Discrete Mathematics with Graph Theory (2nd Edition)

Rating:
Summary: An excellent choice for discrete if your emphasis is graphs
Review: As a teacher of discrete mathematics, I must constantly scan new books in the never-ending search for the best one with appropriate content and level. The course that I teach is required and early in the computer science major. It also provides the mathematical foundation for all of the later computer science courses. Therefore, any book that I use must demonstrate mathematical proofs, but not at too high a level. Coverage of fundamental topics such as propositional logic, sets, relations and functions; basic combinatorics and induction are a requirement.
This book covers these fundamentals at exactly the level of rigor that I need. There are some proofs, but nothing that is beyond the motivated freshman/sophomore who is receiving the appropriate direction. However, I will not be adopting it because of the large amount of graph theory, which is approximately forty percent of the book. In our class we do cover some graph theory, but prefer to spend less time on it than this book would allow. Our department recently added a course in graph theory, so we only need to touch on the basics of graphs in discrete mathematics.
Therefore, while the book is not suitable for my needs, it would be a perfect fit for anyone teaching discrete mathematics where there was an emphasis on graph theory. In fact, the second half of the book could serve as a starter text for our course in graph theory.


Rating:
Summary: DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!!
Review: Discrete math is complex enough for subjects to be explained extensively. That's not at all the case in this book. The explanations are too limited but most importantly, the wide range of expected answers REQUIRES this text to include most of, if not all, the correct answers for its exercises. This should not be a problem in this subject since having the answers would still leave you far from getting shortcuts; you'd still have to know discrete math well to pass a test.
This text was created ONLY to generate profits and lacks of any interest in the student's learning. It even looks like the author cashed-in his check and took a nice long vacation since his companion website is empty.
This book will only waste your money.

Rating:
Summary: DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!!
Review: I actually have the first edition and not this one. However they are both boring. The two do not vary from each other. Don't attempt to read it for fun. It will bore you to death.

Rating:
Summary: BORING
Review: I actually have the first edition and not this one. However they are both boring. The two do not vary from each other. Don't attempt to read it for fun. It will bore you to death.

Rating:
Summary: It's poorly written; too few answers at back of book.
Review: If you want to learn Discrete Mathematics without the help of a professor you're out of luck with this book. There are plenty of exercises to ponder and work in the book which is great, but there are very few answers given in the back of the book so that makes for an unusually bad situation. And I don't think there is an edition for faculty. With this book you'll need an excellent teacher to guide you through this difficult material. And if you're like me, you would rather know that you don't have to rely completely on the professor to answer the millions of questions you will definitely encounter throughout the text because teachers are very busy and usually hard to contact due to their limited office hours. Take it from a college student and don't waste your money on this utterly useless math book if you don't have to do so. It could have been written much better with the aid of a math major who, for the purposes of the book, would have needed to never have been exposed to Discrete Mathematics. Only this kind of person can point out the areas that are unclear. And there quite a number and I'm only on the second chapter.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent but hard!
Review: This book is the best among all the Discrete Math Textbooks that I have ever read. First of all, it is hard! Secondly it is interesting. Thirdly, its ideas are well presented! If there are complete solutions provided, then it would be a perfect book on the subject. One star means best in MY definition and five worst. Just for fun!

Rating:
Summary: it is satisfactory
Review: This text was designed mainly for young university students with the goal of introducing concepts such as induction to as well as, of course, some introductory descrete math and graph theory, with the former (induction, etc.) being as important as the latter. This is not a comprehensive text and was not intended to be so. It is a pleasent bridge to more mathematically correct way of thinking. Proofs are emphasized, not numerical answers (in most sections). Famous proofs are displayed and are incorperated in a non-trivial way. This book is applicable for mathematics and computer science students alike and the questions have a good spread of difficulty. I recommend this book to anyone interested in something more than high school math.