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generatingfunctionology, Second Edition [Hardcover]

Herbert S. Wilf (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)


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Hardcover, December 1, 1993 --  
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Book Description

0127519564 978-0127519562 December 1, 1993 2
This is the Second Edition of the highly successful introduction to the use of generating functions and series in combinatorial mathematics. This new edition includes several new areas of application, including the cycle index of the symmetric group, permutations and square roots, counting polyominoes, and exact covering sequences. An appendix on using the computer algebra programs MAPLE(r) and Mathematica(r) to generate functions is also included. The book provides a clear, unified introduction to the basic enumerative applications of generating functions, and includes exercises and solutions, many new, at the end of each chapter.

Key Features
* Provides new applications on the cycle index of the symmetric group, permutations and square roots, counting polyominoes, and exact covering sequences
* Features an Appendix on using MAPLE(r) and Mathematica (r) to generate functions
* Includes many new exercises with complete solutions at the end of each chapter

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Editorial Reviews

Review

" ""Wilf's writing is clear and friendly; his exorcises are instructive and plentiful... This book is valuable reading for even the best of specialists..."" -E. Rodney Canfield, The Mathematical Intelligencer , March 1993
""This is a first rate, carefully planned and executed book written by a 'black belt gereratingfunctionologist.' I'll be using it the next time I teach..."" -George Andrews, SIAM News, October 1994
""Wilf's book is very well-written and easy to read by any serious mathematics student. Scientists in other disciplines often encounter the need to study sequences that naturally arise in their own discipline. The book is well-suited fo them, too."" -Short Book Reviews, January 2006" --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 228 pages
  • Publisher: Academic Press; 2 edition (December 1, 1993)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0127519564
  • ISBN-13: 978-0127519562
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,710,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Book, Available Online, September 20, 2005
By 
S. Bowling (Loogootee, Indiana USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: generatingfunctionology, Second Edition (Hardcover)
Interested readers should be made aware that if a person does a net search for "Herbert Wilf's Home Page", and then goes to that site, the author has this book (and a number of other things)available for FREE downloading. That might be a great way to preview the book, even if you later decide to spend the money to get a nicely bound traditional copy here.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Math Book on the Planet, December 22, 2002
By 
Aristarchus (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: generatingfunctionology, Second Edition (Hardcover)
Generatingfunctionology is, in my opinion, one of the best mathematics books ever written. If you want to read one mathematics book that really makes a difference, this is it! I read the book twice, and I plan to read it again. I went from being rather inept at solving combinatorial problems to being a virtual "master" almost overnight! Wilf's writing style is clear, concise, and even humorous at times. Reading this book is like being blind and then having your eyes opened for the first time. Generating functions are an extremely powerful tool in number theory and combinatorics. Don't pass up this book! You may never become an Euler, but you sure can come close!
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Well-organized cookbook, April 25, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: generatingfunctionology, Second Edition (Hardcover)
This is a well-organized cookbook of generating function techniques. The emphasis is on combinatorial methods (breaking down the generating function into simpler, known functions). There is also a chapter on analytic methods (Lagrange reversion, contour integration, analysis of poles). The chapter on exponential generating functions is especially good; these are used when counting items that have "labelled components" in some sense. The book includes solutions of many difficult combinatorial problems by using generating functions.

I think generating functions are an under-appreciated technique. Studying this book is a relatively painless way to learn about generating functions and their applications.

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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
A generating function is a clothesline on which we hang up a sequence of numbers for display. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
exact covering sequence, hand enumerator, ordinary power series generating functions, unknown generating function, exponential generating function, exponential formula, power series coefficients, legal string, sieve method, ordered representations, combinatorial identities, combinatorial proof
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