Haskell
Number of characters: 182
No attempt at cleverness, just some compression: 4 lines, 312 bytes.
import Data.Char;import Text.ParserCombinators.Parsec
q=either(error.show)id.runParser t id"".filter(' '/=);t=do
s<-getState;a<-fmap read(many1$oneOf".-"<|>digit)<|>between(char '('>>setState id)(char ')'>>setState s)t
option(s a)$choice(zipWith(\c o->char c>>return(o$s a))"+-*/"[(+),(-),(*),(/)])>>=setState>>t
And now, really getting into the golf spirit, 3 lines and 182 bytes:
q=snd.(`e`id).filter(' '/=)
e s c|[(f,h)]<-readsPrec 0 s=g h(c f);e('(':s)c=g h(c f)where(')':h,f)=e s id
g('+':h)=e h.(+);g('-':h)=e h.(-);g('*':h)=e h.(*);g('/':h)=e h.(/);g h=(,)h
Exploded:
-- Strip spaces from the input, evaluate with empty accumulator,
-- and output the second field of the result.
q :: String -> Double
q = snd . flip eval id . filter (not . isSpace)
-- eval takes a string and an accumulator, and returns
-- the final value and what’s left unused from the string.
eval :: (Fractional a, Read a) => String -> (a -> a) -> (String, a)
-- If the beginning of the string parses as a number, add it to the accumulator,
-- then try to read an operator and further.
eval str accum | [(num, rest)] <- readsPrec 0 str = oper rest (accum num)
-- If the string starts parentheses, evaluate the inside with a fresh
-- accumulator, and continue after the closing paren.
eval ('(':str) accum = oper rest (accum num) where (')':rest, num) = eval str id
-- oper takes a string and current value, and tries to read an operator
-- to apply to the value. If there is none, it’s okay.
oper :: (Fractional a, Read a) => String -> a -> (String, a)
-- Handle operations by giving eval a pre-seeded accumulator.
oper ('+':str) num = eval str (num +)
oper ('-':str) num = eval str (num -)
oper ('*':str) num = eval str (num *)
oper ('/':str) num = eval str (num /)
-- If there’s no operation parsable, just return.
oper str num = (str, num)
