Sticky Post – Read this first. Categories and Links in Mathemafrica
The navigability of Mathemafrica isn't ideal, so I have created this post which might guide you to what you are looking for. Here are a number of different categories of post which you might like to take a look at: First year mathematics notes and resources (particularly for the University [...]
The Beauty of Falling: A Life in Pursuit of Gravity by Claudia de Rham – a review
NB. I was sent this book as a review copy. From Princeton University Press I've read many many books popularising aspects of theoretical physics. I've also read many autobiographies, talking about what it is like to be a theoretical physicist. However, this book combines the two more beautifully than I [...]
Datascience for Neuroimaging: An Introduction, by Ariel Rokem and Tal Yarkoni – A review
NB. I was sent this book as a review copy. From Princeton University Press I initially presumed that this book would begin with a relatively advanced level of coding knowledge before delving into neuroimaging. However, its broader scope makes it a far better and more thorough resource. In fact, coding [...]
When Animals Dream: The Hidden World of Animal Consciousness, by David M. Peña-Guzmán – A review
NB. I was sent this book as a review copy. From Princeton University Press The links between dreams, consciousness and memory are absolutely fascinating. I had imagined that the insight that we could get into animal dreaming was limited to dogs running in their sleep and waking themselves up by [...]
Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will, by Kevin Mitchell – a review
NB. I was sent this book as a review copy. From Princeton University Press There is much to like about this book. Kevin's discussions on evolution and neuroscience are detailed, clear, and insightful. His writing in general flows nicely and much of the book is definitely a useful text. However, [...]
“You are not expected to understand this”: How 26 lines of code changed the world, edited by Tori Bosch – a review.
NB. I was sent this book as a review copy. From Princeton University Press What a wonderful book! This book, made up of 26 chapters, is a look into the world of computer code, but more than that, about the interrelationship between people and code, from the good, the bad, [...]
The Self-Assembling Brain, by Peter Hiesinger – a review
NB. I was sent this book as a review copy. From Princeton University Press Science so often lives in silos, or perhaps more accurately silos of Babel. We sit in our offices, ignoring a great deal of what is happening down the corridor from us, let alone in the building [...]
Patterns, Predictions and Actions: Foundations of Machine Learning, by Hardt and Recht – a review
NB. I was sent this book as a review copy. From Princeton University Press I've just taught a course on mathematics for data science. Sadly it was only ten hours long, so there was only so much that I could cover. However, I feel that was taught was sufficient to [...]
The Story of Proof: Logic and the History of Mathematics, by John Stillwell – a review
NB. I was sent this book as a review copy. From Princeton University Press The last book of Stillwell's that I reviewed was Reverse Mathematics which was utterly fascinating, and truly mind-bending. I was very much looking forward to another of his books, and this one did not disappoint. [...]
THE BIG BANG OF NUMBERS. How to build the universe using only maths, by Manil Suri (Bloomsbury, 2022) – a review by Henri Laurie
Goodreads link. Oh no. Not another overview of mathematics, for “everyone”. Set theory, numbers from natural to complex, geometry, algebra. Axiomatics. Gödel. Infinity. Applications. Philosophy?? Isn’t this all a big yawn? Hasn’t this been done again and again? For example by Lancelot Hogben, Eric Temple Bell, Reuben Hersch (and that’s [...]
The best writing on Mathematics, 2021, Edited by Mircea Pitici – a review
NB. I was sent this book as a review copy. From Princeton University Press I've been reading this series every year now for the last five years or so, and it never disappoints. Mircea does an amazing job each time at collecting such a diverse ideas, voices, and [...]
