# Recommend me a book on...Discrete Maths! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-discrete-maths/318437 "2005-08-24T16:02:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-discrete-maths/318437/1 "2005-08-24T16:02:35Z")
Currently I am struggling with Discrete Maths (logic, set theories and the like), with my trusty textbook - _Discrete Mathematics with Applications_, by Susanna S. Epp (I fondly refer to it as Ms. Susanna…whenever someone asks me a question on Discrete Maths, I would say, “Let me counsel Susanna first…”) I am thinking of getting a second text of complementing the one that I have now. Are there any good books I shall take a look at? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-discrete-maths/318437/2 "2005-08-24T16:51:13Z")
I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. Not because I don’t want to… uhhhh… actually it _is_ because I don’t want to! I didn’t understand a word of that course all through my 2nd year in university and I was good at math. I stayed up all night with my classmates to study for the exam the following morning. Passed by some miracle or clerical error and vowed to forget the entire experience over a burning copy of the course text book. Thank you for bringing up that painful memory. ---
**Author:** ![mojave66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mojave66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojave66)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-discrete-maths/318437/3 "2005-08-24T22:50:58Z")
I actually liked discrete math Back In The Day. Can I remember ANY of it? Heck, no, but I have this on the day I need to shake the cobwebs from my brain: [http://tinyurl.com/9mxlm](http://tinyurl.com/9mxlm) Schaum’s makes great outlines. Now mind you, they are pretty basic so if you’re a CS major or math undergrad having to do a course on Discrete Math (sorry for the American lack of plural), this is a great book. If you have to pump out some complicated proofs, this book is going to be way too simple. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-discrete-maths/318437/4 "2005-08-24T23:19:13Z")
You might look around the online store of [Dover Publications](http://www.doverpublications.com) to see if you can find something cheap that looks promising. The problem with recommending a general discrete math textbook is that the field is broad enough that no two authors are going to cover exactly the same topics–you’ll get a little bit of logic, a little bit of set theory, and probably some combinatorics, but after that it’s a crapshoot. And if you’re looking for anything in-depth, you’d be better of consulting a textbook in that field. Is there a particular topic that you’re having trouble with? That might help to make some more specific recommendations. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-discrete-maths/318437/5 "2005-08-25T01:36:20Z")
I used the 2nd edition of Rosen’s [Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications](http://www.mhhe.com/math/advmath/rosen/) as an undergrad. Being a poor student at the time (and not knowing I’d end up in grad school), I sold it right after the semester ended. I picked up a 4th edition from one of the undergrads (at a different institution) a year or so ago to replace it. It does the job – I’ve often used it as a reference – although I have no idea how it compares with other texts. ---
**Author:** ![Aquafina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/50afbb/32.png) [@Aquafina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquafina)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-book-on-discrete-maths/318437/6 "2005-08-25T02:43:33Z")
I used exactly the same textbook as you do. Apparently, I never found it useful since I alredy knew the stuff before. However, I looked at some other Discrete Math textbooks as well, and they are pretty much the same. Why dont you go in the library and see if there is a book you can use ?