Customer Reviews (1)

Very educational, very smooth, well written
I have been familiar with this book for over 8 years and I should say this is one of the best educational and practical books you can find about Markov chains. The book claims to be written for undergraduates, but it is marvelously useful for graduate students too.

The book starts by definition of Markov chains and gradually gets into more advanced definitions like absorbing states, cyclical chains, ergodicity ... Then there are these little lemmas and theorems about different aspects of Markov chains like what is the expected time of sitting at a transient state, what is the expected time of returning to the same state, etc. The proofs are nicely presented and there is a whole lot of application for those theorems in all fields that use Markov chains (like engineering, economics, ...). The book is actually abstract math and doesn't get very specialized at any time.

I think this is a book one wants to start learning Markov chains from or keep in shelf for frequent references. I actually used some of its derivations in my own Master's thesis and got a lot of interesting feedbacks on what I did. Now is your turn! ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of John G(eorge) Kemeny, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 1155 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description
This textbook provides a systematic treatment of denumerable Markov chains, covering both the foundations of the subject and some in topics in potential theory and boundary theory. It is a discussion of relations among what might be called the descriptive quantities associated with Markov chains-probabilities of events and means of random variables that give insight into the behavior of the chains. The approach, by means of infinite matrices, simplifies the notation, shortens statements and proofs of theorems, and often suggests new results. This second edition includes the new chapter, Introduction to Random Fields, written by David Griffeath. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Marriage laws and Permutations
From game theory to the Gambler's ruin this book has classical mathematics well explained. The section on permutations and multinomials is still a valuable reference after all these years! But it is the application of permutation groups to island marriage laws that make this book a mathematical classic! How close a relative can you marry without endangering the gene pool while maximizing the number of people in your tribe that you can marry... a practical problem set to a primitive culture produced mathematical solutions! ... Read more

Book Description
As the need for more substantial mathematical training has increased among social science students, the lack of any adequate textbook between the very elementary and the very advanced levels has become crutial. The authors, long-time experts in this field, have answered the need with this volume, and the MIT Press has repsonded by bringing it into renewed circulation.

Mathematical Models in the Social Sciences investigates and teaches the formation and analysis of mathematical models with detailed interpretations of the results. These models are self-contained, with the necessary mathematics included in each chapter. A vast range of topics in the social sciences and a wide variety of mathematical techniques are covered by the models. Ample opportunity is also provided for the students to form their own models. Republication of this book provides social science and mathematics students with a text that is the analogue of mathematical methods textbooks used in the study of the physical sciences and engineering. Prerequisites are kept to a minimum; a course in finite mathematics and a semester of calculus are all that is necessary.

The chapters cover these main topics (and employ the mathematical approach parenthetically indicated): methodology; preference rankings (an axiomatic approach); ecology (two dynamic models); market stability (a dynamic model); a Markov chain model in sociology; stabilization of money flow (an application of discrete potential theory); branching processes; organization theory (applications of graph theory); and optimal scheduling (a problem in dynamic programming). ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Mortgage Banking, published by Mortgage Bankers Association of America on April 1, 1997. The length of the article is 4031 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Orchestrating successful performance. (mortgage servicing organizations)
Author: John E. Kemeny
Publication: Mortgage Banking (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 1997
Publisher: Mortgage Bankers Association of America
Volume: v57Issue: n7Page: p75(5)

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