRAN-77 program in question, and in the third part, the authors tabulate representative results to provide an at-a-glance understanding of the function's behavior as well as a valuable data-check for their computed results.

Computation of Special Functions is an indispensable tool for engineers and physical scientists as well as students involved in advanced research in these fields.