.)
Excellent reference book for practicing software pros.......1998-09-03
I finally found a very nice compendium of concisely described distributed algorithms. The book is highly readable and I look forward to more books from the author. If you work with distributed systems or software problems, buy this book!
Book Description
How to trade the markets by integrating Chaos Theory with market sentiment
In the first edition of Trading Chaos, seasoned trader and psychologist Bill Williams detailed the potential of Chaos Theory-which seeks to make the unpredictable understandable-in trading and it revolutionized financial decision-making. The Second Edition of Trading Chaos is a cutting edge book that combines trading psychology and Chaos Theory and its particular effect on the markets. By examining both of these facets in relation to the current market, readers will have the best of all possible worlds when trading.
Bill Williams, PhD, CTA (Solana Beach, CA), is President of Profitunity.com, a leader in the field of education for traders and investors. Justine Gregory-Williams (Solana Beach, CA) is President of the Profitunity Trading Group and a full-time trader.
Download Description
How to trade the markets by integrating Chaos Theory with market sentiment
In the first edition of Trading Chaos, seasoned trader and psychologist Bill Williams detailed the potential of Chaos Theory-which seeks to make the unpredictable understandable-in trading and it revolutionized financial decision-making. The Second Edition of Trading Chaos is a cutting edge book that combines trading psychology and Chaos Theory and its particular effect on the markets. By examining both of these facets in relation to the current market, readers will have the best of all possible worlds when trading.
Bill Williams, PhD, CTA (Solana Beach, CA), is President of Profitunity.com, a leader in the field of education for traders and investors. Justine Gregory-Williams (Solana Beach, CA) is President of the Profitunity Trading Group and a full-time trader.
Customer Reviews:
Great book - very intense.......2007-08-27
I've been looking for a book like this for a while. I first came across Bill Williams through the Metastock indicators and the Expert System. After loading an expert called "PS Fractal Trading System 2" I was amazed at the signals.
Having read through the book - I have the following quibble. There is a huge difference in the parameters of the alligator in what comes with Metastock (v9 and v10) and what the book gives. The book says the green line is 13 bar smoothed average offset 8 bars into future. Likewise the red is 8 bar offset 5, and the green is 5 bar offset 3. However this does not correspond to the Metastock indicator he provides. For the curious, the Metastock ones referred to in page 206 of book have the following values: Green: 9 period EMA of Median offset 3. Red: 15 period offset 5, and Blue 25 period offset 8
It is the right book at the right time.......2007-07-06
This book has methods to get buy signals before the lows and sell signals before the highs. This will help one sell into strength and buy into weakness. It has helped me get my positions off. I have recommended this book to all of my trading friends. It will take careful study to fully understand it. This book is original, all mechanical and all objective. The three wise men make up very powerful trading tools.
Good book.......2007-01-09
Another great book from Bill Williams!
Interesting for trend trading and for good living.
Bill Williams is the REAL DEAL.......2006-12-18
I am a BIG believer in Bill Williams and his body of work.
I have personally met with Bill, taken his home study course and even attended a private tutorial. Bill is the real deal. He is a *highly* profitable trader and Bill trades EXACTLY like he describes in his books (simplified over time, so Trading Chaos, 2nd Ed. is the LATEST and most refined method).
If you just want to trade with no other background information, Buy Trading Chaos, 2nd Edition (not this book) and start with chapter seven. When you get to the end of the book, you'll say, "That's it?!?! Than can't be it!" That's what I said. I then went on to take his home study course (13 weeks) and then went to a private tutorial. 95% of the methodology is IN THE BOOK! The more advanced stuff is for those who are scaling into positions and want more aggressive money management techniques.
Who am I to say this works? I started trading Bill's techniques from scratch. In LESS than 6 months I was up 95% in a medium sized account. I found some like-minded investors and we started our own Hedge Fund (more specifically, a commodity pool). I called Bill personally and he spoke with me at length about how I should flow into and out of my positions, etc. He went far above and beyond the call of duty. I cannot speak to how well my Pool is doing (not legal to disclose - considered solicitation of investors), so I cannot give figures of returns for the Pool.
Buy Trading Chaos 2nd Edition and then buy "New Trading Dim mentions" (his second book) and read chapters 9 - 11. Those chapters will give you more ideas of the SCOPE of just what is possible when you simplify your trading and align it with natural market tendencies (chaos principles).
Good luck and Good Trading!
