Finite Mathematics with Applications

This book presents the content and applications in an accessible manner while maintaining an appropriate level of rigor. The authors proceed from familiar material to new, and from concrete examples to general rules and formulas. This edition retains its focus on real-world problem solving, but has been refreshed with a wealth of new data in the examples and exercises—42% of the 452 examples are new or revised, and 31% of the 3,741 exercises are new or revised.

Marge Lial has always been interested in math; it was her favorite subject in the first grade! Marge's intense desire to educate both her students and herself has inspired the writing of numerous best-selling textbooks. Marge, who received Bachelor's and Master's degrees from California State University at Sacramento, is now affiliated with American River College. Marge is an avid reader and traveler. Her travel experiences often find their way into her books as applications, exercise sets, and feature sets. She is particularly interested in archeology. Trips to various digs and ruin sites have produced some fascinating problems for her textbooks involving such topics as the building of Mayan pyramids and the acoustics of ancient ball courts in the Yucatan.

Thomas W. Hungerford received his bachelor’s degree from Holy Cross and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He taught for many years at the University of Washington (Seattle) before moving to Cleveland State University in 1980. He has been at St. Louis University since 2003. He has written a number of research articles in algebra and several in mathematics education. Dr. Hungerford is the author or coauthor of more than a dozen mathematics textbooks, ranging from high school to graduate level, several of which are published by Addison-Wesley. He is active in promoting the effective use of technology in mathematics instruction. Dr. Hungerford has also been a referee and reviewer for various mathematical journals and has served on National Science Foundation panels for selecting grant recipients.

John P. Holcomb, Jr. received his bachelor's degree from St. Bonaventure University and his Ph.D. from the University at Albany, State University of New York. He taught for five years at Youngstown State University prior to arriving at Cleveland State University in Fall 2000. He is an associate professor and frequently collaborates with researchers in a variety of disciplines where he provides statistical analysis. Dr. Holcomb has also authored several papers in statistical education and is very active in the American Statistical Association and the Mathematical Association of America. He was named a Carnegie Scholar in 2000 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and in 2003 received the Waller Award from the American Statistical Association for outstanding teaching of introductory statistics.