Introduction to Graph Theory (2nd Edition) | 
 enlarge | Author: Douglas B. West
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Category: Book
List Price: $124.00
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Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 505207
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 2
Pages: 470
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.6
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.7 x 1.4
ISBN: 0130144002
Dewey Decimal Number: 511.5
EAN: 9780130144003
Publication Date: September 1, 2000
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Product Description
This book fills a need for a thorough introduction to graph theory that features both the understanding and writing of proofs about graphs. Verification that algorithms work is emphasized more than their complexity. An effective use of examples, and huge number of interesting exercises, demonstrate the topics of trees and distance, matchings and factors, connectivity and paths, graph coloring, edges and cycles, and planar graphs. For those who need to learn to make coherent arguments in the fields of mathematics and computer science.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 A great introduction May 26, 2001
Ross M. Richardson (San Diego, CA)
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
Some of the criticisms leveled at West's book by other reviewers focus on either the errors that appear in the book or the choice of material. To the former concern, I would certainly add my own lamentations about the errors in the book, but note that in learning from this text I did not find the errors grevious at all and West's web page is a good guide to reading around them if you find something that cannot easily be interpreted from context (which I could not). However, the later concern I see as too nitpicking, as the book does a good job of familiarizing the reader with a large breadth of topics, to be chosen at the instructor's disscression. Just covering some subset of the book proved to be more than enough material for a challenging and well-paced one semester class, as the book was intended. I found West's literary style eminently readible, and more to the point I have been able to go on in Graph Theory with an excellent preperation thanks to West's book, which I see as the real measure of an introductory text.
The only real negative to the book is the short shrift given to more modern topics such as spectral methods and more extremal questions. The author feels a need to cram in this material, but at the cost of readability and scope. However, these topics are really not within the purvue of an undergraduate graph theory text, so I don't feel that this seriously detracts from the quality of the book. For a wonderful text on modern graph theory appropriate for a graduate student, however, let me cast my vote for Bollobas' aptly named "Modern Graph Theory".
I can't recommend West's text enough. It is modern and well written, and it serves as a great introduction to a wonderful field of mathematics.
My favorite book on graph theory February 11, 2001
Edward T. Pegg Jr. (Champaign, IL USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is packed full. There are 1172 problems listed, hundreds of theorems with their proofs, and helpful diagrams on almost every page. Based on my searches through a lot of math books, this is the best graph theory book around. Well-laid out, attractive, with an extensive glossary, index, and list of references. He lists the following books as his own recommendations: Introductory: Chartrand -- Graphs as Mathematical Models, Clark/Holten -- A First Look at Graph Theory, Trudeau -- Introduction to Graph Theory, Wilson -- Introduction to Graph Theory, Wilson/Watkins -- Graphs: An introductory Approach, Intermediate: Bondy/Murty -- Graph Theory with Applications, Chartrand/Lesniak --Graphs and Digraphs, Gould -- Graph Theory, Gross/Yellen -- Graph Theory, Harary -- Graph Theory, Ore - Theory of Graphs, Advanced: Berge -- Graphs, Bollobas -- Graph Theory: An Introductory Course, Bollobas -- Modern Graph Theory, Diestal -- Graph Theory, Zykov -- Fundamentals of Graph Theory.I agree with West's recommendations, but I would put West's book ahead of all of them.
Elegant book November 29, 2001
k_chromatic (Tehran, Iran)
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is a great graph theory book with numerous great exercises. and indeed, the real strength of the book is the exercises; you can't get a good grasp of the subject without solving many exercises.
I am amazed at the negative reviews aimed at the book merely because of the numerous typos present in the book. you could simply download the errata from the author's site, and correct the errors.
it might take a few hours, but once you do it, almost all the errors are gone(many have been fixed in the later printings).
and, beware that the book does not make a great start. the first section of the book, in particular, is rather long, and vague in places, and a tough nut to crack for a beginner. but don't be put off by that. simply move on, do many exercises, and by the time you reach chapter 2, you will see that you are really liking the book, and the book shines even more from there on.
I believe the book's slow start is behind many people's frustration, and hence their negative reviews.
enjoy!
Praise from a past student February 7, 1998
tcohen@dreamworks.com (Los Angeles)
0 out of 12 found this review helpful
Mr. West was my prof. for Graph Theory, using the material that was undoubtedly composed to create this book. He is briliant, and I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
 Pretty good March 3, 2004
David Diez (Los Angeles, CA)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Level of the book: 3rd-4th year undergrad or 1st-2nd year grad (pretty big range).Don't let other reviews fool you. This book does an excellent job covering the material at hand, especially given the task West set out to achieve. The book basically stands alone thanks to thorough appendices and a fair amount of examples, plus lots of problems (mostly proofs). Because this material is proof-based, I cannot suggest that this book could stand alone, but that someone else should review problems and such. When I first was reading this book, I ignored the appendices, and that was my downfall. Once I started using all the tools in this book, things started coming together. Because of the intricate design, I would recommend this book only to people who are serious about a thorough introduction to graph theory. That is, actually proving many of the theorems that play a central role in this introduction. For a simple introduction to concepts, I would recommend Trudeau's book, "Introduction to Graph Theory," which is a good read and introduces a few of the ideas and definitions of graph theory, but does not focus on proofs. My only major quarrel with this book is that it is completely void of color! This would be EXTREMELY useful in this book because many of the diagrams are complicated and different color labels would make things much clearer (instead of bolding lines and such). The increased price of the book would certainly be worth the clarity from color. There are also some typos throughout the book, but none too major (that have been noticed). Overall, I would highly recommend this book over any other, but consider waiting until an edition with color comes out.
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