-- Q
The truth about how to become a successful trader.......2006-09-01
I purchased this book because I was trading with a method that used the awesome oscillator. I figured I should know something about the person who created it. I got much more than that. The book helped me to quit focusing on trading techniques and to start looking at my own mental state for trading. Turning inward has allowed me build better confidence in myself and my method. That in turn allows me to trade with a mindset which successful traders have. The fact that the book also presents a very viable trading method is just an added bonus. This book and "Trading In The Zone" by Mark Douglas transformed my trading career.
Book Description
This book provides the first clear, comprehensive, and accessible account of complex adaptive social systems, by two of the field's leading authorities. Such systems--whether political parties, stock markets, or ant colonies--present some of the most intriguing theoretical and practical challenges confronting the social sciences. Engagingly written, and balancing technical detail with intuitive explanations, Complex Adaptive Systems focuses on the key tools and ideas that have emerged in the field since the mid-1990s, as well as the techniques needed to investigate such systems. It provides a detailed introduction to concepts such as emergence, self-organized criticality, automata, networks, diversity, adaptation, and feedback. It also demonstrates how complex adaptive systems can be explored using methods ranging from mathematics to computational models of adaptive agents.
John Miller and Scott Page show how to combine ideas from economics, political science, biology, physics, and computer science to illuminate topics in organization, adaptation, decentralization, and robustness. They also demonstrate how the usual extremes used in modeling can be fruitfully transcended.
Customer Reviews:
Annie Wu -- Book #1.......2007-08-10
I am a purchasing agent who buys books for my faculty, and as far as I know, this faculty member is very impressed with this particular book.
The Emergence of Convergence .......2007-08-04
At the time of writing this review, this book isn't searchable through Amazon, that's too bad because if you're reading the reviews wondering if it's worth buying, just browsing through any page from the intro or appendix B would clearly resolve any remnant hesitation. This book is a must have for anyone even remotely interested in complex adaptive systems. Scott Page and John Miller dress the landscape and state of the art of computational social science, the issues are motivated from the ground up and the existing approaches to resolve them explicitly detailed, yet using clear and jargon free language. For example, descriptions of the many concepts repeatedly used in the scientific method (of CAS et al) such as ergodicity or optimization theory are refreshing and insightful, simply stuff you don't get from textbooks, but rather that one would learn over years of experience doing.
In summary, the authors are handing us an expert summary of literature and developments of a complex field in a concise, fun and delightful read, it would be a shame to miss it.
Book Description
An up-to-date analysis of the SAR wavefront reconstruction signal theory and its digital implementation With the advent of fast computing and digital information processing techniques, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology has become both more powerful and more accurate. Synthetic Aperture Radar Signal Processing with MATLAB Algorithms addresses these recent developments, providing a complete, up-to-date analysis of SAR and its associated digital signal processing algorithms. This book introduces the wavefront reconstruction signal theory that underlies the best SAR imaging methods and provides clear guidelines to system design, implementation, and applications in diverse areas-from airborne reconnaissance to topographic imaging of ocean floors to surveillance and air traffic control to medical imaging techniques, and numerous others. Enabling professionals in radar signal and image processing to use synthetic aperture technology to its fullest potential, this work:
* Includes M-files to supplement this book that can be retrieved from The MathWorks anonymous FTP server at ftp://ftp.mathworks.com/pub/books/soumekh
* Provides practical examples and results from real SAR, ISAR, and CSAR databases
* Outlines unique properties of the SAR signal that cannot be found in other information processing systems
* Examines spotlight SAR, stripmap SAR, circular SAR, and monopulse SAR modalities
* Discusses classical SAR processing issues such as motion compensation and radar calibration
Customer Reviews:
Excellent comprehensive text.......2006-06-07
To me, this book's greatest strength is instant applicability of theories and recipes presented in it. Virtually all topics in SAR are covered with great quality. There is no hard tie to any particular type of radar signals, which makes it very versatile.
Certainly one of the best engineering books I ever bought.
One of the best texts on SAR signal processing.......2005-10-21
SAR imaging owes a lot to inverse scattering theory, coherence theory, Fourier optics and holography. Luckily, Soumekh comes from an optics background and therefore, is very comfortable with all the optics stuff. He has done an excellent job in presenting different modalities of SAR imaging like stripmap and spotlight and implementing the algorithms in matlab. There is a lot of depth in his book and every time I read it I understand something that I could not understand when I read it last time. I have become a fan of Soumekh. I also attended one of his tutorials based on this book in the SPIE symposium in Orlando Florida.
nice applications with heavy computations.......2004-12-25
Wasn't there once a time, in the depths of the Cold War, when Synthetic Aperture Radar was highly classified? It is still jarring to me to see a book like this, telling all and sundry about the many applications to which it can be directed.
