Discrete Mathematics Course

Discrete Mathematics

Time: 14:20 ~ 15:10 Thursday (Spring Semester)
Location: Room 111 of the CSIE Building


Unlike you [Bill Gates],
I had actually tried to do the reading.
---Steve Ballmer (1999)

In after years I have deeply regretted that
I did not proceed far enough at least to understand
something of the great leading principles of mathematics.
---Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

At best he could never have been a mathematician;
at worst he would never have cared to be one;
but he needed to read mathematics,
like any other universal language,
and he never reached the alphabet.
---Henry Adams (1838-1918)



To the students,

This course is on discrete mathematics. It covers combinatorics, boolean logic, computation theory, analysis of algorithms, probability, algebra, number theory, graph theory, set theory, and many other fields. Parts of the book should have been covered in high school and will be skipped or only briefly reviewed. I have in mind basic combinatorics, logic, and basic set theory.

It is never an easy job to teach discrete mathematics, because it touches so many areas of learning. Furthermore, unlike algebra, discrete mathematics does not seem to have a structure that can be said to form its foundation. But, for precisely the same reason, the subject is fascinating.

Please note that this course will be taught in English.


Notes [ 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024 ]

  1. 2024.02.22
  2. 2024.02.29
  3. 2024.03.07
  4. 2024.03.14
  5. 2024.03.21
  6. 2024.03.28 mid-term exam
  7. 2024.04.04 holiday
  8. 2024.04.11
  9. 2024.04.18
  10. 2024.04.25
  11. 2024.05.02 mid-term exam
  12. 2024.05.09
  13. 2024.05.16
  14. 2024.05.23
  15. 2024.05.30
  16. 2024.06.06 final exam

Book sections to be covered (based on the 5th ed.)


Examinations and grading