Customer Reviews

Handbook of Stochastic Methods: For Physics, Chemistry and Natural Sciences (Springer Series in Synergetics)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great book. The different chapters are very clearly written and each of them could be applied as a tool for solving similar problems, one may encounter in his (hers) research. Although the text is not introductory, with some effort, the reader could avoid going through more elementary books on the subject first.

"Handbook" is a fitting title. It reads more like a collection of solution techniques than like a book meant to actually teach the subject to someone, which is perfectly acceptable for a reference book but not really suitable for a textbook.

Unfortunately for this book, however, van Kampen's book is better as both a reference and a textbook. While generally written with a somewhat higher degree of sophistication, van Kampen is organized so much more logically and is so much more complete in its development of the subject that it is far easier to read, even as (or maybe especially as?) an introductory book.

Gardiner is a good book, and there are things that it has over van Kampen: a chapter on approximation methods, a chapter on simulation methods, and a little bit more detail on certain topics. However, van Kampen's is a phenomenal book and really should be chosen over this one except by those readers with very specific needs.

This book might be mathematically sound, but it is extremely hard to follow. The contents are in no way elementary, yet the author doesn't use the customary procedure of naming theorems, proofs and examples. As a result, the entire exposition is confusing and you have a consistent feeling of being lost among "easy", "elementary", "obvious" and "trivial" things.
Furthermore, the author completely fails on hinting any way of applying the mathematical results he boringly describe. No figures, no algorithms, no well fleshed out examples that the reader who has not been following the subject in the last one hundred years can easily understand. So, there is no way you can consider this an introductory book, but because the poor structure is also swampy as a handbook or reference.

What can I say good about the book? Well, the choices in this subject are rather scarce and the author is having a good time by being the only one in the market.

This is a great book on stochastic processes. The author has a unique perspective on the subject and elegantly moves from one topic to the next. A great help in understanding difficult concepts.