Soumekh takes us through the basic theory. Intensive numerical analysis. Which is why Matlab has been drafted by him to aid us. A nice aid to following the concepts and seeing examples that are non-trivial. The hardest sections of each chapter are on the reconstruction of the data. That is, in the finding of possible sources that gave rise to the observed signals.
You would do well before reading this book to be fully conversant about [Fast] Fourier Transforms and scattering of radiation from objects. Put it this way, if Point Spread Function doesn't mean anything to you, then the book might be of limited use in your situation.
He discusses important geometries, like stripmap and the circular SAR. But just as importantly, there is good mention of applications like aerial reconnaissance or surveying.
Book Description
This completely updated second edition illustrates the mathematical concepts that a game programmer would need to develop a professional-quality 3D engine. Although the book is geared toward applications in game development, many of the topics appeal to general interests in 3D graphics. It starts at a fairly basic level in areas such as vector geometry and linear algebra, and then progresses to more advanced topics in 3D game programming such as illumination and visibility determination. Particular attention is given to derivations of key results, ensuring that the reader is not forced to endure gaps in the theory. The book assumes a working knowledge of trigonometry and calculus, but also includes sections that review the important tools used from these disciplines, such as trigonometric identities, differential equations, and Taylor series.
Customer Reviews:
One of a kind.......2007-03-23
As a professional 3D graphics programmer, I can not stress enough the quality of this book. This book covers 3D math fundamentals, algorithms, and it is complete with easy to understand (!) proofs. The math is difficult because there is so many problems to be solved in 3D (and they draw from many different branches of mathematics), but it is written in such a clear way that every topic is made approachable. Unlike esoteric Ph. D papers, you aren't assumed to have any specific knowledge of math idioms or jargon. You simply need a decent grasp of college calculus and trigonometry to make the most of it. There are a few samples too to test your knowledge.
Expect to spend at least a solid year to really make the use of this book. Treat it as you would a two - three semester course in college. During this process, you'll find yourself occasionally wanting to get more practice and referring to a respective book on it.
If you could only own two books for 3D programming, buy this first and buy Ericson's book on collision detection next.
In summary, Eric Lengyel's attention to detail and mastery of 3D math / algorithms really shines and this book is an example of it.
Great book.......2007-03-08
This book is great for anyone interested in computer graphics. Even for people who do not have a lot of math/graphics experience, this book starts you off with the basics of vectors and matrices and has exercises/solutions for each chapter. It saves you the time of looking through your old linear algebra and differential equation math books and contains the must know information you will use as a graphics programmer.
Math majors rejoice.......2007-03-02
To be honest, while I find this book to be a decent reference, I find it to be pretty inaccessible in terms of sitting down and reading through it in an attempt to learn the concepts. As a non-math major (I'm actually an engineer and software developer) these math concepts are by no means beyond me. But rather than simply being presented with equation after equation, proof after proof, what I find a lot more valuable is more discussion on the usage of these equations. Specifically I'd like to see examples, diagrams, and code, and there is precious little of any of that in this book.
In other words, this book is very much like what you expect to find in a very dry upper devision college math text for the consumption of math majors who are used to such things. But for a non math major just trying to make use of these concepts in order to get the job done and make games? eh, not so much.
Still, I do think this book is useful as a reference when I want to look up an equation as there are a ton of them crammed into this book, but for me, I just don't find this book to be very good as a learning tool.
