Customer Reviews

Schaum's Outline of Mathematical Methods for Business and Economics

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

 

 

This is a very accessible and informative book. I had a couple of courses in calculus back in the early '60's, but I remembered next to nothing. Furthermore, I had absolutely no recollection of partial derivatives or total differentials. For all I know, we never covered them.

Nevertheless, with the help of Dowling's text, a colleague and I were able to use partial derivatives with a large data set to demonstrate that school size and the measured achievement of schools with largely low-income students are inversely related. Furthermore, using total differentials we were able to demonstrate that the measured achievement costs of increasing school size are diminished as districts get smaller, and that the benefits of small schools for less-advantaged students are diminished as districts get larger.

This is the one time in my life that I was able simply "follow the math" to a new and interesting finding, the one that followed from the total differential. Without a text as accessible, usefully organized, and broadly informative as Dowling's, I never would have been able to pull it off. A small achievement, perhaps, but very satisfying.

...to the topic, although a bit more depth would be the only thing lacking it. I recommend it to anyone who is studying business and is struggling with the math side of it, although as you progress in your studies, you will notice that the book doesnt go into enough depth, especially in the area of differential geometry.

This book was used by my class as the main textbook. Very easy to understand and will help you get an A in your class.

My daughter was taking a course on Finite Mathematics. We used the examples and solutions to help her review for the final exam. It was very helpful in 2 areas: (1) linear programming - graphical approach and (2) Matrix algebra and its use in solving sets of linear equations. In her course and her textbook, they covered financial math (interest, annuities, loans, etc.) This book had nothing so it was a slight disappointment in this area.

I found this book helpful in the course that I took in Mathematical Economics. It was a useful accompaniment to the text used in the course, Fundamentals of Mathematical Economics by Alpha Chiang.