Customer Reviews:
Perfect Pysics Book.......2007-09-23
The perfect book to study physics. Many pictures and great problems. It applies physics to everyday life and makes physics very interesting. A great book for all levels of study: high school, college, university, grad school, etc.
Learn to Run Before You Can Walk with Giancoli's "Physics" . . ........2007-06-14
While I wouldn't call this a bad book, I find myself rather frustrated with it. It seems to me to be most ideally suited for those who either have a natural inclination for physics or those who have plenty of spare time in which to contemplate solutions for the problems. (Unfortunately, I have neither.) The chapters themselves are actually fairly well done, but, in my opinion, not well enough to provide all the necessary information and insights to successfully solve the problems. I've opted to discontinue my attempts to work through this book in favor of Cutnell and Johnson's text of the same title.
outstanding.......2006-07-30
I used Giancoli as my primary text in high school, and found it to be a superb text. I think those complaining of a lack of worked problems are missing the entire point of this text and the essence of studying physics. This book is about understanding physics principles and the equations you use to solve physics problems. You will find that with this understanding (certainly provided by this excellent text), the need for mindless ploughing through physics problems is lost. You will be able to solve physics problems on the basis of your conceptual understanding of the problems. So many students rely on rote learning and repetition by doing hundreds of questions. Sure, you might be able to attack similar problems for the next week or so, but as soon as you stop practicing, the skill is lost. True mastery of physics comes from appreciation of principles, not mere recognition of patterns in problems...this text will help you achieve such an appreciation.
Clear and nice physics book for intro students.......2005-11-18
I know physics is hard for all of us, but this book is very clear in explaining physics. It does not involve in calculus, so usually it is better for most students who never took physics. So if you did not take physics class before, I highly recommend this book because it does not use pompous or intricate words that most science textbook writers do. Not only is it an easy reading, but also it has awesome questions and problems that make you think and that check whether you know really physics.
Most my friends who were in engineering or math majors had easy physics teachers in high school. Some of them did not even take physics at all. Surprisingly, they dived into calculus based physics book and they found the subject to be incredibly hard. I understand their pain because I think this book can be a bridge that can connect high school physics(so easy ones) and calculus based physics.
I also read Serway's College Physics, and in my opinion, I think Giancoli wrote better job in explaining physics with more clear diagrams. The sentences that he uses grabs my attention. Serway confused me and I was stuck a lot from his book. Problems in examples are so much better in Giancoli as well and diagrams were better as well.
So before you read calculus based physics, read this one thoroughly and you will be able to breathe in higher physics class.
Book Description
The sixth edition of this best-selling text balances solid mathematical coverage with a comprehensive overview of mathematical ideas as they relate to varied disciplines. This book provides an appreciation of mathematics, highlighting mathematical history, applications of mathematics to the arts and sciences across cultures, and introduces students to the uses of technology in mathematics. Exercise sets are now organized into Concept/Writing, Practice the Skills, Problem Solving, Challenge Problems/Group Activities, Research Activities. An updated Consumer Math section including updated material on sources of credit and mutual funds. Motivational, chapter-opening material demonstrates connections between math and various other disciplines.
KEY MARKET For those who require a general overview of mathematics, especially in the fields of elementary education, the social sciences, business, nursing and allied health fields.
Customer Reviews:
School Book.......2007-09-24
I am currently a student at a Community College which requires this book for it's Probablity & Statistics online class. It's an excellent book that works well.
Need texbook, can obtain...........2007-06-08
I received the book fairly quickly. The book was a little rough around the edges (advertised as good) and it is. The back outside spine was ripped and for that they could have drop the price a little more, but considering the price in the university book store was $118 (new), and $85 (used) - I could live with it. I believe that this is a fair assessment of the site. I would order a book from them again.
Not a helpful text.......2007-05-22
I just completed a class where this textbook was used, and found it to be a particularly poorly written text. I feel that because of this I did not do as well in the class as I had hoped. I am a Liberal Studies major and took this class to satisfy my mathematical requirement. I found the explanations and instructions to be confusing and incomplete. As this book appears to be aimed at individuals such as myself, I would think that simple and clear writing would be paramount for the authors. This proves to not be the case. Instructors, steer clear please.
EXCELLENT REFERENCE FOR BEGINNING & ADVANCED UNDERGRADUATES.......2002-02-07
I have been teaching out of Angel & Porter for the last three years. It has quite a few good examples, though I agree with the first reviewer's comment that it does need more challenging problems.
