Ray-Tracing Pocket Book (Paperback)

Solid and well-organised. A couple of chapters dragged a little.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.

Good book. The writing is direct and the author is honest about limits.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.

The clearest explanation of graphics & design I have come across.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. The chapters on graphics & design are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with graphics & design.