Customer Reviews

Introduction to Optimum Design

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

 

 

I really liked this book. The book stresses the fundamentals really well and explains ths evolution of current methods in an organized manner. The section on Lagrange multipliers and why they are needed is extremely useful in the understanding of method of feasible directions. All the concepts regarding search directions, contraints and gradient related issues are explained. Students will like the field of optimization once they read and study this book! There are lots of examples that help in understanding the concepts. I use the book all the time.

This book is written in a way that is understandable. It is very long, but that is mostly because it is packed with examples and problems to work through. The back of the book has selected answers as well (for about 1/5 of the problems maybe?). It is a good tool.

Wonderfully clear. Explains conventions of problem set-up that others take for granted. Explains important features of theorems while remaining light on proofs. Full of examples, many of workaday nature. Gives short, useful, almost algorithmic approaches to problem solving. Since my prof likes to present mostly proofs in class, this book completes the picture with a more practical approach. I feel lucky to have found it.

In all fairness, this is a pretty good book. It certainly presents many, many means of approaching design optimization. If you have a good background in linear algebra, you probably won't have the same reservations that I have, as much of the material will be old hat to you. The appendix has a large review of linear algebra that is vague and incomplete. If you have a background in linear algebra or have access to a good introductory book on the subject, this shouldn't cause too much concern. The actual examples of employing optimization techniques in design problems are often too simple, to the point of verging on the trivial. This is a common fault of many, many modern engineering books in my experience.