Among the topics I have covered are: inductive reasoning, set concepts, symbolic logic, truth tables, algebra, applied geometry, probability, statistics, and mathematics of finance. Though the examples are laid out fairly well for those who are mathematically inclined, the teacher who happens to have quite a few students with weak mathematical skills is often finding himself or herself in situations of having to create ways to become an effective expositor of mathematical theorems and applications. In other words, by trying to explain what the authors are providing in their examples, the instructor is frequently shouldering the added burden of making this book come to life not only from a mathematical perspective but also from a communicative standpoint.
On a positive note, however, there are several excellent applications, and the range of topics is quite broad. Oftentimes there is a gap between the level of advanced high school mathematics and that of a four-year university that is so serious that even a student who performed A's in high school will struggle in the type of college math course he or she is placed in. Fortunately, Angel and Porter have been able to fill in quite a few of the missing pieces.
Still incompetent after all these editions.......2002-01-15
A few years ago I wrote a review here on Amazon, of an edition of this text from around 1994. Apparently, only one of eight of those who commented found my review helpful. This new review is an attempt to be more helpful and to address the newer 6th edition.
Correctness is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for quality in mathematics text books. Usually the first condition in a given. The issues then largely become ones of whether or not the book is student friendly, whether it covers appropriate topics and so on. Angel and Porter's *Survey of Mathematics with Applications* fails on the criterion of correctness and hence one could reasonable say that the need for further evaluation on the other issues is moot.
In a circa 1994 edition, discussion on irrational numbers was misleading at best; even if not stated explicitly, the implication was that all reals belonged to a particular proper subset of the algebraic numbers. When I recently started to teach at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), Catonsville, where the text was being used, I immediately turned to discussion of this topic. There on page 214 of this 6th edition, only three paragraphs into my reading, was a fallacy: "The points on the real number line that are not rational numbers are referred to as irrational numbers. Recall that every rational number is either a terminating or a reaping decimal number. *Therefore* [italics mine], irrational numbers, when represented as decimal numbers, will be nonterminating, nonrepeating numbers." All Q are (T or R), *therefore* all that is not Q is not (T or R). Perhaps this could be used as an example in the earlier chapter on logic. Since I was only three paragraphs into my reading of this new edition when I encountered this miscarriage of logic, it made quite an impression on me.
The text is replete with errors where the errors are of such a nature as to suggest that the authors really just aren't that good with math or are extremely careless. Some more examples:
Page 584: "If an event has *equally likely outcomes* [original italics]...," where it should say rather "If every outcome in the sample space is equally likely..."
Since the circa 1994 edition, where there was an error regarding conditional probability and the probability of independent events, the authors seem to have attempted to rescue themselves from embarrassment by insertion of a footnoted remark (page 615), but the presentation makes the most bizarre contortions of meaning, notation and caveats: "P(A and B)=P(A)P(B), assuming that event A has occurred*," the asterisk referring to a footnote where it stated that by 'P(B)' they mean P(B|A). But then what do we call P(A)? But the problem does not end there.
Page 293, exercise 43: The answer in the book fails to take into consideration that the dB scale is logarithmic. Given an inverse square dissipation of sound energy, loudness would increase from 20 dB at 6 feet to 26 dB at 3 feet, not to 80 dB.
Page 49, exercise 16: The answer says zero is not equal to the empty set. But that is the way zero, the smallest ordinal, is defined in modern set theory.
An analogy to falling dominos is often used to illustrate mathematical induction. Why, on page 3, do the authors use a domino analogy to illustrate inductive reasoning? It would be a bad idea to use falling dominos to illustrate inductive reasoning since the same example is classically used to illustrate mathematical induction and the two distinct concepts have similar names and are frequently confounded by students, who incorrectly assume that mathematical induction is a form on inductive reasoning. But I suspect that that the authors themselves are not clear on the distinction. It fits with the evidence. Furthermore, the book gives definitions of inductive and deductive reasoning (pages 3 and 4) that are antiquated and should be dispensed with in favor of common contemporary usage among mathematicians and logicians (see http://www.iep.utm.edu/d/ded-ind.htm for a nice brief discussion on the meaning of inductive and deductive logic).
