Discrete Mathematical Structures

Discrete mathematics is an interesting course both to teach and to study at the
freshman and sophomore level for several reasons. Its content is mathematics,
but most of its applications and more than half of its students are from computer
science or engineering concentrations. Thus, careful motivation of topics and pre­
views of applications are important and necessary strategies. Moreover, there are
a number of substantive and diverse topics covered in the course, so a text must
proceed clearly and carefully, emphasizing key ideas with suitable pedagogy. In
addition, the student is generally expected to develop an important new skill: the
ability to write a mathematical proof. This skill is excellent training for writing
computer programs.