Reader reviews

A worthwhile addition to my shelf, with realistic expectations.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.

An enjoyable and informative read, though it could have been shorter.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.

Worth every page. I have already recommended it to two colleagues.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.

It does the job, though it took some patience to get through.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The progression from chapter to chapter is well thought out; nothing feels out of order. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. Three stars feels about right. It will stay on my shelf, but it will not be the first one I reach for.

Outstanding. I kept finding reasons to come back to it.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with simulation.

A superb guide. The examples are small but complete.

This is the third book I have read on mathematics this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. The chapters on mathematics 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 mathematics.