This third book in a suite of four practical guides is an engineer's companion to using numerical methods for the solution of complex mathematical problems. The required software is provided by way of the freeware mathematical library BzzMath that is developed and maintained by the authors. The present volume focuses on optimization and nonlinear systems solution. The book describes numerical methods, innovative techniques and strategies that are all implemented in a well-established, freeware library. Each of these handy guides enables the reader to use and implement standard numerical tools for their work, explaining the theory behind the various functions and problem solvers, and showcasing applications in diverse scientific and engineering fields. Numerous examples, sample codes, programs and applications are proposed and discussed. The book teaches engineers and scientists how to use the latest and most powerful numerical methods for their daily work.

Guido Buzzi-Ferraris is full professor of process systems engineering at Politecnico di Milano, Italy, where he holds two courses: 'Methods and Numerical Applications in Chemical Engineering' and 'Regression Models and Statistics'. He works on numerical analysis, statistics, differential systems, and optimization. He has authored books of international relevance on numerical analysis, such as 'Scientific C++' edited by Addison-Wesley, and over than 200 papers on international magazines. He is the inventor and the developer of BzzMath library, which is currently adopted by academies, R&D groups, and industries. He is permanent member of the 'EFCE Working Party - Computer Aided Process Engineering' since 1969 and editorial advisory board of 'Computers & Chemical Engineering' since 1987.
Flavio Manenti is assistant professor of chemical engineering at Politecnico di Milano, Italy. He obtained his academic degree and PhD at Politecnico di Milano, where he currently collaborates with Professor Buzzi-Ferraris. He holds courses on 'Process Dynamics and Control of Industrial Processes' and 'Supply Chain Optimization' and he works on numerical analysis, process control and optimization. He has also received international scientific awards, such as Memorial Burianec (Prague, CZ) and Excellence in Simulation (Lake Forest, CA, USA), for his research activities and scientific publications.