Discrete Mathematical Structures (5th Edition) [Hardcover]

Bernard Kolman (Author), Robert C. Busby (Author), Sharon Cutler Ross (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130457973 | ISBN-13: 978-0130457974 | Publication Date: September 8, 2003 | Edition: 5

Combining a careful selection of topics with coverage of their genuine applications in computer science, this book, more than any other in this field, is clearly and concisely written, presenting the basic ideas of discrete mathematical structures in a manner that is understandable. Limiting its scope and depth of topics to those that readers can actually utilize, this book covers first the fundamentals, then follows with logic, counting, relations and digraphs, functions, order relations and structures, trees, graph theory, semigroups and groups, languages and finite-state machines, and groups and coding. With its comprehensive appendices and index, this book can be an excellent reference work for mathematicians and those in the field of computer science.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

More than any other text in this field, this text ties together discrete topics with a theme. Written at an appropriate level of rigor -- with a strong pedagogical focus -- it limits depth of coverage and areas covered to topics of genuine use in computer science. It stresses both basic theory and applications -- providing students with a firm foundation for more advanced courses. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

Combining a careful selection of topics with coverage of their genuine applications in computer science, this book, more than any other in this field, is clearly and concisely written, presenting the basic ideas of discrete mathematical structures in a manner that is understandable. Limiting its scope and depth of topics to those that readers can actually utilize, this book covers first the fundamentals, then follows with logic, counting, relations and digraphs, functions, order relations and structures, trees, graph theory, semigroups and groups, languages and finite-state machines, and groups and coding. With its comprehensive appendices and index, this book can be an excellent reference work for mathematicians and those in the field of computer science.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 5 edition (September 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130457973
• ISBN-13: 978-0130457974
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #702,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor book, December 15, 2009

By 

Anthony Smith (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Discrete Mathematical Structures (6th Edition) (Hardcover)

I used this as the primary text in a University Math/Programming course. The book is very dry and hard to read. While the information in the text is correct, it is hard to imagine a more uninteresting and dry way to present the material. Pseudo code was unnecessarily difficult to understand. Same goes for the main math concepts, which often had to be explained at length by the instructor.

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the best math textbook, February 15, 2011

By 

S80 - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Discrete Mathematical Structures (5th Edition) (Hardcover)

As a comprehensive book on discrete math I really found this text lacking. At times some examples were vaguely illustrated or maybe omitted altogether.

If you're using this for a discrete math class, hopefully your instructor has enough supplemental material to carry the text, but I'm not as lucky. Doing an independent study of the course that used this text meant using Google a lot.

I also have the next edition, and I can say that there is hardly a difference as far as the lack of examples and overall clarity.

4.0 out of 5 stars The book is great. Ignore the whiners!, February 7, 2011

By 

David Hufnagle "Sniper 5" (Pittsburgh) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discrete Mathematical Structures (5th Edition) (Hardcover)

Just to give you an idea, I took "Discrete Math" at CCAC (a very large Community College in Pittsburgh) back in 2006, and this was their book of choice. Yes, we covered every chapter. The prior short reviews about its content being quite difficult to understand means that they either had a terrible professor who couldn't convey concepts, or they didn't show up for class and solely relied on the book. I knew nothing beforehand and left with an A.

This book is full of examples and concepts, each building off of the last section and last chapter. Every odd answer is in the back, allowing for you to check the homework before stumbling into class. Numerous involved projects are at the end of every chapter. There's little humor in the book.

The one thing that my professor insisted on adding was more information on game theory and its relation to discrete math. This isn't really present in the book.

This book has been used at Community Colleges and Columbia University alike. Its difficulty to learn is evident on the amount of work you put into the course.

Again, this isn't a standard math course book. This is a DISCRETE book. Unless you have a professor you can check concept answers against and ask questions, you're SOL. This book is the tool by which you will REALLY learn discrete math, but you've gotta work for it because it's not a standard math course...and you'll need a professor's help to get an A. And any attempt at transforming a Discrete book into something that you'd be familiar and comfortable with is only going to make grasping the concepts even harder.