Great book on the math needed for 3D games and graphics.......2006-11-27
This book illustrates the mathematics that a game programmer would need to develop a professional-quality 3D engine. Although the book is geared toward applications in game development, many of the topics appeal to general interests in 3D graphics. It starts at a fairly basic level in areas such as vector geometry and linear algebra, and then progresses to more advanced topics in 3D game programming such as illumination, visibility determination, and collision detection. Particular attention is given to derivations of key results, ensuring that the reader is not forced to endure gaps in the theory. The book assumes a working knowledge of trigonometry and calculus, but also includes sections that review the important tools used from these disciplines, such as trigonometric identities, differential equations, and Taylor series. This book has plenty of examples and figures, making it much more illustrative than your average math book. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in implementing more advanced mathematics into their games or graphics applications. The following is the table of contents for this second edition:
Chapter 0 The Rendering Pipeline (NEW)
Chapter 1 Vectors
Chapter 2 Matrices
Chapter 3 Transforms
Chapter 4 3D Engine Geometry
Chapter 5 Ray Tracing
Chapter 6 Illumination
Chapter 7 Visibility Determination
Chapter 8 Collision Detection
Chapter 9 Polygonal Techniques
Chapter 10 Shadows (NEW)
Chapter 11 Linear Physics
Chapter 12 Rotational Physics
Chapter 13 Fluid Simulation
Chapter 14 Numerical Methods (NEW)
Chapter 15 Curves and Surfaces (NEW)
Appendix A Complex Numbers
Appendix B Trigonometry Reference
Appendix C Coordinate Systems
Appendix D Taylor Series
Appendix E Answers to Exercises
Note that there are four new chapters in this second edition.
An Essential Source for Robust 3D Graphics Engine Design.......2004-11-21
I have not yet been able to purchase the second edition of this book. However, since it is a refinement of the first edition, I feel that I am somewhat competent to review this later version of Lengyel's text on this knowledge of the fundamental chapters which are included in both editions.
Definitely, the subject of 3D Computer Graphics draws programmers and gamers inward like a bug lamp draws insects inward. The ability to express one's own inspiring representation of the world seems to attract the deepest longings of the subcreative nature of the human person. However, the coder quickly realizes that the realization of this dream is extremely difficult due to the complexities of visualization in nature. Lengyel's text helps to break through many of these complexities.
In order to make sure that the reader is "up to speed" on the essentials in mathematics which are necessary for a 3D engine, Lengyel gives a quick, but thorough, review of Vector and Matrix operations. I was indeed impressed by the amount that he condensed into the beginning of the text. While this is far from a complete treatise on Linear Algebra, this material gives the reader the basics which will be necessary for all the other chapters. This is further augmented by his treatment of 3D geometry, its representations, and calculations relevant to it.
Using this, he treats on various subjects that are extremely important for making a lean, mean, and beautiful rendering machine.
His treatment of transformations gives the reader a base in this knowledge that is independent of the rendering context. This is an excellent approach because knowledge of how something works allows for one to use it more fully. He also goes further in introducing Quaternions and deriving rotations around any arbitrary axis.
The chapter on Ray Tracing gives the necessary background for the work done in the following chapter on illumination. While the latter is often implemented by the graphics environment that the coder is using, the full knowledge of this allows for further application in subjects such as bump mapping (which he treats) as well as reflective surface simulation.
Perhaps the most interesting and important subject covered in the text, however, is the chapter on visibility determination. Since this is critical to the speed of rendering, this topic is central to game engine design. Lengyel works through the various methods for bounding box construction as well as bounding spheres, ellipsoids, and cylinders and then explains how these can be tested against the view frustrum in order to determine if an object should even be rendered. Another chapter on various techniques which can be applied to polygons outlines procedures for reducing the complexity of meshes, without compromising quality.
The remaining chapters touch on collision detection, linear and rotational physics, and fluid simulation. These topics allow for the addion of various levels of realism to be added to 3D engines and are of importance once the rendering environment has been established. Furthermore, his appendices are a nice addition for those times when our memories fail to recall various facts.
And so, I give this book my definite approval. It is hard to come by a text so compact, yet thorough, on the foundations truly needed for 3D Graphics. These mathematical foundations allow for greater things to be explored and should interest any 3D programmer as well as individuals with a general interest in mathematics, especially in the applications of linear algebra and calculus.
Customer Reviews:
An okay book!.......2007-05-23
It is just an okay book, not extraordinary in any way. Especially, this is certainly not for the novice in this topic, i.e., it is certainly not a good introductory book. So if you are new to data structures and algorithms, stay away from this book, go for some good introductory book.
For the advanced readers, it is an okay book. Better books are available, e.g., books by Cormen et al. and Robert Sedgewick.
The book is written in a way not very intersting or engaging. The algorithms are not explained in detail. Often things are left unexplained or assumed that the reader already knows it. Algorithms are presented in pseudocode, which causes problems especially for the readers familiar to some particular programming language.
Excellent Book.......2007-05-17
This book explains very clearly the subjects of data structures and algorithms. Its in-depth coverage is very intuitive and easy to follow unlike other literature that is often tedious or esoteric.
