Dynamic Programming

by Richard E. Bellman, Stuart Dreyfus (Introduction)

This classic book is an introduction to dynamic programming, presented by the scientist who coined the term and developed the theory in its early stages. In Dynamic Programming , Richard E. Bellman introduces his groundbreaking theory and furnishes a new and versatile mathematical tool for the treatment of many complex problems, both within and outside of the discipline.

The book is written at a moderate mathematical level, requiring only a basic foundation in mathematics, including calculus. The applications formulated and analyzed in such diverse fields as mathematical economics, logistics, scheduling theory, communication theory, and control processes are as relevant today as they were when Bellman first presented them. A new introduction by Stuart Dreyfus reviews Bellman's later work on dynamic programming and identifies important research areas that have profited from the application of Bellman's theory.

Genres: Mathematics, Computer Science, Programming, Textbooks, Artificial Intelligence, Algorithms

392 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 1957

About the author

Richard Ernest Bellman was an American applied mathematician, celebrated for his invention of dynamic programming in 1953, and important contributions in other fields of mathematic

Reviews

[Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this dover edition of Bellman's classic work on dynamic programming just to get a sense of full breadth of the original theory since I primarily studied aspects of this from an algorithmic perspective in computer science. Unfortunately even though I get a sense of this my understanding of math in certain areas is lacking (specifically in variational calculus) to completely understand the mathematical justification for some of the continuous results. But the discrete cases are enough to justify spending some time reading this book- especially for this price.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dynamic Programming by Richard Bellman is a book about optimization problems. It uses boundary value problems and stochastic methods to ascertain the answers in each case. The book is from 1957, so the calculating power of the world at the time is less than my TI-83 Plus calculator.

Heavy-duty mathematics bursts forth from every page of this book. It's unfortunate, but the book is far too advanced for me at the moment. I want something to build up to this level, but I don't know where to start in this case.

On a positive note, the book contains plenty of examples and workable problems. Bellman is a thorough teacher.

Since the book is too advanced, I will shelve it for now. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.