From the reviews of the third edition:

“A Primer on Scientific Programming with Python simultaneously introduces us to the Python programming language and its use in scientific computing. … The reader will learn good Python programming style from the Primer. The book will often present a direct solution using only the most basic language features … . Those of us who have learned scientific programming in Python ‘on the streets’ could be a little jealous of students who have the opportunity to take a course out of Langtangen’s Primer.” (John D. Cook, The Mathematical Association of America, September, 2011)

“This voluminous book offers an excellent and detailed explanation of programming paradigms and mathematical lexicons. … The author includes many programs, explanations, and exercises. … This book will prove very useful for mathematicians and statisticians. … I definitely recommend this book to university students for a six-month course or classroom discussions. If someone wants to quickly learn Python concepts, it can be used as a reference.” (Naga Narayanaswamy, ACM Computing Reviews, February, 2013)