The only complaint I have is the choice of the programming language. Pascal is a language of the past. A new edition using C will make this book simply a gem.
A JEWEL.......2006-01-15
Perfect book. Nice and small. You can buy it cheap too, it's old. But it's full of the meat and potatoes, no fluffy Java source code. Sure, it uses Pascal, but it's not that hard to understand Pascal code even if you never programmed in Pascal (me neither). What matters is the discussions behind the scenes. It covers the whole range of what you should know and it's concise. They don't write books like this anymore.
A classic text book on Data Structures........2005-05-19
I believe two books make a classic collection in data structures - one was the data structures book by sartaj sahni (his first edition book many years ago - I haven't looked at his recent books). That was the book I had to study when I was an undergrad student. Now I was entrusted with the task of teaching Data Structures and after looking at several books, this is the one I chose (may be because it comes most close to the style of teaching using psuedo-pascal that I grew up with).
I believe psuedo languages are the best way to learn concepts of any computer science area without getting bogged down in the nitty gritty of a language's syntax and semantics. I found the problems at the end of the chapters to be thoughtful and not extremely hard for undergraduate students. This book also goes into brief mathematical aspects of analysing the complexity of algorithms where necessary. The mathematical analysis is usually the part that most undergrad students moan and groan about, but they better get used to it IMO, if they wish to elevate themselves from the ranks of "a programmer" to an software / algorithm designer.
I have to agree that this book can be extremely hard for the weaker students in the class who have never had any programming or basic college algebra exposure. For all others, this book should be great.
The best introduction to the field - a pleasure to read.......2002-02-10
A textbook by Aho/Hopcroft/Ullman is sort of a guarantee of quality -
and this one is no exception. These people are among the greatest
researchers and teachers in Computer Science, and this book is a
great opportunity to 'learn from the masters'.
As an introduction to the fascinating field of Data Structures and
Algorithms, this is perhaps the best textbook you'll find out there.
Starting with the basics, the authors develop the concepts in a
natural manner. Array, lists and stacks soon give way to binary trees,
heaps and then more advanced data structures. All data structures are
introduced with proper motivation in terms of the kind of problems
that they are useful in solving.
The basic algorithms in searching, sorting, and graphs are then presented
in detail, followed by a chapter on algorithm analysis techniques, and
one on design paradigms such as dynamic programming, backtracking, divide
and conquer, greedy approach, and local search. The book ends with chapters
data structures and algorithms for external storage and memory management.
This is a textbook, and therefore you can expect a fair amount of maths
in the analysis of algorithms, without which you can only do hand-waving.
All algorithms are explained, with detailed examples and illustrations -
this is one of the easiest books to follow in theoretical computer science.
All algorithms are presented in pseudocode, which makes it easier to
understand things at an abtract level without getting bogged down in
language specific technical details, and the pseudocode is very clear
and concise, making it an easy task to adapt it to any given language.
An additional plus-point is its size - weighing in at less than 450
pages, this is a 'backpack friendly' book which you can easily carry
around, unlike many others on the subject.
The only caveat is that the book is almost 20 years old, so you won't
find the more recent topics like red-black trees, skip lists etc.
I'd suggest using this book for an introduction to the basics, with the
book by Cormen et al (if you want the maths) or Sedgewick (if you don't
want the maths) as excellent supplements as well as advanced references.
I must confess to having a weak spot for this book, since it introduced
me to algorithms and i fell in love with the subject. However, i think
most people who've read it would agree that it is a classic among Computer
Science textbooks which has stood the test of time.
Amazon.com
"The book that explains why you really hate computers."
I've admired Jef Raskin for years. For those who don't know, he is the "Father of the Macintosh," one of the original geniuses who guided the Mac in the early days. But, more than a computer scientist, Raskin is a cognitive psychologist. He studies how the brain works with special emphasis on how that relates to us using computers. His magnum opus was the Canon Cat, which was an excellent and well-thought-out little computer.
In The Humane Interface, Raskin goes into detail describing how computers can be made easier to understand and use. Ever want to know why you really don't like Windows? The answer is in this book. In fact, there's so much in this book that makes sense, I really want to send a copy to every employee at Microsoft.
I loved reading this book and nodding my head in rabid agreement. Raskin states, "There has never been any technical reason for a computer to take more than a few seconds to begin operation when it is turned on." So why then does Windows (or Linux!) take so darn long to start up? The PalmPilot is on instantly, as is your cell phone. But for some reason, we tolerate the computer taking a few eons to start. (And until consumers complain about it, things won't change.)
