Foundations and Methods of Stochastic Simulation: A First Course

by Barry L. Nelson

This graduate-level text covers modeling, programming and analysis of simulation experiments and provides a rigorous treatment of the foundations of simulation and why it works. It introduces object-oriented programming for simulation, covers both the probabilistic and statistical basis for simulation in a rigorous but accessible manner (providing all necessary background material); and provides a modern treatment of experiment design and analysis that goes beyond classical statistics. The book emphasizes essential foundations throughout, rather than providing a compendium of algorithms and theorems and prepares the reader to use simulation in research as well as practice. The book is a rigorous, but concise treatment, emphasizing lasting principles but also providing specific training in modeling, programming and analysis. In addition to teaching readers how to do simulation, it also prepares them to use simulation in their research; no other book does this. An online solutions manual for end of chapter exercises is also provided.​

290 pages, Hardcover

First published January 31, 2013

About the author

Barry L. Nelson is the James N. and Margie M. Krebs Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences at Northwestern University and is director of the Master of Engineering Management Program there. His research centers on the design and analysis of computer-simulation experiments on models of stochastic systems, concentrating on multivariate input modeling and output analysis and on optimization via simulation. He has published numerous papers and two books. He has served as the simulation area editor of Operations Research and as president of the INFORMS (then TIMS) College on Simulation, and he has held many positions for the annual Winter Simulation Conference, including program chair in 1997 and board member currently.