Often the incorrect content is on non-mathematical subjects:
On page 3: "...no two people have the same fingerprints or DNA." Well, of course, up to mutations, monozygotic twins have the same DNA.
Page 9: "Little mistake, Big Discovery... The red dot represent the area *near America* [italics mine], the Canary Islands, where [Christopher] Columbus landed." Yes, on the map, the dot is closer to where North American should be than it is to Africa. But, I suppose, canaries might migrate. It continues, "He estimated 56.6 miles to a degree instead of the approximately 61.6 miles that it should have been. This resulted in a mile equaling about 4848 ft compared with our 5280 ft per mile. The outcome of this miscalculation put India about 3900 miles west of Spain, more or less where the Americas happen to be." Let's see: (61.6/56.6)*3900 miles = 4245 miles from Spain to India (westward). That's more like it. Of course, the real story is more complicated.
Page 579: "The Royal Disease....even though both males and females are carriers, the disease [hemophilia] afflicts only males." While much more likely to afflicts males, the disease does afflict females inheriting two X clotting deficient chromosomes.
There is a list of over 30 reviewers with six having reviewed the 6th edition. Does anyone care?
I brought a number of these errors to the attention of the Addison Wesley sales representative who deals with our math department. She took notes on the examples I pointed out - I thought to her credit. Apparently she did some investigation of the errors but came back to me saying, "...but the students won't know." Addison Wesley had a tradition of publishing many fine engineering, math and science texts. They appear to have little editorial integrity now, however.
CCBC, Catonsville no longer uses this text. We now use one written by one of the reviewers of the Angel and Porter text, another member of the textbook industry. That book is also published by Addison Wesley and makes the same mistake in defining inductive and deduction reasoning as the Angel/Porter text does. It is my opinion that our department is unduly influence by the Addison Wesley sales representatives.
I'm sure that writing a good textbook is hard work. I have considered writing one myself and no doubt, the first edition will contain some error. But I would not apply a standard of criticism to the text under review that I would feel unfair if applied to myself.
I hope that the reader finds this brief review helpful.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent!.......2000-04-08
This is a useful book for anyone involved in mathematics. This book has many practice problems as well as solutions. It also contains many problems that pertain to everyday life at home or office. This book is a must for any high school student wanting to get a head start on the college mathematics. This book reads very well, and contains excellent drawings to enhance the comprehension of the topics discussed.
Average customer rating:
- Perfect book for its purpose
- Good explainations.
- Great book
- Great text on discrete mathematics especially for non-math majors
- Great Introductory Book
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Discrete Mathematics with Applications
Susanna S. Epp
Manufacturer: Brooks Cole
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ASIN: 0534359450 |
Book Description
Susanna Epp's DISCRETE MATHEMATICS, THIRD EDITION provides a clear introduction to discrete mathematics. Renowned for her lucid, accessible prose, Epp explains complex, abstract concepts with clarity and precision. This book presents not only the major themes of discrete mathematics, but also the reasoning that underlies mathematical thought. Students develop the ability to think abstractly as they study the ideas of logic and proof. While learning about such concepts as logic circuits and computer addition, algorithm analysis, recursive thinking, computability, automata, cryptography, and combinatorics, students discover that the ideas of discrete mathematics underlie and are essential to the science and technology of the computer age. Overall, Epp's emphasis on reasoning provides students with a strong foundation for computer science and upper-level mathematics courses.
Customer Reviews:
Perfect book for its purpose.......2007-09-16
This book serves as a terrific introduction to concepts which are of paramount importance in upper-level math courses, most notably Probability Theory, Real Analysis, and Abstract Algebra. Moreover, it provides a solid basis for computer science majors who wish to write more logically sound and efficient programs. I regularly referred back to this in my Real Analysis and Probability courses, and I imagine others would do the same. Also, Dr. Epp's clear, conversational style doesn't hurt the student's confidence later in more rigorous academic enterprises, as well as a concise layout and reasonable pace. Highly recommended.
Good explainations........2007-08-15
This book explained concepts very well. The chapters were easy reads and I even referrred to this text for a Math Reasoning class. If you are a math genius and hate explainations then don't get this book. But if you like to fully understand what you are doing then I would suggest this book.
Great book.......2007-01-03
Wow, this is a great book. I bought this book as a secondary helper book to a really bad math textbook and this book helped me tons. It only seemed to help during the first half of the semester because by the end it wasn't covering the same material as the class was. But it covered the material that it did really really well.
