Customer Reviews

Mathematics of Choice: Or, How to Count Without Counting (New Mathematical Library)

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

 

 

Two weeks ago I ordered about 10 math books from Amazon, and this book is the only one I have been reading-- I just cannot stop reading it.
It is not difficult to understand and it has very interesting problems. The title fits the book very well. Although I am taking statistics class in school, my understanding of combinations and permutations was very shallow before I started reading this book. I really appreciate the author. Thank you, Prof. Ivan Niven. I hope there are more math books like this one. And I wish our math textbooks can be this fun. Highyly recommend it to anybody who loves having fun with math.

There are few books which can even come close to the lucidity and simplicity with which Ivan Niven explains the basics of combinations and permutations.He even puts forth difficult topics like Generating Polynomials in the most simple and understandable fashion.No doubt this is a prescribed book at Harvard!! It has personally helped me in preparing and coming out successful for admission to the Indian Institute of Technology institutes,which is one of the toughest examinations in the world . The book is suitable for anyone who wants to understand the maths involved in making a choice.This will be of great help for High School students, Under Graduates,Graduates and teachers of Mathematics.A gem from Ivan Niven.

It is one the best books around for learning permutations and combinations. It is neither verbose nor cryptic and every line packs a punch. The structure is very cogent with every topic being the logical consequence of the previous. I still do not understand the first reviewer's problem with this book. It surely is a must read.

I loved reading this book. The writing was great.

There were also a lot of interesting problems in the book that the author goes through, including counting paths, etc.

I'm not a "math-y" guy, and this book was easy to follow for me. If you want to get started with some combinatorial math, this is the book to get! It's definitely more geared towards beginners though. (which is a good thing for me)

For some background, I am a mathematics major at Rutgers University in NJ and my professor for combinatorics actually recommended that we use this book as our textbook. I'm glad he did. Niven does an excellent job of mixing concrete examples with abstract concepts so that you can "plug and chug" if that's your style of studying or read the theory behind the strategies presented within each chapter.

If you like math, this book does a great job of making counting interesting.

As many books written before computers the exercises in this book crumble before a program as Mathematical Explorer by Wolfram [Here at Amazon for 75 bucks]. In fact most are done with no strain on a hand calculator [I use an old Hewlett Packard 48g which you can buy here but hasn't been made, new, for years] . So, basically, all you are learning from the exercises is how to program your computer or calculator .

The author uses a style which presents a calculation without explaining how to do it for 70 more pages. I presume this is to make one think for themselves but I will dream on what I choose not what someone thinks that I should.

By reason of its organization this is a hard book for self study. The facts are there, however. Although I have no alternative there must be one.