Adam B. Levy
SIAM 2023, 160 PAGES
PRICE (PAPERBACK) £56.00 ISBN 978-1-61197-736-3
I recently had the pleasure of traversing the pages of this very handsome mathematics textbook written by a Professor of Mathematics at Bowdoin College USA. Bowdoin College is an independent, non-sectarian institution that was founded on 24 June 1794.
Professor Adam B. Levy has enshrined in a profound contemporary approach to optimisation methods, a handy textbook of 12 concise chapters made up of three parts, and well garnished with tables, figures, examples and exercises, including Python notes and appendices, plus some projects in Chapter 12.
This interesting mathematics text dances between the lines of the theory of optimisation and linear programming by painting a rich tapestry of a course that spans undergraduate mathematical optimisation methods, for students of mathematics, and/or mathematics education, as well as some aspects that would be very helpful to postgraduate diploma mathematics students who may be offered a refresher course in this important topic.
The book is well printed and published by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematic (SIAM) sited in Philadelphia, USA. On checking the SIAM website, I was able to spot this book where it was described in the following words: ‘Optimization is presented in most multivariable calculus courses as an application of the gradient, and while this treatment makes sense for a calculus course, there is much more to the theory of optimization. Optimization problems are generated constantly, and the theory of optimization has grown and developed in response to the challenges presented by these problems.’
Indeed, I have had quite a refreshing time with the text, looking at well established procedures such as the steepest descent method, sensitivity analysis, simplex method, the integer, dynamic programming procedures, and my well-loved Newton’s method for solving F(x) = 0, plus a good number of contemporary touches using Python programming language.
Although the bibliography is few in number, the author presented several reference books to support onward journey into higher realms in the area of the well-respected subject matter.
In conclusion, the clear and precise mathematical language used in the text clearly demonstrates the interest of the author in reaching the intended audience without loss of attention.
Ogbonna E. Nnamuchi
Book review published directly onto IMA website