It also has really good problems with good solutions that explain what's going on. Something that so many other math books seem to lack on Discrete math. Just a great book.
Great text on discrete mathematics especially for non-math majors.......2006-08-09
I used an earlier edition of this textbook in a discrete mathematics class that was required for those of us with a non-CS background enrolled in a MSCS program at Virginia Tech, and I found this to be an excellent and complete book on the subject. If you find yourself enrolled in a class using this book, you can be sure of two things - your instructor knows how to select good textbooks and also it won't matter if your instructor is a good teacher since this book does all of the work for him/her.
If you are enrolled in a class on discrete math and this textbook is not assigned, might I suggest you get a used copy of the previous edition. It is just as good as this current edition and used copies can easily be found dirt cheap. If you buy a copy of a previous edition the topics you'd be missing that are new to this edition would be expected value, conditional probability, Bayes' theorem, modular arithmetic, Fermat's little theorem and the Chinese remainder theorem, and RSA cryptography.
The author has included illuminating examples of all concepts throughout the textbook, defined all terms, and makes sure that each new concept introduced builds on previously explained material. Subjects covered include the logic of computation, including the predicate logic that is necessary for fully understanding artificial intelligence, methods of proof including the method of induction and also the terminology of sequences, number theory and combinatorics, O-notation and the calculation of the efficiency of algorithms, graph theory and discrete structures, and an introduction to concepts from the theory of computation. There are many exercises included, with the solutions to selected exercises in the back of the book.
This book only assumes mathematical maturity at the level of precalculus, excluding trigonometry. I highly recommend this text especially to students who are transitioning to computer science from some other discipline and need a firm foundation in the basics of that field. You'll find it useful as a foundational text for studying artificial intelligence, the theory of algorithms, mathematical models of computation, and the theory of computation. Another useful book on this subject is the "Schaum's Outline of Discrete Mathematics".
The table of contents are as follows:
1. The Logic of Compound Statements
2. The Logic of Quantified Statements
3. Elementary Number Theory and Methods of Proof
4. Sequences and Mathematical Induction
5. Set Theory
6. Counting
7. Functions
8. Recursion
9. O-Notation and the Efficiency of Algorithms
10. Relations
11. Graphs and Trees
12. Finite State Automata and Applications
Great Introductory Book.......2006-01-13
For a subject which has so much potential to be conveyed in complicated and esoteric ways, this book actually manages to present every single chapter in a clear and accessible way, even for those unfamiliar with formal logic.
It doesn't cover every single theorem you might come across in a first year class, but it comes close. I'd thoroughly recommend this book, even for self-study. I've used a couple of texts for this subject and while none of them are actually bad, this one is streets ahead for understandability and clarity.
Customer Reviews:
Superb book........2007-06-15
This book provides an exceptional introduction to nonlinear dynamics. Math books are often trapped in equating rigor with formalisms and in compromising intuition to generalities. Strogatz book provides an exemplary guideline how both intuition and rigor may be served to transform a difficult topic into fun reading and highly applicable set of ideas. Here are the key elements of what you will find in this book.
A. The book builds up intuitive understanding of the key ideas of the field
from simple one dimensional dynamics to complex multi-dimensional behaviors.
B. Each chapter contains fascinating applications -- from fireflies synchronization and josephson junction to population dynamics and chaotic laser behaviors-- which are
fun to read and useful if you need to apply dynamics to solve research problems.
C. There are ample exercises and solutions to render this ideal book for self-learners. It provides a relatively broad coverage of the key ideas of the field, without taxing the reader with far corners of little interest.
Great book for beginners.......2007-05-14
Nonlinear dynamics and chaos is an excellent introductory book. It explains this complex looking subject in very simple and intuitive fashion. I recommend this book anyone who are interested in chaos/nonlinear dynamics. It even doubles as a fun book!
Great for an introduction but not for digging in for details.......2007-01-05
I think this is one of the best books for understanding the Phase Spaces and Bifurcations. It is really easy to follow and understand, even for people without background on nonlinear subjects. Yet, it is not the right book for engineers to read and start to solve their own detailed problems. People who seeks for a book to get into the subject or who wants to have a nice reference; BUY THIS BOOK. By the way, its price is reasonable.
