{"product_id":"in-pursuit-of-the-traveling-salesman-mathematics-at-the-limits-of-computation-9780691163529","title":"In Pursuit of the Traveling Salesman: Mathematics at the Limits of Computation","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe story of one of the greatest unsolved problems in mathematics\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat is the shortest possible route for a traveling salesman seeking to visit each city on a list exactly once and return to his city of origin? It sounds simple enough, yet the traveling salesman problem is one of the most intensely studied puzzles in applied mathematics--and it has defied solution to this day. In this book, William Cook takes readers on a mathematical excursion, picking up the salesman's trail in the 1800s when Irish mathematician W. R. Hamilton first defined the problem, and venturing to the furthest limits of today's state-of-the-art attempts to solve it. He also explores its many important applications, from genome sequencing and designing computer processors to arranging music and hunting for planets. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eIn Pursuit of the Traveling Salesman\u003c\/i\u003e travels to the very threshold of our understanding about the nature of complexity, and challenges you yourself to discover the solution to this captivating mathematical problem.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWilliam J. Cook\u003c\/b\u003e is professor of combinatorics and optimization at the University of Waterloo. He is the coauthor of \u003ci\u003eThe Traveling Salesman Problem: A Computational Study\u003c\/i\u003e (Princeton).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50527177376018,"sku":"9780691163529","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_0ee74fe1-0a44-4807-be4d-c724c02613ea.jpg?v=1731293561","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/in-pursuit-of-the-traveling-salesman-mathematics-at-the-limits-of-computation-9780691163529","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}