Signals and Systems, Simon Haykin

Signals and Systems, Simon Haykin

By Simon S. Haykin, Simon Haykin, Barry Van Veen,

Publisher:   John Wiley & Sons
Number Of Pages:   694
Publication Date:   1998-09
Sales Rank:   1363663
ISBN / ASIN:   0471138207
EAN:   9780471138204
Binding:   Hardcover
Manufacturer:   John Wiley & Sons
Studio:   John Wiley & Sons
Average Rating:   2

Intended for use in an undergraduate course in electrical engineering, this book provides a modern treatment of signals and systems. It will prepare students for senior-level courses in communication systems, control systems, and digital signal processing (as encountered in digital audio), radar, radio, astronomy, sonar, remote sensing, seismology, and biomedical engineering. Examples and drill problems and solutions are provided throughout the book.

Review:

Worst Textbook in the history of textbooks

I had professor Van Veen for my signals and systems professor in college. While he wasn't a bad professor, his textbook is terrible. Copying what was said in other reviews, the examples are very hard to follow, often skipping steps. The text is wordy and it seems like the author goes out of his way not to make a conclusion that would help clear up of his confusion. I'd like to add that this is the only other review I've ever written for a book and I only did it after several of my coworkers who had the same book expressed the same concerns.

Review:

Start with something else..

... Admittedly, the book does cover all the concepts, but fails to present the information in the clear, concise manner you want when studying signal processing. Below is one of my favourite quotes, which pretty much surmises the whole book. It's regarding the time-shift property of the z-transform:

"Multiplication by z exp n0 introduces a pole of order no at z = 0 if n0 > 0. In this case the ROC cannot include z = 0, even if Rx does include 0, unless X(z) has a zero of at least order n0 at z = 0 that cancels out all the new poles. If n0 < 0, then multiplication by z exp -no introduces n0 poles at infinity. If these poles are not cancelled by zeros at infinity in X(z), then the ROC of z exp -n0 X(z) cannot include abs(z) = infinity."

I agree with the other reviews too which stated that the examples jump steps and do little to explain the concepts. I even found an error with one (Haykin, it's your example on page 471). In my opinion, if you don't have much time, and want a book that doesn't require a lot of re-reading, keep looking.

Gets 2 stars for covering all the material.

Review:

Terrible text book

I'm a UW computer engr student. We use this book here because Van Veen is the author (he is a professor here). The book is aweful. It's just plain bad. The material lacks clarity, the examples are either too easy, too hard, or do not provide any instruction at all. The math often has missing steps leaving the reader clueless as to how one arrives at the final result. The matlab code is worthless -- it doesn't teach anything nor explain anything. I recommend Oppenheim or Schaum's guide. I beg you not to waste your time or money on this ...text.

Review:

Terrible text book

I'm a Computer Engineering student at UW-Madison -- same university as the author (Van Veen). We use this textbook here; and I must say, it is TERRIBLE! It is verbose, the examples are not useful nor instructive, the book's math derivations (even in the example problems) have numerous missing steps which leaves the reader clueless as to how one arrives at the final result, and worst of all the material is presented in an extremely obscure way. If you are a beginner to signals and systems I recommend you read through Schaum's Guide. Do not waste your time or money on this book!

Review:

Masterful, thorough & comprehensive

The only point against this book is that it is priced a good 40% higher than all other texts (in India). That aside, we all know how masterfully Haykin can handle concepts relating to Communication Systems and Signal Processing. Replete with lucid explanations and carefully selected examples, this is one book that comes close to dethroning Alan Oppenheim's text on the same subject.

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