This review is a combination of 3- and 5 star reviews, so on average a 4 star rating. I give these two ratings depending on who is reading this review.This review is a combination of 3- and 5 star reviews, so on average a 4 star rating. I give these two ratings depending on who is reading this review. If you are a total novice in the world of computer science, or science in general for that matter, then this will likely be a 5 star book. It does a great job of introducing not just the concepts in machine learning, but also statistical ideas like variance, over-fitting, and even principal components. The key word there however is concepts. If you are a person with some programming or scientific research experience, such as myself, then you’ll likely find this book incredibly frustrating, though eventually rewarding. Domingos has written The Master Algorithm as a primer to the various camps of machine learning, because, as I now know, there are many ways of approaching the concept of getting a machine to think like a human. There are for example the symbolists, who allow the computer to develop rules which it applies to a set of data to come to a conclusion, e.g. whether a voter with a certain voting history will vote Republican or Democrat. By contrast there are the connectionists, who create neural networks modelled on the brain, Bayesians who view machine learning as nothing more than another application of Bayes’ theorem, and evolutionaries who allow competing, mutated programs to duke it out in an arms race of algorithmic performance. The book excels as a top-down look at the kingdom of machine learning, and offers some interesting insights into how these various camps of thought can be combined into a titular ‘master algorithm’ capable of re-discovering the sum total of human knowledge given the raw data… and then some. The last few chapters offer a mind-expanding look at how machine learning, and a master algorithm, could fundamentally reshape society and the human race itself. Curing cancer, it turns out, would be one of the minor achievements of machine learning. So far so good. A useful overview (likely useful even for those who have studied machine learning and perhaps have not explored beyond the walls of their camp of thought) and an authoritative look at the potential future of machine learning. So why as a scientist did I find this book frustrating? Apart from the style of prose, which I didn’t particularly care for (count the number of books Domingos unnecessarily name-drops in the text), my major problem with the book was the lack of mathematical detail. As the book is aimed at a general audience this is to be expected, but it is immensely frustrating to see a concept explained in a hand-wavy way using a thousand words, when that same concept could be exactly explained in a few equations and sentences of explanation. After reading this book I immediately needed to read the actual papers that are discussed (and, it should be noted, are usefully acknowledged) so that I could really understand the techniques discussed. As I said in the beginning, this won’t be a problem for the majority of readers, and if you don’t find this criticism particularly vexing then this book will likely be a 5 star read. It may well change your perception of computer science and uncover an interest that you never knew you had. However a word of caution to those with mathematical training – keep going through the waffly bits. It gets more interesting. Much, according to Domingos, like the field of machine learning itself. ...more
A wide-ranging, deftly told history of the world. The book ranges from the very earliest maps in the Babylonian world to modern geospatial applicationA wide-ranging, deftly told history of the world. The book ranges from the very earliest maps in the Babylonian world to modern geospatial applications such as Google Earth. This book could have been complete drudgery in the hands of a lesser author, but Brotton creates a compelling narrative in each chapter, weaving a tapestry of many key threads through world history. And I really do mean world history - while Eurocentric, map-making in China, Korea, and the Americas is discussed, as well as the impact of map-making on European colonialism (and no, what you think about the Mercator projection is probably simplistic and wrong). The book is clearly well researched with lashings of references, and felt similar in tone to the also excellent Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World by Amir Alexander - if you liked one of these books then you'll definitely enjoy the other. It did drag a bit for the first third, but after that the book skips along nicely and is a compelling read. Highly recommended....more
A very interesting overview of global geopolitics and the geography that informs it. By splitting the world into distinct regions Marshall allows for A very interesting overview of global geopolitics and the geography that informs it. By splitting the world into distinct regions Marshall allows for the isolation of particularly important geographical features, such as the North European Plain on Russian politics, and the lack of navigable rivers hampering internal development in Africa. The author is clearly authoritative and even includes a few personal anecdotes with foreign ministers when making points. This being my first book on the subject I'm unable to review how accurate his take on the subject is, however I found every chapter entirely plausible. It has already shaped my perception of events happening in the news - for example Russia's strategy in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus being played out via its relationship with the USA and Turkey over the Syrian conflict. As a general introduction to why world politics is the way it is, I'd struggle to recommend anything better....more
Maybe Longitude suffered by comparison with my previous read, Amir Alexander's Infinitesimal, but this book felt very light and frothy. I get that DavMaybe Longitude suffered by comparison with my previous read, Amir Alexander's Infinitesimal, but this book felt very light and frothy. I get that Dava Sobel was writing for a general audience and that I'm a scientist by training, but I would have really appreciated a few more sources or direct quotes from source texts and letters to connect with the historical figures described. As it was it very much felt like a summary or an abstract rather than the meat of a true historical account, with a sense of disconnect from the events described. Which is a shame, as the events are fascinating!...more
Infinitesimal is, at first glance a history of a mathematical idea. But it is much more than that.
The book is really an examination of authoritarianisInfinitesimal is, at first glance a history of a mathematical idea. But it is much more than that.
The book is really an examination of authoritarianism in England and Italy in the 17th century, and how the state and the church, respectively, responded to a paradigm-changing idea. That idea was that a smoothly varying curve is actually composed of an infinite number of infinitely small straight lines. These days this is hardly a revolutionary idea, but it represented a radical departure from the already ancient mathematics of Euclid for 17th century mathematicians.
In Italy Galileo and his disciples embraced the idea, and faced fierce opposition from the Jesuits, a hardcore corps of the Catholic church. The church, reeling from the Lutheran doctrines and the rise of Protestantism, declared the idea heretical. Meanwhile in England the mathematician John Wallis similarly embraced the idea and was met head-on by Thomas Hobbes. In the aftermath of the English civil war the state had to answer similar questions of authority to the Catholic church, but reached radically different outcomes.
In many ways Infinitesimal is an account of the decline of one great power of Europe and the rise of another, with the seeds of the Industrial Revolution and the era of colonialism sown 200 years prior. It touches on many seemingly disparate strands of history and ties them together to form a compelling narratives with heroes, villains, humour, and real weight.
It should be noted that this isn't some frothy frolic through one aspect of the history of maths - this is a hefty book, both in page count and in density. While I enjoyed it a lot, and my appreciation of it has only grown in time, it sometimes can be a bit dense for its own good. The large list of references reinforces this - Infinitesimal is a meticulously researched book, almost with the feel of an academic publication rather than a popular account, and while it may get a bit carried away with restating the same point several times with different references, it would serve as a good model in the future for books dealing with similar subject matter to follow.
Aside from this, and a slightly confusing pseudo-chronological narrative in the first half dealing with Italy, I can highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of mathematics and its interaction with society as a whole. ...more
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