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Anonymous
Posted June 30, 2007
To make things clear: you need a first-year course in calculus, including matrix algebra, behind you to use this book. Taha explains the concepts very well, his writing style is very direct too, but it all depends on how grounded you are in calculus and matrix algebra. Compared to another great book on operations research, Whinston's 'Operations Research', this book by Taha has fewer pages to work through, but in terms of content-coverage its about the same. Taha is more to the point than Whinston. Personally I prefered Whinston's writing style, but they are both good so its a matter of taste: if you like a direct explanatory approach and learning-by-doing approach I would recommend Taha, if you like a more theortical and softer explanatory approach then I'd go for Whinston.
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Posted April 11, 2011
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More About This Textbook
Overview
New Text Material:
· Chapter 2 is dedicated entirely to formulating linear programming models, with new applications in urban renewal, currency arbitrage, investments, production planning, and blending. New end-of-section problems deal with topics ranging from water quality management and traffic control to warfare.
· Chapter 3 presents the general LP sensitivity analysis, including dual prices and reduced costs, as a direct extension of the simplex tableau computations.
· Chapter 4 is now dedicated to LP post-optimal analysis based on duality.
· A combined nearest neighbor-reversal heuristic (with generic Excel implementation) is presented for the traveling salesperson problem in Chapter 9.
· Markov chains treatment has been expanded into a new Chapter 17.
· The totally new Chapter 24 on the CD presents 15 fully developed real-life applications with summaries given in pertinent chapters. The analysis, which often cuts across more than one OR technique (e.g., heuristics and LP, or ILP and queuing), deals with the modeling, data collection, and computational aspects of solving the problem (CD-ROM only).
· The new Appendix E on the CD includes approximately 50 mini cases of real-life situations.
· More than 1000 end-of-section problem are included in the book.
· Each chapter starts with a guide that facilitates the understanding of the material and the effective use of the accompanying software.
· All computer-related material has been deliberately compartmentalized in subsections to minimize disruptions in the main presentation of the book.
New Software Implementations:
· AMPL, the widely-used commercial modeling language, is integrated throughout the book with examples from linear/nonlinear/integer programming and networks. The examples also demonstrate AMPL's superior interactive capabilities for model experimentation.
· To facilitate learning the language, AMPL's full syntax is given in Appendix A and cross-referenced in the book examples.
· Excel spreadsheet implementations include dynamic programming, traveling salesperson, inventory, AHP, Bayes' probabilities, "electronic" statistical tables, queuing, simulation, Markov chains, and nonlinear programming. Interactive user input in some spreadsheets is designed to promote better understanding of the underlying techniques.
· The use of Excel Solver has been expanded, particularly in the areas of linear, network, integer, and nonlinear programming.
· TORA continues to play the key role of tutorial software.
On the CD-ROM
· AMPL language (student version) with numerous fully developed models.
· TORA, the updated and easy-to-use tutorial optimization system.
· Numerous fully-developed AMPL models.
· General ready-to-use Excel spreadsheet templates.
· Numerous fully-developed Excel Solver models.
· Four supplemental chapters and two appendixes.
Editorial Reviews
From The Critics
This textbook introduces deterministic models, probabilistic models, and nonlinear models of decision making and problem solving. Example applications of the Tora, Excel, Lingo, and Ampl programs are integrated throughout the book. The seventh edition adds sections on the generalized simplex method, PERT networks, and solution of the traveling salesperson problem. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, ORFrom the Publisher
“Dr. Taha is an excellent author and presents materials in his book very well in terms of readability and clarity. The topics within every chapter are presented in a cohesive and logical manner.”
-M. Jeya Chandra, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY
“The book is very clear and readable. Figures do a good job of illustrating Dr. Taha’s points. It is very useful to have the Solver & TORA output shown in the chapter with discussion of how to interpret results.”
