{"id":40629,"date":"2018-12-06T11:13:38","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T16:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=40629"},"modified":"2018-12-06T11:14:11","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T16:14:11","slug":"the-story-of-an-exquisite-new-discrete-math-textbook-by-emus-owen-byer-and-deirdre-l-smeltzer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/the-story-of-an-exquisite-new-discrete-math-textbook-by-emus-owen-byer-and-deirdre-l-smeltzer\/","title":{"rendered":"The story of an \u2018exquisite\u2019 new discrete math textbook by EMU\u2019s Owen Byer and Deirdre L. Smeltzer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes the thrill of mathematics doesn\u2019t come from the question, but from a beautiful solution. <\/span><\/p>\n

Consider the approach Eastern Mennonite University math professor Owen Byer<\/a><\/strong> took when deciding which problems to include in the new textbook he co-authored with math-professor-turned-vice president and academic dean <\/span>Deirdre Longacher Smeltzer<\/a><\/strong>, and Regent University professor Kenneth Wantz<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn my own view,\u201d he said, \u201ceither it should be a really interesting question, or \u2013 lacking that \u2013 the solution should be beautiful. Even average problems are worth including if the solution teaches you something.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This November marked the publication of the long-anticipated \u2013 and, already, long-used \u2013 textbook <\/span>Journey into Discrete Mathematics<\/span><\/i> (Mathematical Association of America Press, 2018). <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is definitely the best math textbook that I\u2019ve ever used,\u201d said sophomore Andrew Nord<\/strong> after a recent session of his discrete math class, which is the latest to use the \u2013 until now, pre-published \u2013 book. \u201cIt explains the concepts very fully and in a way that can be understood fairly easily.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

From the start<\/b><\/h3>\n

Byer, Smeltzer and Byer\u2019s University of Delaware PhD advisor Felix Lazebnik<\/strong> began talking about writing <\/span>Journey <\/span><\/i>at about the same time the trio\u2019s earlier textbook <\/span>Methods for Euclidean Geometry<\/span><\/i> (MAA, 2010) was published. All three had doctoral training in discrete math and had taught it many times, and \u201cit seemed like a good second joint project,\u201d Smeltzer said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Professor Owen Byer and his colleagues began using the textbook long before it was published.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A year into the writing of <\/span>Journey<\/span><\/i>, however, Lazebnik needed to bow out \u2013 but generously granted permission for materials that he had developed to remain in the textbook. Byer and Smeltzer then invited Wantz, a former grad school colleague of Byer\u2019s, to join them, and the new trio continued even as a new wrinkle developed: Smeltzer\u2019s transition to being undergraduate dean left her little time to focus on the textbook. While each author ultimately made similar contributions, she said, Byer provided leadership and did \u201cmore of everything, especially generating problems and solutions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Once drafted, <\/span>Journey<\/span><\/i> entered what Byer modestly dubbed \u201ca long process\u201d of revising and polishing. For Smeltzer, that process posed the biggest challenge of writing <\/span>Journey<\/span><\/i>, second only to her limited time: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to see something with fresh eyes when you\u2019ve been working on it for a long time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There was a beautiful way to help with that problem, however.<\/span><\/p>\n

A beautiful solution: students<\/b><\/h3>\n

As early as half a decade ago, Byer and his colleagues at EMU began using <\/span>Journey <\/span><\/i>in the classroom, first in pdf form \u00a0and later \u2013 including this fall, even as the book was heading to press \u2013 in three-ring binders in Professor <\/span>Daniel Showalter<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s discrete math class. <\/span><\/p>\n