diff --git a/History.txt b/History.txt
index e2d03e6..2396c84 100644
--- a/History.txt
+++ b/History.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+== 2.0.1 / 2008-02-21
+
+* 1 minor enhancement
+  * Added block usage to Matlab::Engine.new
+  
 == 2.0.0 / 2008-01-03
 
 * 1 bug fix
diff --git a/README.txt b/README.txt
index fe653f1..6f75aab 100644
--- a/README.txt
+++ b/README.txt
@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@ A Ruby interface to the MATLAB interpreted language.
   
   engine.save "/tmp/20_x_400_matrix"
   engine.close
+  
+  # May also use block syntax for new
+  Matlab::Engine.new do |engine|
+    engine.put_variable "x", 123.456
+    engine.get_variable "x"
+  end
 
 == REQUIREMENTS:
 
diff --git a/lib/matlab/engine.rb b/lib/matlab/engine.rb
index 1addc58..83ac62b 100644
--- a/lib/matlab/engine.rb
+++ b/lib/matlab/engine.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,12 @@ module Matlab
   #   p engine.get_variable "z"
   #
   #   engine.close
+  # 
+  #   # May also use block syntax for new
+  #   Matlab::Engine.new do |engine|
+  #     engine.put_variable "x", 123.456
+  #     engine.get_variable "x"
+  #   end
   #
   # Values are sent to and from MATLAB by calling a method on the
   # engine with the variable name of interest.
@@ -28,6 +34,14 @@ def initialize(command = "matlab -nodesktop -nosplash", options = {})
       load_driver(options[:driver])
       
       @handle = @driver.open(command)
+      
+      if block_given?
+        begin
+          yield self
+        ensure
+          close
+        end
+      end
     end
     
     # Sends the given string to MATLAB to be evaluated