A Gentle Introduction to Optimization

Optimization is an essential technique for solving problems in areas as diverse as accounting, computer science and engineering. Assuming only basic linear algebra and with a clear focus on the fundamental concepts, this textbook is the perfect starting point for first- and second-year undergraduate students from a wide range of backgrounds and with varying levels of ability. Modern, real-world examples motivate the theory throughout. The authors keep the text as concise and focused as possible, with more advanced material treated separately or in starred exercises. Chapters are self-contained so that instructors and students can adapt the material to suit their own needs and a wide selection of over 140 exercises gives readers the opportunity to try out the skills they gain in each section. Solutions are available for instructors. The book also provides suggestions for further reading to help students take the next step to more advanced material.

B. Guenin is Professor in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization at the University of Waterloo. He received a Fulkerson Prize awarded jointly by the Mathematical Programming Society and the American Mathematical Society in 2003. He is also the recipient of a Premier's Research Award in 2001 from the Government of Ontario, Canada. Guenin currently serves on the editorial board of the SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics.

J. Könemann is Professor in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization at the University of Waterloo. He received an IBM Corporation Faculty Award in 2005, and an Early Researcher Award from the Government of Ontario, Canada, in 2007. He served on the program committees of several major conferences in mathematical optimization and computer science, and is a member of the editorial board of Elsevier's Surveys in Operations Research and Management Science.

L. Tunçel is Professor in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization at the University of Waterloo. In 1999 he received a Premier's Research Excellence Award from the Government of Ontario, Canada. More recently, he received a Faculty of Mathematics Award for Distinction in Teaching from the University of Waterloo in 2012. Tunçel currently serves on the editorial board of the SIAM Journal on Optimization and as an Associate Editor of Mathematics of Operations Research.