Thinking with Models

Abstract

Not a new text, but an excellent book, which in 181 pages not only manages to provide a multiplicity of mathematical models to solve problems, but also, more importantly, considers the more difficult issue of problem formulation. In this pragmatic treatise, the philosophy of, and need for, models (both deterministic and stochastic) are largely presumed. Rather, the authors quite rightly address methodological issues and are at pains to stress the need for a correct model framework always remembering that there is a problem which needs solving, and the model is the means to an end and not an end in itself. Further, they reeognize that real-world problems are often badly defined and thus require mathematical creativity. As such, the early chapters introduce, via a large number of small problems, different mathematical formulations, solutions generally following automatically.

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