Discrete Mathematics and its Applications

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Discrete Math book
Review: This is a very good book on Discrete Math. I have looked at several books and the only other book that comes close to quality is "Discrete Mathematics" by Hein.
To get the most out of this book it is recommended to get the solutions manual. Also the book's website has several useful worked out examples and links. Discrete Math is what computer science is all about and if you don't like Discrete Math then you should stay away from CS.

Rating:
Summary: The right mix of theory and applications.
Review: Textbooks for discrete mathematics define a broad spectrum in terms of the level of difficulty. At the lower end, there are the books that present the theorems, but rarely if ever include a proof. Then, armed with the theorem, it goes on to apply the theorem to solve the appropriate problems. At the higher end, there are the books that follow the theorem-proof design, with a smaller number of applications. This one is at the higher end; there are very few theorems that are not proven.
Following the trend in computer science, the breadth of coverage in discrete mathematics has also increased over the years. This is reflected in the size of the book, the text section, without appendices, solutions and index is almost eight hundred pages. The coverage is complete, and it starts exactly where it should, with logic, basic set theory and functions. After that, there is a chapter on algorithms and matrices, one on proof strategies with induction and recursion, three chapters covering counting principles and discrete probability, and ending with chapters on relations, graphs, trees, Boolean algebra and modeling computation.
The explanations are sound, although the mathematical depth is a bit on the high end, which no doubt explains some of the very negative reviews. There are many exercises at the end of the sections and solutions to the odds are included in an appendix. In my opinion, this is an absolute necessity, I will not even consider a book that doesn't include the solutions to many of the problems. At the end of each chapter there is a set of supplementary exercises, a list of projects to be solved by writing a computer program and a list of suggested writing projects.
What I liked most about the book has nothing to do with the discrete mathematics. The author included a large number of brief biographical sketches of mathematicians. When I was looking the book over for the first time, I paged through the book reading every one the biographical shorts. Nevertheless, this is one of the better books in the field of discrete mathematics, with large amounts of time spent on both the theory and applications, it has just the right mix to satisfy both tastes.


Rating:
Summary: Another Monkey With A Crayon
Review: Discete mathematics is one of those subjects where it's hard to effectively write a text for. However, this book does not solve that problem.

I think the best feature of this book is how the author writes some of the explanations to the problem. For instance: given a function f(x) = 9x+5 and g(x) = 9x+4, which equation is greater if x is greater then 1. The author would attempt to explain it something like this: Clearly 9x is greater then 9x...

Another awesome feature of this book is how the solution manual is done. The explanation is writte in block text to conserve space so you ahve to sit there and copy out the steps out and while you're doing that - parse the text block. Glancing the back of the book for some quick help is probably a 3 hour process of understanding the ridiculous step skipping answer.

Rosen also writes the book like a mathematician. Is there anythign wrong with that? No, not really, not if you're writing for people who already know the topic. In the case of the studeent, it's very very terse.

It's fairly obvious that the editors were so confused by the text that they didn't bother to make suggestions on how to clear up concepts. Terms are used in section 1 of a chapter that aren't defined until section 4 of a chapter. This is especially annoying in chapter 2.

There is absolutely nothing good about this book. In fact, I would have given it a negative star if it was possible. The other annoying thing about the book is the price. I think the rule at universities is 'the crappier the book - the more money you should charge the students'. Why? Because you'll have to find another book to replace it with soon anyaway.

In addition to this book, it's probably recommended that you buy every other Discrete Math book out there to use as an astrological guide to figuiring out the puzzles hidden in the text of this book.

If you're a hobbyist, it's best that you get a good number theory book and figure this out yourself. This book will only confuse, frustrate you, and lead you into insanity.

The most interesting aspect of this book is the stories at the bottom of the pages.

Rating:
Summary: Worst Math book I have ever read....
Review: So far I have taken Calc 1,2,3; Linear Algebra and Statistics and this book is by far is the worst textbook that I have ever read in mathematics. My professor has a separate packet that she uses in conjunction with this textbook. Her packet is way more useful that this piece of ****. I like math and I like computer science but this book cant get the job done at explaining anything. I strongly urge you to look somewhere else regardless of what math level you are at.

Rating:
Summary: Not at all for beginners
Review: They should write boldly on the front cover that this book is for experienced scientists and not students! It does cover a lot of material on the subject but has very poor explanation. It is a total waste of money. If you are new to logic/proofs/graphs as most people are then you'll end up banging your head on the table!

Rating:
Summary: Not a good textbook
Review: This is probably the worst textbook I've ever had. If you don't already know the topics, the book does little to help you learn them. It simply spews theorems and then shows examples. It would be so much more helpful if it explained in "laymans" terms what the theorems meant and how to apply them.

Rating:
Summary: Not for learning much
Review: This book is not very good at demonstrating how to do much of anything except how to confuse people. Would be nice to play with for PHD's and the like, but for the rest of us who dont have all day to look at this **** and try to figure it out....its a waist of time. Wish I could recommend a better text however I cant find one yet! Good Luck all!

Rating:
Summary: Definitely not a good textbook
Review: Attention, students! Don't be fooled by those words like "best book in the field", "unrivaled content."

This book contains lots of examples but NONE of them is interesting. Really. The explanations are too vague. Mr Rosen must be thinking that an "obvious" example needs no further explanation.

I've read a few math books and found a lot of fascinating applications but the applications in this book are just too theoretical rather than practical.

The stuff about Logic (the very beginning section) is more confusing than really useful, especially the section about how to translate between English sentences and mathematical statements.

I believe there are much better books out there. Before you buy this book, think carefully.