Computers can be easy to use, and the people who design them and design software need to read this book. Do you ever get the impression that the person who designed a piece of software must have come from the same company that designed the front panel on your VCR? Why should you have to double-click anything? What does Ctrl+D mean one thing in one program and a completely different thing in another? And what's the point of the Yes/No confirmation if the user is in the habit of clicking Yes without thinking about it? Raskin neatly probes all these areas.
While I admire everything Raskin has to say, the book is pretty heavy on the psychology end. Myself, I enjoy cognitive psychology (especially books by Raskin's cohort Donald Norman), though some may find that part of the book boring. Even so, Raskin builds and backs his argument in a most eloquent and scientific manner. Especially if you design software or need to teach or train people to use computers, this book deserves a spot on your shelf. --Dan Gookin
Book Description
This unique guide to interactive system design reflects the experience and vision of Jef Raskin, the creator of the Apple Macintosh project. Other books may show how to use today's widgets and interface ideas effectively. Raskin, however, demonstrates that many current interface paradigms are dead ends, and that to make computers significantly easier to use requires new approaches. He explains how to effect desperately needed changes, offering a wealth of innovative and specific interface ideas for software designers, developers, and product managers. The Apple Macintosh helped to introduce a previous revolution in computer interface design, drawing on the best available technology to establish many of the interface techniques and methods now universal in the computer industry. With this book, Raskin proves again both his farsightedness and his practicality. He also demonstrates how design ideas must be built on a scientific basis, presenting just enough cognitive psychology to link the interface of the future to the experimental evidence and to show why that interface will work. Raskin observes that our honeymoon with digital technology is over: We are tired of having to learn huge, arcane programs to do even the simplest of tasks; we have had our fill of crashing computers; and we are fatigued by the continual pressure to upgrade. The Humane Interface delivers a way for computers, information appliances, and other technology-driven products to continue to advance in power and expand their range of applicability, while becoming free of the hassles and obscurities that plague present products.
Customer Reviews:
Outdated, but interesting........2006-09-14
An interesting read, although many of his examples seem quite outdated. Most of the examples of bad user interfaces come from either Microsoft Windows, or a very old version of Microsoft Word running on a Mac. Most of his examples of good use interfaces come from the ancient Canon Cat computer, or occasionally from the original Macintosh project.
The book does spend a fair amount of time describing various laws and rules for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of user interface designs. This portion of the text is sure to remain valid throughout the years.
Although not exactly a page turner, I would recommend this book for anybody who designs user interfaces on a regular basis - even if you don't use the laws described, at least knowing about them is likely to make you design better interfaces unconsciously.
Excellent book on HCI.......2006-08-30
The level of detail in this book was appropriate and helpful for the field, while not overly boring and technical. Real-world examples given, which are still useful despite the fast development of new systems. Some improvements visible in New Operating Systems, which gives the suggestions validity in the industry.
Interesting, but probably not what you're looking for.......2006-07-24
The author brings up some interesting issues, and has some very interesting ideas about user interface design. At the very least, it gets you questioning some practices that may have seemed beyond questioning. The author's credibility vanished for me when he suggested that file names and directory structures should be done away with in favour of full text searches because file names are just to hard to remember! That said, there are some good ideas, particularly in chapter 6.
Amazing.......2005-12-19
A wonderful introduction too user interface design based on real science, a model for a sucessful OS interface, and Raskins personal thoughts.
A thought provoking read, only for those with the stomach to change........2005-11-27
Many of the conclusions presented in this book will seem radical to almost anyone that has used a computer before.
Because of his abandonment of convention the resistance to Jefs ideas are profound (even evident in some of the other reviews here on Amazon). He mentions in his book that many times he would create an user interface for a client that was much more efficient than any competitors but the design would be rejected because it was too different from the competition. I felt Jefs core message was not to trust the mistakes of history, think for yourself and define the world you want to live in. If you are scared of been different this book is not for you. If you are willing to hear something new and want an edge in interface design, this is it.
While Jef builds his arguments clearly and cleverly some readers may find the discussion a bit deep and I could not recommend this book as a relaxing night time page turner. The mix of physiology and computer science creates some thought provoking ideas and will require the reader to devote a fair amount of thinking time between chapters to fully appreciate. Not for the closed minded, you will need to suspend your initial doubts until you have had time to digest the evidence presented. In most cases, most of his points bear the weight of close scrutiny very well. Many of the negative reviews here clearly show a misunderstanding of Jefs ideas not just disagreement with them.
