Introduction to Linear Optimization (Athena Scientific Series in Optimization and Neural Computation, 6) [Hardcover]

Dimitris Bertsimas (Author), John N. Tsitsiklis (Author), John Tsitsiklis (Author), Dimitris Bertsimas (Author), John Tsitsiklis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1886529191 | ISBN-13: 978-1886529199 | Publication Date: February 1, 1997

This book provides a unified, insightful, and modern treatment of linear optimization, that is, linear programming, network flow problems, and discrete optimization. It includes classical topics as well as the state of the art, in both theory and practice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The true merit of this book, however, lies in its pedagogical qualities which are so impressive..." "Throughout the book, the authors make serious efforts to give geometric and intuitive explanations of various algebraic concepts, and they are widely successful in this effort." "In conclusion, this is an outstanding textbook that presents linear optimization in a truly modern and up-to-date light. One reading of this book is sufficient to appreciate the tremendous amount of quality effort that the authors have put into the writing, and I strongly recommend it to all teachers, researchers and practitioners of mathematical programming." --Motakuri Ramana in Optima, Issue 54

Bertsimas and Tsitsiklis have written a comprehensive treatise, offering an easy-to-understand presentation of linear programming and related topics, including network-flow programming and discrete optimization. --Jonathan Bard in Interfaces, Issue 30(4), July 2000

About the Author

The authors are Professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 608 pages
• Publisher: Athena Scientific (February 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886529191
• ISBN-13: 978-1886529199
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books for introduction to OR, April 6, 2004

By 

Kunal Kunde (New York NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Introduction to Linear Optimization (Athena Scientific Series in Optimization and Neural Computation, 6) (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book -- it covers in far more detail the first 2/3rds of the 15.093J/2.098J course at MIT (as well as the more mathematically rigorous 15.081J/6.251J course).
The reader should definitely be a mathematically mature student but even the simplest portable concepts from a linear algebra 101 course (basis, rank of a matrix, linear independence) should suffice.
The authors cover the subject matter first in a geometric sense, but since algorithms are necessarily algebraic, they then present the very same concepts algebraically.
An excellent introductory chapter is followed by chapters on the geometry of LP, the simplex method, duality theory, sensitivity analysis, network flow problems, complexity theory, interior point methods, discrete optimization, IP methods (branch-and-bound, dynamic programming, cutting plane, simulated annealing etc.) and finally, to top it all off and to emphasize and present large, important, real-world problems: the art in linear optimization.
Professor Dimitris Bertsimas is an excellent teacher and he and Professor John Tsitsiklis have excelled themselves at this comprehensive (though, as they state themselves, not encyclopedic) effort.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent both as a textbook and reference book, July 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Introduction to Linear Optimization (Athena Scientific Series in Optimization and Neural Computation, 6) (Hardcover)

Prof. Bertsimas and Tsitsiklis succeed in writing a book which is fun to read, without being trivial. It doesn't require much mathematical background (thus being accessible to advanced undergraduates), but present clearly and with sufficient depth relatively new developments like ellipsoid and interior point methods (on the other side, the simplex is given less emphasis than other, older books). Stochastic and integer programming are developed in separate chapters. Another very nice chapter is on "the art of LP". Overall, the book provides the reader with the tools necessary to read the literature in the field. The problems are very well chosen. Unfortunately, the bibliography is not aimed at being complete, but is at least up-to-date

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book, January 4, 2002

By 

"vassarstreet" (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Introduction to Linear Optimization (Athena Scientific Series in Optimization and Neural Computation, 6) (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book to learn fundamentals of linear programming and its applications. It's easy to read and it has a great set of of problems, after solving which you'll definitely say that you know something. Among the advantages of the book, I can highlight a great amount of examples, which are easy to follow and very helpful.

There are several minuses of the book. I find it a little wordy, although as I said earlier the writing is very good. Also, the authors try to include as much material as possible, which makes some parts a little superficial. On the other hand the broadness gives the reader a good overview of the field.

Overall, it's a great book for both studies and references.