A review is one perspective. Compare what readers say with the synopsis, publication details, and your own interests.
Try a topic plus an author, or use an ISBN for an edition. Need help choosing?
2507 books to explore · Review entries are shown where available.
ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE
From the review collection
Reader review4 / 5
Good, but not for absolute beginners
Almost excellent. A second edition could easily push it to five stars.
There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.
Disappointing. The description oversold what is actually inside.
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 chapters on data visualization are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. Two stars. The subject deserves a better treatment than this.
A worthwhile addition to my shelf, with realistic expectations.
This is the third book I have read on quantum computing this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.
Rebecca TorresSoftware engineer · San Francisco, CA
Good book. The writing is direct and the author is honest about limits.
I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. A good addition to a technical library, as long as you know what you are buying.
Greta PriceEmbedded systems engineer · Rotterdam, NL
Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.
I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. A good addition to a technical library, as long as you know what you are buying.
Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.
A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Solid, and I would buy another book from this author without hesitation.