A large portion of the book focuses on the science of user interface. If you are involved in any project that requires user testing, which should be every project, this book provides a core set of useful techniques that are present discreetly from Jefs ideas. Jef uses all of these techniques to provide evidence for his ideas else where in the book. Providing an easy to follow yet incredibly powerful set of tools, this book is a must have for these sections alone.
At the end of his life Jef devoted his time to making his dream a reality. The Raskin Center (RCHI) was formed and started development on the Archy Project. After his death the project carries on; using the book as a starting block this, now community driven, project is on the steady march forward. If you want to see some of Jefs ideas in real life or wish to discuss the ideas in the book then check out the website (
http://rchi.raskincenter.org/ ). I have found the forums to be very useful in deepening my understanding of the points raised in the book.
While most people will revert to designing computer interfaces in the standard "industry" fashion because it's easier to think inside the box, I truly hope that this book inspires at least a few to bring us a new world of computers that actually respect the user. Or in other words, computers that use a Humane Interface.
Book Description
This classic text has entered and held the field as the standard book on the applications of analysis to the transcendental functions. The authors explain the methods of modern analysis in the first part of the book and then proceed to a detailed discussion of the transcendental function, unhampered by the necessity of continually proving new theorems for special applications. In this way the authors have succeeded in being rigorous without imposing on the reader the mass of detail that so often tends to make a rigorous demonstration tedious. Researchers and students will find this book as valuable as ever.
Customer Reviews:
Book in bad conditions........2007-10-06
The product I recieved is in terrible conditions, very used and dirty, the book must have been a new edition (in blue color) but this one is grey. I send you some photos in another message in order to show you the bad conditions of this book.
Whittaker & Watson.......2007-08-23
Classic text. Good encyclopedic source of mathematics - pure & applied. Definitely not a picture book and takes a bit of digging to find what one needs. Typical abbreviated index found in British texts of that era.
Watson and Whittaker.......2007-08-05
Excellent for reference and technique. Don't expect calculus on manifolds or forms. But work the "old school" problems and the payoff will be tremendous" For those who want to a more modern (geometric) supplement Spivak is good and there is a book called Visual Complex Analysis that is by Needham (spelling?) that is quite good.
This book is worth it's weight in gold!!.......2004-07-03
If I could, I would give this book ten stars. When I first sat down to read it, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This is the only book I have ever seen on complex analysis (or any scientific field for that matter) in which the authors cover so much material (everything from residues to integral equations to elliptic functions and MUCH more) and yet manage to make the whole text fit into a framework which is relatively easy to follow, even for someone completely new to complex analysis. Moreover, the majority of the many hundreds of excercizes in this book range from moderately to nail-bitingly hard, and encourage a true understanding of the material being covered. I would reccommend this book for ANYONE who has mastered basic calculus and analysis and wishes to begin learning complex analysis and the theory of special functions. The book's coverage of the following topics is especially noteworthy: The gamma function (the book uses the INFINITE PRODUCT as the basic definition), the hypergeometric function (and the confluent hypergeometric function), bessel functions (a field in which G.N. Watson was a leading expert), and the Weirstrassian and Jacobean elliptic functions and theta functions (I LOVED the intuitive development of the theory of the elliptic functions, which is made to parrallel that of the trigonometric functions, which are of course familiar to the reader). I would ESPECIALLY recommend this book for those pursuing SELF-STUDY (although it is NOT for the mathematically weak-of-heart, but no book on the topic is), as it is quite self-contained and readable for a book on complex analysisis. Once you buy it, you won't even think to complain about the high pricetag, because you will be way too absorbed in the math to think about anything else.
About the other author, YOU STILL DID NOT BUY IT?.......2003-12-13
Neville Watson's mother was Mary Justina Griffith, the daughter of the rector of Ardley in Oxfordshire. Neville's father was George Wentworth Watson who was a schoolmaster, but is more famous for his work as a genealogist. He played a large role in the publication of The Complete Peerage, a 13-volume database of the British peerage, generally accepted as the greatest British achievement in the field of genealogy. The first edition was published in London between 1887 and 1898. George and Mary Watson had two children, a boy and a girl, the eldest being Neville.