Shockingly Readable.......2007-01-04
I bought this book as a textbook for a class, and I have to say that it is a surprisingly readable math book. The class only used the first few chapters, but I find myself flipping through the rest of the book and trying to understand more advanced material. This is a good book for a scientist who needs to learn linear and nonlinear dynamics but is a little intimidated.
Keep in mind, this is a math book, and no writer can turn math into something it isn't. Still, the writer gives lots of relevant examples (especially in the problems--the only complaint I have is that the solutions in the back don't give any explanation, and these solutions are a bit sparse), and milks as much storytelling out of the subject matter as is possible. I thoroughly recommend it--it brings out the closet math geek in everyone!
incredible!.......2006-06-13
This is probably the best math book I've ever read. Unlike other stuffy books, this one is very personable and informal. It is extremely readable, the explanations are crystal-clear and very intuitive and well-motivated, plus the author inserts a lot of humor (it's so nice to be reminded that mathematicians are humans). There are fascinating examples culled from applications.
I should note two things. First, it is not a proof-based book. It discuesses the cool theorems and gives intuitive justifications, but the author is clear that his goal is to build intuition and give experience with the techniques, rather than mathematical rigor (thankfully, he is honest about this and points to areas where more rigor could be introduced, rather than giving the unnatural and awkward hybrid of rigor and intuition attempted by many calculus books). Second, a lot of the problems (though certainly not all) deal with pathological and/or special cases, so it's possible for teachers to give fairly onerous homeworks.
Book Description
This is the most widely used mathematical statistics book at the top 200 universities in the United States. Premiere authors Dennis Wackerly, William Mendenhall, and Richard L. Scheaffer present a solid foundation in statistical theory while conveying the relevance and importance of the theory in solving practical problems in the real world. The authors' use of practical applications and excellent exercises helps readers discover the nature of statistics and understand its essential role in scientific research.
Customer Reviews:
Non Fiction.......2007-09-03
Mathematical Statistics with Applications
by William Mendenhall and other authors is a higher level university text on probability and statistics, dealing with some of the underlying mathematics and calculus, moments, probability generation functions and all that sort of thing.
Definitely not your light right type of mathematics books by any stretch of the imaginaiton.
Many ,many errors to odd number problems.......2007-09-02
This book has good explanations of the topics covered in each section , but the solutions to the odd numbered problems are full of errors. I can't stand this book anymore , I need to check my solutions to reinforce my knowledge and the book doesn't provide correct solutions.
I would recommend to everyone to stay away from this book.
Anything but Wackerly.......2007-02-20
This is an adequate text up until chapter 6. The probability chapter the the discrete probability distributions are great. The concepts and derivations are logically laid out and make sense. Things begin to get frustrating in chapter 4 and really fall apart after chapter 6. After chapter four the author no longer tries to put anything in context. He derives very little and simply states long, cryptic formulas and expects the reader to magicaly understand the big picture and fill in the gaps on their own. He skips over the over 200 years of the development in statictical theory and simply states the results and the student is expected to fill in the gap. The most self evident properties are expounded on in the chapters and the most important and subtle properties are hidden in the exercises or neglected altogether. I am nearly finished with my undergraduate degree in applied mathematics and am mathematicaly mature. I am comfortable with both applied and pure/proof-type mathematics and this text makes my stomach turn. It makes me want to reconsider my major. I am giving this text 2 stars simply because the first 5 chapters are adequate. If you just need a course in probability, this might be the text for you. If you need to move on to statistical inference and you need the big picture/contextual background explained rather than pluging and chuging blindly with nonsensical formulas, then this is not the text for you. Way to drop the ball, Wackerly!
Very good textbook.......2007-01-08
I used Wackerly's book in an advanced stats class which covered all of the material up to chapter 5.8 (covariance). I am not a math major but an Economics major with mediocre math skills. I have to say that as math books go I really enjoyed using this book. The problems it presented challenged me but not so much so that I was completely frustrated 100% of the time. There were parts of the second and third chapters where I was a little lost, but the fourth and fifth chapters were excellently well written.
Unfortunately the class I was in did not go over the second half of the book over hypothesis testing and linear regression. Though in browsing through those sections, it seems they are given as thurough a treament as the first half of the book was. It was especially encourgaing for me to see the sections on linear regression handled in matrix notation (along with the well done matrix algebra appendix), which is what one would expect to see in a graduate level Econometrics or Applied Regression Analysis course.
