A Course in Mathematical Modeling by Douglas Mooney and Randall Swift Reviewed by Jan E. Holly Anyone who writes a new mathematical modeling book like this should be praised for providing us with fresh real-life data sets and ideas for student projects. This book illustrates statistical concepts, for example, with data about The X-files television show. It also introduces many new examples from population biology and ecology. This book's broad goal is to teach students who have taken single-variable calculus how to build and analyze mathematical models.
Computer simulations play a major role, but analytical techniques are also emphasized.
Chapter 3 talks about state diagrams and Markov chains, and includes, in effect, a compressed course on matrix algebra. Chapter 4 covers curve-fitting, even going so far as to introduce multiple regression. This book's approach differs from that of many traditional modeling textbooks. Finally, the present book is less compartmentalized than some. To read the book is a bit like driving down a bumpy road.