Simulation Modeling and Analysis, Sixth Edition

You know that a LOT of textbooks make a few minor changes and call them a "new" edition, with the attendant price hike. Cudos to Averill Law and McGraw-Hill for busting this trend with this superb new edition!This text already is The Bible of Model Simulation, and is pushing to become a million-copy bestseller -- in a narrow nonfiction niche! That in itself shows both the importance of this field and the quality of Law's work. I'm a researcher and model sim professor (professor dot biz) and my dissertation is on Model Sim, but this text is ideal for self-study, courses, data scientists, and fields as far ranging as business, defense, mediation and STEM.One test I run is a quick flip-through to check for systems and computational thinking via the use of diagrams and visuals, and Averill knocks the ball out of the park with graphics.The Sixth edition has 410 completely new updates listed on page xx with hundreds more kept up to date on Law's websites, including teaching materials, problem solutions, and numerous more citations. For researchers, the text and it's web companions are a wealth of very current as well as seminal studies. Of course Python, AI and Machine Learning are completely new since the fifth edition.Don't get me wrong with my research focus, Law is a trench warrior in applied MS and every sentence is packed with real world advice, including how to successfully present your models in fine detail (p.164).I'm a skeptic and many of my reviews tend toward a don't waste your money. This is a wonderful exception, and though I'm radically sensitive to my student's budgets, this is required reading. Level is light calculus, some but not a lot of Linear Algebra, and a ton of software (with only moderate Python if you want it), some developed by the author, if you don't need to get into the math. If you do, Appendices and web companions get as deep as there is, including for developers, "Oreilly" style.

Solid update. Worthy of its legacy.

I have been teaching from and using Law and the preceding editions for a long time and I have yet to see another volume that approaches the completeness and conciseness. Far too many practitioners claim to know M&S, but couldn't pass a simple quiz about the fundamentals. This book should be required reading.