-Marc E. Posner, THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
Product Details
Related Subjects
Meet the Author
Hamdy A. Taha is a University Professor Emeritus of Industrial Engineering with the University of Arkansas, where he taught and conducted research in operations research and simulation.¿ He is the author of three other books on integer programming and simulation, and his works have been translated to numerous languages.¿ He is also the author of several book chapters, and his technical articles have appeared in European Journal of Operations Research, IEEE Transactions on Reliability, IIE Transactions, Interfaces, Management Science, Naval Research Logistics Quarterly, Operations Research, and Simulation.¿
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Professor Taha was the recipient of the Alumni Award for excellence in research and the university-wide Nadine Baum Award for excellence in teaching, both from the University of Arkansas, and numerous other research and teaching awards from the College of Engineering, University of Arkansas.¿ He was also named a Senior Fulbright Scholar to Carlos III University, Madrid, Spain.¿ He is fluent in three languages and has held teaching and consulting positions in Europe, Mexico, and the Middle East.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
The main thrust of the seventh edition is the extensive software support used throughout the book:
The TORA software offers modules for matrix inversion, solution of simultaneous linear equations, linear programming, transportation models, network models, integer programming, queuing models, project planning with CPM and PERT, and game theory. TORA can be executed in automated or tutorial mode. The automated mode reports the final solution of the problem, usually in the standard format followed in commercial packages. The tutorial mode is a unique feature that provides immediate feedback to test the reader's understanding of the computational details of each algorithm. As with its DOS predecessor, the different screens in TORA are accessed in a logical and unambiguous manner, essentially eliminating the need for a user's manual.
Excel spreadsheet templates complement TORA's modules. These templates include linear programming, dynamic programming, analytical hierarchy process (AHP), inventory models, histogramming of raw data, decision theory, Poisson queues, P-K formula, simulation, and nonlinear models. Some of the templates are direct spreadsheets. Others use Excel Solveror VBA macros. Regardless of the design, all templates offer the unique feature of being equipped with an input data section that allows solving different problems without the need to modify the formulas or the layout of the spreadsheet. In this manner, the user can experiment with, test, and compare different sets of input data in a convenient manner. Where possible, the formulas and the layout of the spreadsheets have been protected to minimize the chance of inadvertently corrupting them.
The book includes examples of the commercial packages LINGO and AMPL for solving linear programming problems. The objective is to familiarize the reader with how very large mathematical programming models are solved in practice.
TORA software and the Excel spreadsheets are integrated into the text in a manner that facilitates introducing and testing concepts that otherwise could not be presented effectively. From my personal experience, I have found TORA's tutorial module and Excel spreadsheets to be highly effective in classroom presentations. Many concepts can be demonstrated instantly, simply by changing the data of the problem. To cite a few examples, TORA can be used to demonstrate the bizarre behavior of the branch-and-bound algorithm by applying it to a (small) integer programming problem, where the solution is found in nine iterations but its optimality verified in more than 25,000 iterations. Without the software and the special design of TORA, it would be impossible to demonstrate this situation in an effective manner. Another example is the unique design of the dynamic programming and the AHP spreadsheets, where the user interactive input is designed to enhance effective understanding of the details of these two topics. A third example deals with explaining the congruential method for generating 0-1 pseudo-random numbers. With the spreadsheet, one can instantly demonstrate the effect of selecting the seed (and the parameters) on the "quality" of the generator, particularly with regard to the cycle length of the random number sequence and, hence, warn the student about the danger of a "causal" implementation of the congruential method within a simulation model.
In addition to the software support in the book, all chapters have been streamlined (many rewritten) to present the material in a concise manner. New material includes a new introduction to operations research (Chapter 1); the generalized simplex method (Chapter 4); representation of all network models, including CPM, as linear programs (Chapter 6); PERT networks (Chapter 6); solution of the traveling sales Person problem (Chapter 9); and the golden section method (Chapter 21).
As in the sixth edition, the book is organized into three parts: deterministic models, probabilistic models, and nonlinear models. Appendices A through D include a review of matrix algebra, a TORA primer (though TORA's design makes a user's manual unnecessary), basic statistical tables, and partial answers to selected problems.