The problem of unsteady flow and heat transfer in the laminar boundary layer on a linearly accelerating surface with suction or blowing in the absence and presence of a heat source or sink is considered. The governing partial differential equations for this investigation are transformed into the non-dimensional equations by using pseudo-similarity time and pseudo-similarity coordinate. The resulting two points boundary-value problem is solved numerically by the central finite difference method associated with Newton's iteration from the initial stage (xi = 0) to a steady state (xi = 1) completely. A parametric study is performed to illustrate the effects of Prandtl number, power-law surface temperature (PLST) or power-law heat flux (PLHF), heat sink or heat source, and suction or blowing parameter on the dynamic velocity and temperature fields as well as the transient development of the skin-friction coefficients and the Nusselt number. These results are depicted graphically to display special aspects of unsteady flow and heat transfer characteristics in all time. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.