How to Solve It

This book is the only source that provides comprehensive, current, and correct information on problem solving using modern heuristics. It covers classic methods of optimization, including dynamic programming, the simplex method, and gradient techniques, as well as recent innovations such as simulated annealing, tabu search, and evolutionary computation. Integrated into the discourse is a series of problems and puzzles to challenge the reader. The book is written in a lively, engaging style and is intended for students and practitioners alike. Anyone who reads and understands the material in the book will be armed with the most powerful problem solving tools currently known. This second edition contains two new chapters, one on coevolutionary systems and one on multicriterial decision-making. Also some new puzzles are added and various subchapters are revised.

The March 2002 issue of ACMs Computing Reviews identifies a review of "How to Solve It" as the best review they published in 2001. The review is then reprinted in its entirety. Reviewer: H. van Dyke Parunak.

Excerpt: Like its predecessor, the new How to Solve It, combines deep mathematical insight with skilled pedagogy. Puzzle lovers will seek out the book for its insightful discussion of many intriguing brain twisters. Students of computational methods will find it an accessible but rigorous introduction to evolutionary algorithms. Teachers will learn from its expositions how to make their own subject matter clearer to their students. Polya would be honored to know that his spirit lives on in the computer age.

From the reviews of the second edition:

"This is an outstanding book. It takes the reader close to the current knowledge frontier … . The book’s writing style is lively and educational, and this makes it extremely interesting … . is intended for students and practitioners. … is an excellent choice for a course on heuristics … . One of the most comprehensive views … is provided in this book. It is written to be read and understood … . is a must-read and must-have for anyone engaged in the art of problem solving." (Dimitrios Katsaros, Computing Reviews, April, 2005)