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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.
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Pros: Has a lot of Exercises to work on. Pretty Advanced style of Explanation.If you have a good professor this book will help.
Cons: If you are just starting to learn Discrete Math, this is not the book for you. The examples and the explanation are pretty advance sort . It is hard to understand Discrete Math by reading this book only .So if you are depending on your self i would suggest you look for a different book.
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I do not recommend this book. While yes, it provides clearly marked definitions and formulas, when giving examples, the work shown leaves out some key steps that leave the reader grasping into thin air trying to figure out the method to their madness. Some exercise questions are vaguely written, leaving the student to interpret the meaning, which may result in differing answers.
If you have a teacher who uses this book, get it. Otherwise, if you are teaching yourself (or just have that bad of a teacher), either pass on buying this book or buy a supplement. Or find a good math tutor, you'll need it.
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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.
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This was required for a math class I was taking. In general the concepts lacked extensive explanations, feeling more like an overview of major topics. If you do not have an outside source of information such as a TA, professor, or another reference book it will be very difficult for you to learn the subject matter from this book.
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This book was required for my Discrete Math course, unfortunately. This book is truly awful, downright useless. For the $90 it cost me, you'd think they could fill it with examples and useful clear explanations, but instead they chose to shrink the book down into as little paper as possible and pocket the extra profits. Complex concepts are glossed over in just a few sentences, half a page if you're lucky. The book is very light on graphs and figures, often left with nothing more than an equation or set you are left to draw yourself (if you even understand how to!). Examples, when present, are usually pretty basic while the homework presents much more complex situations the simple examples in the book do not prepare you how to solve. Also the homework problems have ridiculous sub-questions, so really doing 10 problems is more like 70 when each question has parts a) - g). Many of the problems ask you to prove concepts when they have not given you the tools to do so.
This book seems to be geared towards other math teachers and mathematicians who already know the subject and might need a refresher. This book is NOT appropriate for your average computer science student with no prior discrete math! To any instructors considering this book, just don't! You'll be spending extra office hours having to explain what the book glossed over and your students will hate you for making them use this terrible book.
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I'm currently taking a Discrete Math class with this textbook. I don't have any background in the subject, and my theoretical math background is limited to a Proofs course and a Non-Euclidan Geometry class. (Other than that I have the usual amount of undergraduate calculus and so on.)
I think this book is fantastic. It is written in an engagingly casual style, and it uses a lot of examples and detail to work out the material. The other theoretical math texts I've used really don't do this - they expect you to treat their material more as hints to do your own work, which can be really hard for students (and is why you have a professor, after all).
I can't address how well this book actually covers the various topics of discrete math, since I only know what I've learned in the course so far, but I'm very impressed with how well it spells things out. It's not exactly "light reading" (it's not Discrete Math for Dummies) but it is quite accessible.
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