Synopses & Reviews
In Finite Mathematics For the Managerial, Life, and Social Sciences, Sixth Edition, Soo Tan builds on the features that have made his texts market leaders--a real-life, problem-solving approach coupled with a concise writing style, a wealth of interesting and illustrative applications to help students understand the material, and technology coverage that is integrated, but optional, throughout the book. Tan is well known for his ability to present quantitative techniques in an intuitive and accessible yet accurate manner.
About the Author
Soo T. Tan, Professor of Mathematics at Stonehill College, has published numerous papers in Optimal Control Theory and Numerical Analysis. He received his S.B. degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his M.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles. "By the time I started writing the first of what turned out to be a series of textbooks in mathematics for students in the managerial, life, and social sciences, I had quite a few years of experience teaching mathematics to non-mathematics majors. One of the most important lessons I learned from my early experience teaching these courses is that many of the students come into these courses with some degree of apprehension. This awareness led to the intuitive approach I have adopted in all of my texts. As you will see, I try to introduce each abstract mathematical concept through an example drawn from a common, real-life experience. Once the idea has been conveyed, I then proceed to make it precise, thereby assuring that no mathematical rigor is lost in this intuitive treatment of the subject. Another lesson I learned from my students is that they have a much greater appreciation of the material if the applications are drawn from their fields of interest and from situations that occur in the real world. This is one reason why you will see so many exercises in my texts that are modeled on data gathered from newspapers, magazines, journals, and other media. Whether it be the ups and downs of the stock market, the growth of HMOs in the U.S., the solvency of the Social Security system, the budget deficit, the AIDS epidemic, or the growth of the Internet, I weave topics of current interest into my examples and exercises, to keep the book relevant to all of my readers."
Table of Contents
1. STRAIGHT LINES AND LINEAR FUNCTIONS The Cartesian Coordinate System / Straight Lines / Linear Functions and Mathematical Models / Intersection of Straight Lines / The Method of Least Squares (Optional) / Chapter 1 Summary of Principal Terms / Chapter 1 Review Exercises 2. SYSTEMS OF LINEAR EQUATIONS AND MATRICES Systems of Linear Equations - Introduction / Solving Systems of Linear Equations I / Solving Systems of Linear Equations II / Matrices / Multiplication of Matrices / The Inverse of a Square Matrix / Leontief Input-Output Model (Optional) / Chapter 2 Summary of Principal Terms / Chapter 2 Review Exercises 3. LINEAR PROGRAMMING: A GEOMETRIC APPROACH Graphing Systems of Linear Inequalities in Two Variables / Linear Programming Problems / Graphical Solution of Linear Programming Problems / Chapter 3 Summary of Principal Terms / Chapter 3 Review Exercises 4. LINEAR PROGRAMMING: AN ALGEBRAIC APPROACH The Simplex Method: Standard Maximization Problems / The Simplex Method: Standard Minimization Problems / The Simplex Method: Nonstandard Problems (Optional) / Chapter 4 Summary of Principal Terms / Chapter 4 Review Exercises 5. MATHEMATICS OF FINANCE Compound Interest / Annuities / Amortization and Sinking Funds / Arithmetic and Geometric Progressions (Optional) / Chapter 5 Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms / Chapter 5 Review Exercises 6. SETS AND COUNTING Sets and Set Operations / The Number of Elements in a Finite Set / The Multiplication Principle / Permutations and Combinations / Chapter 6 Review Exercises 7. PROBABILITY Experiments, Sample Spaces, and Events / Definition of Probability / Rules of Probability / Use of Counting Techniques in Probability / Conditional Probability and Independent Events / Bayes Theorem / Chapter 7 Summary of Principal Terms / Chapter 7 Review Exercises 8. PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS AND STATISTICS Distributions of Random Variables / Expected Value / Variance and Standard Deviation / The Binomial Distribution / The Normal Distribution / Applications of the Normal Distribution / Chapter 8 Review Exercises 9. MARKOV CHAINS AND THE THEORY OF GAMES Markov Chains / Regular Markov Chains / Absorbing Markov Chains / Game Theory and Strictly Determined Games / Games with Mixed Strategies / Chapter 9 Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms / Chapter 9 Review Exercises / APPENDIX A: INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC / Propositions and Connectives / Truth Tables / The Conditional and the Biconditional Connectives / Laws of Logic / Arguments / Applications of Logic to Switching Networks / APPENDIX B: THE SYSTEM OF REAL NUMBERS / APPENDIX C: TABLES / Table I: Compound Amount, Present Value, and Annuity / Table II: Binomial Probabilities / Table III: The Standard Normal Distribution / ANSWERS TO ODD-NUMBERED EXERCISES / INDEX