A Course in Combinatorics

by J.H. Van Lint, R.M. Wilson

This major textbook, a product of many years' teaching, will appeal to all teachers of combinatorics who appreciate the breadth and depth of the subject. The authors exploit the fact that combinatorics requires comparatively little technical background to provide not only a standard introduction but also a view of some contemporary problems. All of the 36 chapters are in bite-size portions; they cover a given topic in reasonable depth and are supplemented by exercises, some with solutions, and references. To avoid an ad hoc appearance, the authors have concentrated on the central themes of designs, graphs and codes.

Genres: Mathematics, Textbooks

Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Joe Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Combinatorics is a relatively recent development in mathematics, one which is generally easy to explain, but with many difficult open questions. Van Lint and Wilson do an excellent job explaining, but there are a few places where the reader needs to know some background to place the particular problem in the appropriate mathematical context. Understandably, if the authors were to include all the mathematical machinery needed, the book would be huge! Instead, they have chosen to describe as many facets of the field as possible, and therefore have written a broad, well-balanced book which approaches the topic in a non-threatening way.

[Ree Linker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Potentially a good reference book, I wouldn't recommend it for someone trying to learn about the topics covered. It is terse to the point of ridiculousness, and seems occasionally to go out of the way to present things in the most complicated way imaginable.