So in short if you are a math major and want to do the derivation of the formulas, then I would suggest looking elsewhere. But if you are in the hard-sciences, engineering, business, or Economics (this is probably too mathy for most other social science persons), this is a terrific book with many, many applied examples.
My only qualm with this book is that it shied away from using a lot more examples from Economics and Finance when it would have been great to do so. So if you want to see how all of the analysis of probability and associated tools can be applied to Finance, then you will need to supplement Wackerly's textr with a graduate level Finance text in an area such as investments.
Average book.......2006-10-01
This book is not rigorous at all. If you are looking for rigor, look elsewhere. The proofs are very weak, and the example trite.
Still it is not a total loss. If you don't care about mathematical rigor, this can serve as a decent book.
I wouldn't dream of using it if you are working on a stats based degree.
Product Description
Used like new
Customer Reviews:
errors in Giancoli.......2007-09-21
6th Edition: For number 24, pg. 40, it is incorrect to ask about the "average acceleration" of the sprinter. One has to assume that the rate of acceleration is constant or one will not be able to solve the problem.
This is just one of many errors in this book, although none of the errors I have seen are severe.
The problem reads:
"A world-class sprinter can burst out of the blocks to essentially top speed of about 11.5 m/s in the first 15.0 m of the race. What is the average acceleration of the sprinter, and how long does it take her to reach top speed?"
To figure out why one cannot find the average acceleration without assuming that the acceleration is constant, imagine that the sprinter falls off the blocks, picks herself up and then blasts up to 11.5 m/s within the 15.0 m. Her average acceleration is (v - vo) / t, but t in this case is much larger than it would be compared to the normal situation where she pushes off and essentially accelerates uniformly. But remember, the problem only asks for average acceleration!
More mathematically to the point, let her velocity be v = c t^2, instead of the usual v = a t. This is not disallowed by the notion of average acceleration, but it does lead to different answers. Therefore, one needs the additional assumption that acceleration is constant.
Since runners don't accelerate at a uniform rate, we could state that we are simplifying the problem with this assumption, but Giancoli doesn't do this. This is an example of his sloppiness in the name of pedagogy.
Three words. Not very good........2007-07-04
Those three words really are a very good description. The book isn't very good at all. I used this book in AP Physics (B), in all honesty it was just terrible. It was uninteresting, and confusing. If you're going to buy an introductory Physics book, consider Physics (2 Vol. Set). But as always you can't really go off of another person's opinion, as everyone seems to learn best in their own unique styles, so scan through the books.
Another Algebra-Based Physics Textbook!.......2006-09-21
I have taken three straight years of Physics in highschool. I took it sophomore, junior, and now senior year. Each year, I used a different book. I was given this book for AP Physics B (Junior Year), an algebra-based Advanced Placement Physics course.
Overall, the book's examples don't truly help much with the more difficult problems. Explanations aren't very clear, and the key points aren't highlighted. Examples are boring, and questions are less than exciting. How am I to be motivated to perform numerous number crunches with algebra when the questions and writing are so dry?
There is a lot of information in this book, and some of the explanations are good (it's pretty difficult to mess up Kinematics), but the book stumbles in its explanations of many important Physics topics--including Fluid Mechanics and Modern Physics.
Overall, not a great text, but it is very difficult to find a nice Algebra-based Physics text that is as intellectually challenging and in depth. Be wary, if you are not a Physics geek, you will have a hard time plowing through this book.
A student's perspective.......2005-10-17
As one reviewer stated before me, these books are the reason why people are afraid of physics.
I have had the horrible misfortune of using this book during my senior year of high school...it is horrible...horrific...detestable...coarse to the mind. The most criminal error that I can point out is that this book does not have a GLOSSARY. A school textbook without a glossary? Give me a break.
The text reads like a conversation. Apparently Giancoli didn't pay very much attention in English class. One should not write educational text the way he or she speaks. One should state facts in a way that clearly defines what needs to be said. The positively criminal lingo of the book goes on tangents constantly and really breaks up the progression of the information.
Also, the author tends to call an element of a concept one thing, but substitute it with a variable that is totally different. It is clear that Giancoli assumed that everyone who was reading this book already knew physics vocabulary and was looking for a refresher course. Apparently Giancoli, the god of physics, could teach the experts more than they could ever dream. Throw me a bone here...his writing is crap. This book is being distributed to highschools and is also used at the university level. These are LEARNING stages. LEARNING. That's something that one can't do with this horrible book.
It's criminal. Absolutely criminal. Physics isn't a scary thing, nor is it impossible. Don't let books like these scare you away from the subject. It's just a few selfish, cocky scientists that wish to exclude others.
Giancoli, I hope your 6th edition was better...much better. Otherwise, schools will be wasting even more money on garbage.
Informative .......2005-03-23
Comprehensive and thorough. A must for anyone who needs an understanding of applying calculations to actions. I found this book to be even paced and very understandable.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent book on estimation/Kalman filter
- best standard book for target tracking system
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Estimation with Applications to Tracking and Navigation
Yaakov Bar-Shalom ,
X. Rong Li , and
Thiagalingam Kirubarajan
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
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Similar Items:
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Applied Optimal Estimation
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Beyond the Kalman Filter: Particle Filters for Tracking Applications (Artech House Radar Library)
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Design and Analysis of Modern Tracking Systems (Artech House Radar Library)
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Optimal State Estimation: Kalman, H Infinity, and Nonlinear Approaches
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Introduction to Random Signals and Applied Kalman Filtering with Matlab Exercises and Solutions, 3rd Edition
ASIN: 047141655X |
Book Description
Expert coverage of the design and implementation of state estimation algorithms for tracking and navigation
Estimation with Applications to Tracking and Navigation treats the estimation of various quantities from inherently inaccurate remote observations. It explains state estimator design using a balanced combination of linear systems, probability, and statistics.
The authors provide a review of the necessary background mathematical techniques and offer an overview of the basic concepts in estimation. They then provide detailed treatments of all the major issues in estimation with a focus on applying these techniques to real systems. Other features include:
- Problems that apply theoretical material to real-world applications
- In-depth coverage of the Interacting Multiple Model (IMM) estimator
- Companion DynaEst(TM) software for MATLAB(TM) implementation of Kalman filters and IMM estimators
- Design guidelines for tracking filters
Suitable for graduate engineering students and engineers working in remote sensors and tracking, Estimation with Applications to Tracking and Navigation provides expert coverage of this important area.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book on estimation/Kalman filter.......2004-09-29
I don't usually write online reviews but this book is so clear and useful that I really want to recommend it to others. It is well written with a good outline and summary for every chapter. It also has a pretty diverse range of topics on estimation, including an introductory chapter on basic estimation approaches (e.g., ML, MAP, least squares), and very practical extensions (e.g., state augmentation, square-root filters). Even though I am not in EE and some of the examples are thus not particularly helpful to me, I still find this book one of the best of all the estimation/Kalman filter books out there.
best standard book for target tracking system.......2001-05-09
I think any person who major in target tracking system related to the Kalman filter must see this book. This book present the fundamentals of state estimation theory and the tools for the design of state-of-the-art algorithms for target tracking.
The book covers the basic concepts and estimation techniques for static and dynamic systems, linear and nonlinear, as well as adaptive estiomation. This constitutes a one semester graduate course in estimation theory in an electrical/systems engineering program.
The discussion deals mainly with discrete time estimation algorithms, which are natural for digital computer implementation. The basic state estimation algorithm-the Kalman filter-is presented in discrete as well as in continuous time. The use of the estimation algorithms is illustrated on kinematic motion models because they reveal all the major issues and in particular the subtleties encountered in estimation, and this serves as an introdution to tracking.
Guidelines for tracking filter design-selection of the filter design parameters-are given and illustrated in several examples.
At the end of each chapter, a number of problems that enhance the understanding of the theory and the connection of the theoretical material to the real world are given.
And I have this book as text for my paper.
Book Description
Assuming no prior MATLAB experience, this clear, easy-to-read book walks readers through the ins and outs of this powerful software for technical computing, including:
- Generously illustrated computer screen shots and step-by-step tutorials applied in the areas of mathematics, science, and engineering
- Clearly shows how MATLAB is used in science and engineering
- Includes a completely new chapter on Symbolic Math
- Thoroughly updated to match Matlab's newest release, Matlab 7
Customer Reviews:
Great for learning the basics of MATLAB........2007-08-18
I purchased this title because I am starting a numerical analysis sequence next year using Matlab and I knew only how to plot in 2D and do simple calculations at the command line. After studying from Gilat's text for the past month or so I feel very comfortable using Matlab for all the basics and I am ready to learn how to exploit the full power of the program.