Neville was educated at St Paul's School in London where he was very fortunate to have the outstanding teacher of mathematics Francis Macaulay. He mixed with equally outstanding pupils, for Littlewood, less than a year older than Watson, was also a pupil at the school. Having won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, Watson matriculated there in 1904. At this time there were three young fellows of Trinity all of whom had a major influence on Watson's mathematics. They were Whittaker, Barnes, and Hardy. Perhaps the one from this trio who had the greatest influence on him was Whittaker, despite the fact that he left Cambridge in 1906, two years after Watson began his studies there.
Watson graduated as Senior Wrangler in 1907 (meaning that he was ranked in first position among those who were awarded First Class degrees), completing the Mathematical Tripos in the following year in the second division of the First Class. He won a prestigious Smith's Prize in 1909, becoming a Fellow of Trinity College in 1910. This was particularly pleasing to him for he had a great love of his College, and throughout his life he collected prints of the College and of previous Fellows.
After election to his Trinity fellowship, Watson spent four further years in Cambridge before leaving to take up an assistant lectureship in University College, London. From 1918 to 1951 he was Mason Professor of Pure Mathematics at Birmingham. He married Elfrida Gwenfil Lane, the daughter of a farmer from Holbeach in Lincolnshire, in 1925. They had one son.
Watson worked on a wide variety of topics, all within the area of complex variable theory, such as difference equations, differential equations, number theory and special functions. He is best known as a joint author with Whittaker of A Course of Modern Analysis published in 1915. The first edition of the book has only Whittaker as an author. In 1922 Watson published The theory of Bessel functions which was another masterpiece. Titchmarsh wrote of Watson's books (see for example [2]):-
Here one felt was mathematics really happening before one's eyes. ... the older mathematical books were full of mystery and wonder. With Professor Watson we reached the period when the mystery is dispelled though the wonder remains.
One piece of work undertaken by Watson deserves special mention. It involves the problem of wireless waves, which were quickly found to travel long distances despite the fact that theoretically they should not have been able to follow the curvature of the Earth. A mathematical model had been constructed where the Earth was represented by a partially conducting sphere surrounded by an infinite dielectric. Such a model had been used by Macdonald, Rayleigh, Poincaré, Sommerfeld and others. Although Watson was not interested in how best to model the situation, he was, however, very interested in using his expertise to determine mathematical solutions to the given model which others might then check against observations. He obtained solutions to the problem in 1918 which showed conclusively that the model was not a satisfactory one.
In 1902 Heaviside had predicted that there was an conducting layer in the atmosphere which allowed radio waves to follow the Earth's curvature. This layer in the atmosphere, now called the Heaviside layer, was only a conjecture in 1918 but it was suggested to Watson that, having shown the previous model to be wrong, he now look at the model resulting from the postulated Heaviside layer. Watson showed that if the layer was about 100 km above the Earth's surface and it had a certain conductivity, then indeed the solutions obtained closely matched observations. That Heaviside, and Watson, were correct was confirmed in 1923 when the existence of the layer was proved experimentally when radio pulses were transmitted vertically upward and the returning pulses from the reflecting layer were received.
Watson undertook a major project by examining in detail Ramanujan's notebooks, extending his results and supplying proofs. In fact he wrote twenty-five papers relating to results in Ramanujan's notebooks, and he spent many hours making a hand written copy in wonderful script of all the notebooks. He enjoyed numerical calculations and spent many happy hours doing numerical work on his calculating machine.
He was elected to the Royal Society of London in 1919. In 1946 he received the Sylvester Medal of the Royal Society:-
... in recognition of his distinguished contributions to pure mathematics in the field of mathematical analysis and in particular for his work on asymptotic expansion and on general transforms.
Watson was also very active in his support for the London Mathematical Society. He served as secretary from 1919 to 1933, president from 1933 to 1935 and acted as an editor of the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society until 1946. The Society awarded him their De Morgan Medal in 1947. The Royal Society of Edinburgh elected him to an honorary fellowship.
We find a little of Watson's personality described in [2]:-
He was the university's expert on the timetable; students with unusual combinations of subjects usually had to be referred to him for advice, and for many years after his retirement the dates of the academic year were governed by the "Watsonian cycle". ... He took great trouble with the style of his letters and his conversation and enjoyed finding a pungent phrase to express his points of view or his criticism ... he made no secret of his aversion to cars, telephones, and fountain pens. He loved trains - whose timetables were as familiar to him as those of the university lectures - and unusual stamps.
Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
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