Discrete Encounters : Chapman & Hall/CRC : 9781498735865 : 149873586X : 20 May 2020 : Eschewing the often standard dry and static writing style of traditional textbooks, Discrete Encounters provides a refreshing approach to discrete mathematics. The author blends traditional course topics and applications with historical context, pop culture references, and open problems. This book focuses on the historical development of the subject and provides fascinating details of the people behind the mathematics, along with their motivations, deepening readers' appreciation of mathematics. This unique book covers many of the same topics found in traditional textbooks, but does so in an alternative, entertaining style that better captures readers' attention. In addition to standard discrete mathematics material, the author shows the interplay between the discrete and the continuous and includes high-interest topics such as fractals, chaos theory, cellular automata, money-saving financial mathe