A new math book each blog-post
There are quite a few books on mathematical modeling available out there, but I want to literally and figuratively focus on a single one, which is Mathematical Modeling by Mark M. Meerschaert.
First, a number of details about the author of the book. Mark Meerschaert is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Statistics and Probability at Michigan State University. He authored a number of books among them the Mathematical Modeling.
What is special about the book?
I have a third edition of the book and I want to provide some thoughts about it. Personally, I like books that provide detailed explanations and ample of examples accompanying the theoretical parts of the book. In my opinion, author’s own view on the subject phrased in his own words, instead of strict adherence to formal definitions is a valuable aid in comprehending mathematical theory.
As for the content of the book, it is divided in three parts which reflects the fact that most of the mathematical models fall into three types
- Optimization Models
- Dynamic Models
- Probability Models
Each chapter in the book has detailed examples and quite a few exercises for the reader to tackle. What is also nice that the book is quite practical and have examples from various fields of science and engineering.
References
- Mark Meerschaert in his own words.
- Mark’s page at Michigan State University
ScienceAppliedForGood 