Numerical Computing with IEEE Floating Point Arithmetic

Rating:
Summary: Informative, and even entertaining
Review: A computer scientist friend told me he was surprised to see a whole book devoted to the IEEE arithmetic standard. What surprised me was how much I enjoyed reading it, despite the great potential for boring details in such a topic. The author wastes no words and provides a wealth of examples and exercises. Unlike another reviewer, I have no connection with computer architecture: I'm "just a user" who writes Fortran programs. But I've always wondered just what the ubiquitous IEEE standard was all about, and this book satisfied my curiosity.

Rating:
Summary: Much Better Than the Title
Review: A remarkably good monograph. The worst thing about the book is its title, which conjures up images of tedious standards documents. The book covers many aspects of floating point calculations including their interaction with higher level language, hardware, numerical analysis, and intercomputer portability. The book is lively, clear, and informative; full of instructive examples. Best of all, it is not too long. If a book gives me one good idea, I consider it a good buy. This is a cornucopia of useful ideas. I teach computer architecture and my students will be seeing--this semester-- the results of my reading of this fine book.