Reader reviews

I got a lot out of this, even if a few sections felt rushed.

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 book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. The code samples assume a particular environment, which took a bit of fiddling to get running properly. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.

A genuinely enjoyable read that also taught me a great deal.

I have been working with mathematics for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

Good value. Not perfect, but I would buy another book from this author.

This is the third book I have read on ai & machine learning this year, and it is comfortably the best of them. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. Good value for the price and worth the time it takes to work through properly.

Strong content, uneven pacing. I would still recommend it.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. 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.

Genuinely excellent — I finished it in a week and immediately started again.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. Some terminology is introduced without much ceremony; I had to look a few things up along the way. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.

Strong content, uneven pacing. I would still recommend it.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. A good addition to a technical library, as long as you know what you are buying.