Each chapter gives just enough mathematical background to provide anyone with at least college algebra/trig enough to understand what is going on.
Although this book does not cover any topic too deeply, it does cover the fundamentals of many aspects of Matlab in a way that allows the reader to move fairly quickly through the whole book without getting bogged down in any one area.
In the end you will know the basics about how Matlab operates: how to work with vectors and matrices, how to write simple programs and function files, how to plot and format data, how to fit data to a curve, and how to differentiate and integrate both numerically and symbolically, and a bunch of other great tools for solving problems.
Also, as the other reviewers mentioned, the book makes very good use of graphics to show how input and output should look, as well as what exactly each line means.
I would recommend this text to anyone wanting to learn the basics of Matlab.
Reader.......2007-04-23
If you plan to start with Matlab with no prior experience, this book beats most of the other available titles.Since an inside view of the book is not available on Amazon, I will for the benefit of others list out the chapters here.Ch1 begins with the necessary introduction,developing familiarity with the command window,display formats and precedence of operators.It moves on to Ch2 and Ch3 where arrays are introduced and the mathematical operations on them explained.Ch4 is about script files,Ch5 on elementary plotting techniques using in-built functions like plot and fplot.Ch6 introduces functions and Ch7 extends the previous material to formal programming techniques like loops and control structures.Ch8 explains curve fitting and interpolation,Ch9 is about three dimensional plots and special graphics.Ch10, the last one of the book uses Matlab to do symbolic math which cover elementary algebraic equations.The examples contained in the book are from elementary physics and engineering,so if you are looking for more advanced material that has been treated using Matlab,this might be a little less helpful.The numerical techniques again cover simple problems like projectile trajectory,flow of water from a vessel with a small hole punched in its sidewall,RC circuits, viscosity and so on.Relatively advanced topics like Fourier transforms and applications to signal processing are also left out.If you are done with this book or feel that the material isnt of much help, I will suggest that you might try "Numerical Computing with Matlab" by Moler(he is perhaps one of the architects of Matlab).This book(electronic version) is available for free from the mathworks website [...].Overall this book does a good job in explaining details and is also generously sprinkled with figures and screenshots.Please try it if you are first timer to Matlab.
Very good introduction.......2006-05-04
I had never used matlab when I started reading this book and I found it very easy to follow. I now have a good working understanding of the matlab basics and I recommend that anyone who's looking to get started with matlab pick up a copy.
The perfect introductory text for MATLAB.......2005-12-08
If you are completely new to MATLAB then you will find no better book to guide you through the basics. It is perfectly suited for teaching yourself several basic but still very interesting and useful programming techniques. Topics are presented to the reader in an order carefully determined to produce maximum benefit and knowledge. The book is short and very readable, with many example programs.
In short: if you want a FIRST introductory textbook for MATLAB, you can't beat this book. And it covers the latest version (Release 14).
A truly excellent text!.......2005-11-21
This book was written for teaching Matlab to freshmen in an introductory engineering course, so most of the examples are from first year physics and engineering. Nevertheless, after looking at all competing texts, I chose it to teach Matlab to sophomore geology majors, most of whom had not yet taken calculus or physics. I was very happy with the results; by the end of the semester the students were well on their way to being competent programmers, and I think they will find calculus and physics much easier because of their experience with this book.
I chose this text because it is very well written--you can tell the author has had long experience teaching the subject--and because of its many excellent examples. Most people learn faster by example than by theory, and the examples in this book are easier to follow than those of other texts. Each example shows the command window with a gray background and white insets, or call-outs, containing explanations. The pages are attractive.
In the main text, Matlab commands are set in Courier to clearly distinguish them from the discussion itself. Sections are fairly short and easy to follow, and at the end of each chapter there are many problems of gradually increasing difficulty. The solutions to some problems are given at the back of the book. The abundance of complete examples makes it easy to skip around in the book as soon as students are familiar with Matlab syntax. There are astonishingly few typos and none were serious. Cell arrays and structures are used only where needed for particular commands, a wise pedagogical decision. I particularly enjoyed the second edition's new chapter on symbolic math, as I had never used this part of Matlab in my own research.
The book is 7.5"x9.25" in size with 343 pages, and so is easy to carry around. It's inexpensive, as textbooks go nowadays.
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