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Discrete Mathematical Structures
Key Message: Discrete Mathematical Structures, Sixth Edition, offers a clear and concise presentation of the fundamental concepts of discrete mathematics. This introductory book contains more genuine computer science applications than any other text in the field, and will be especially helpful for readers interested in computer science. This book is written at an appropriate level for a wide variety of readers, and assumes a college algebra course as the only prerequisite.
Key Topics: Fundamentals; Logic; Counting; Relations and Digraphs; Functions; Order Relations and Structures; Trees; Topics in Graph Theory; Semigroups and Groups; Languages and Finite-State Machines; Groups and Coding
Market: For all readers interested in discrete mathematics.
Unbound
First published September 1, 1995
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About the author
Bernard Kolman
69 books12 followersBernard Kolman received his B.S. (summa cum laude with honors in mathematics and physics) from Brooklyn College in 1954, his Sc.M. from Brown University in 1956, and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965, all in mathematics. During the summers of 1955 and 1956, he worked as a mathematician for the U.S. Navy, and IBM, respectively, in areas of numerical analysis and simulation. From 1957-1964, he was employed by the UNIVAC Division of Sperry Rand Corporation, working in the areas of operations research, numerical analysis, and discrete mathematics. He has also had extensive experience as a consultant to industry in operations research. From 1964-1998, he was a member of the Mathematics Department at Drexel University, where he also served as Acting Head of this department. Since 1964, his research activities have been in the areas of Lie algebras and operations research.
Professor Kolman is the author of numerous papers, primarily in Lie algebras, and has organized several conferences in this area. He is also well known as the author of many mathematics textbooks that are used worldwide and have been translated into other languages.
Professor Kolman is the author of numerous papers, primarily in Lie algebras, and has organized several conferences in this area. He is also well known as the author of many mathematics textbooks that are used worldwide and have been translated into other languages.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 24, 2009
This book sucks. I don't know why colleges and universities use crappy books more often than not. Despite its title, the book doesn't actually bother explaining what the heck is discrete mathematical structures - how it came about, why it is important, what is it used for... It just dives into topics in a confusing manner. The questions asked are sometimes unrelated to the subject material and the answers given at the back at sometimes wrong. What's the point of reading a book and then having to research other books to find out what this book is trying to say and double-checking its answers?
September 25, 2007
i think for ds it is the fincest book i saw in the college library
February 4, 2020
Well, I guess it sounds like a good book for a first semester in a Computer Science class(?)
At least, this was my case. In truth, I had a pretty good time learning that subject, it was really fun.
But science is not only made of "fun" (or having fun, I would say). It has to have some type of formalism; but being too strict with definitions cannot help but to confuse us. So...
Firstly, it does not clearly gives the reader an idea of what might be a "discrete mathematical structure"; and, yet, this definition is almost essential for understanding some of the next subjects through out the course.
Second, although pretty "mathematical", I would say that does not help if the author cannot explain the concepts in a way that the student can have a grasp of what he is actually talking about (most of my colleagues had a bad time reading it). Some algorithms are just thrown into the pages, there are sections that don't even have a connection with the next or the previous one, or both.
Third, lacks spatial organization and graphical content. It surely could use a few more pictures to give a better feeling to the reader; it also, just to finish my point in the last paragraph, is badly organized; sometimes the context ir entirely switched between chapters.
I don't actually know what was the author intention. I would say this a book to be read for someone who really likes Math, or is just doing a CS major degree; it can be damn difficult to decipher what the text is saying sometimes. Would recommend? Just if you want to specifically study Discrete Math, because I don't know about any other books about the topic.
At least, this was my case. In truth, I had a pretty good time learning that subject, it was really fun.
But science is not only made of "fun" (or having fun, I would say). It has to have some type of formalism; but being too strict with definitions cannot help but to confuse us. So...
Firstly, it does not clearly gives the reader an idea of what might be a "discrete mathematical structure"; and, yet, this definition is almost essential for understanding some of the next subjects through out the course.
Second, although pretty "mathematical", I would say that does not help if the author cannot explain the concepts in a way that the student can have a grasp of what he is actually talking about (most of my colleagues had a bad time reading it). Some algorithms are just thrown into the pages, there are sections that don't even have a connection with the next or the previous one, or both.
Third, lacks spatial organization and graphical content. It surely could use a few more pictures to give a better feeling to the reader; it also, just to finish my point in the last paragraph, is badly organized; sometimes the context ir entirely switched between chapters.
I don't actually know what was the author intention. I would say this a book to be read for someone who really likes Math, or is just doing a CS major degree; it can be damn difficult to decipher what the text is saying sometimes. Would recommend? Just if you want to specifically study Discrete Math, because I don't know about any other books about the topic.
December 31, 2017
For me each page took a long time to fully grok. I would have appreciated more focus on intuitive explanations rather than hardcore proofs.
November 13, 2014
This book might be good for others,it is just not for me ,for understanding the subject. :/
P.S. I never came across a good book on DS,so recommendations for the same would be appreciated. :)
P.S. I never came across a good book on DS,so recommendations for the same would be appreciated. :)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews