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Reviewer: Charles Raymond Crawford

Ogata wrote this textbook for senior undergraduate or first-year graduate students in engineering who have taken an introductory course in control systems as well as one in differential equations; familiarity with MATLAB is recommended. After an introductory chapter, there are two chapters on the z-transform and its application to digital systems and difference equations. The fourth chapter discusses stability, transient response, and steady-state response, and chapter 5 is on analysis using the state-space representation. This is followed by a chapter on pole-placement and observer design, and one on Diophantine equations—topics not covered in the earlier edition [1]. The final chapter is on optimal control problems. There are exercises at the end of each chapter, and a solutions manual is available from the publisher. The treatment of topics is similar to that of the author's text on continuous systems [2]. Analysis and design are intermingled in each section. For example, section 4-5, “Design Based on the Root-locus Method,” combines an explanation of the root-locus and how to compute it with information on how to use it to design a digital controller. Carefully worked examples are included to illustrate both the analysis and design steps. In fact, the strength of this text is the many worked examples, most of which include MATLAB programs. Although many of the examples are straightforward, the author does discuss problems such as the choice of sampling period. Some of the theoretical discussions, however, are awkward and repetitious. This is the fault more of the editors than of the author. William Safire said in a radio interview that copyeditors sometimes suggest changes to phrasing in his manuscripts. Engineering professors deserve the same careful scrutiny.