cshalizi + books:recommended   117

The Big Idea: Elizabeth Bear – Whatever
My copy is making its way towards me, but I am so impatient to read it I am seriously considering getting an electronic version as well. ETA: fortunately, my copy arrived later that morning.

ETA: review: http://bactra.org/weblog/algae-2012-03.html
books:recommended  fantasy  central_asia  bear.elizabeth 
8 weeks ago by cshalizi
2012 and the End of the World: The Western Roots of the Maya Apocalypse by Matthew Restall - Powell's Books
"Did the Maya really predict that the world would end in December of 2012? If not, how and why has 2012 millenarianism gained such popular appeal? In this deeply knowledgeable book, two leading historians of the Maya answer these questions in a succinct, readable, and accessible style. Matthew Restall and Amara Solari introduce, explain, and ultimately demystify the 2012 phenomenon. They begin by briefly examining the evidence for the prediction of the world's end in ancient Maya texts and images, analyzing precisely what Maya priests did and did not prophesize. The authors then convincingly show how 2012 millenarianism has roots far in time and place from Maya cultural traditions, but in those of medieval and Early Modern Western Europe. Revelatory and myth-busting, while remaining firmly grounded in historical fact, this fascinating book will be essential reading as the countdown to December 21, 2012, begins." --- They're speaking here on Nov. 28th, but I suspect I won't be able to make it.
books:recommended  millenarianism  apocalypticism  maya_civilization  historical_myths  debunking  cultural_appropriation  history_of_ideas  psychoceramics  in_NB  have_read 
november 2011 by cshalizi
An introduction to measure theory « Terry Tao
Tao's introductory (graduate) course on measure theory, as previously blogged. With PDF of the not-quite final draft, and a link to purchasing the printed book.
mathematics  measure_theory  books:recommended  tao.terence  to:NB 
october 2011 by cshalizi
The Damned Highway: Fear and Loathing in Arkham: A Savage Journey Into the Heart of the American Nightmare, and Back Again by Brian Keene - Powell's Books
Why did no one tell me about this before? "A hilarious, shocking, terrifying thrill-ride across the American landscape, The Damned Highway combines two great flavors of weird: the gonzo journalism of Hunter S. Thompson and the uncanny terrors of H.P. Lovecraft Horror legend Brian Keene and cult storytelling master Nick Matamas dredge up a tale of drug-fueled eldritch madness from the blackest depths of the American Nightmare. On a freaked-out bus journey to Arkham, Massachusetts and the 1972 Presidential primary, evidence mounts that sinister forces are on the rise, led by the Cult of Cthulhu and its most prominent member - Richard M. Nixon."

Later: They do a good job of capturing Thompson's style, not just the verbal tics but also the concerns, and the Mythos fits in... surprisingly well.
books:recommended  cthulhiana  horror  thompson.hunter_s.  us_politics  satire  affectionate_parody  nixon.richard_m. 
october 2011 by cshalizi
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern | W. W. Norton & Company
"How the World Became Modern" is of course a completely indefensible exaggeration of the impact of Lucretius, so this starts with a strike against it, but I like the topic so I'll give it a shot nonetheless.

ETA: review: http://bactra.org/weblog/algae-2012-01.html
books:recommended  history_of_ideas  lucretius  epicureanism 
july 2011 by cshalizi
Principles of Applied Statistics - Academic and Professional Books - Cambridge University Press
"Applied statistics is more than data analysis, but it is easy to lose sight of the big picture. David Cox and Christl Donnelly distil decades of scientific experience into usable principles for the successful application of statistics, showing how good statistical strategy shapes every stage of an investigation. As you advance from research or policy question, to study design, through modelling and interpretation, and finally to meaningful conclusions, this book will be a valuable guide. Over a hundred illustrations from a wide variety of real applications make the conceptual points concrete, illuminating your path and deepening your understanding. This book is essential reading for anyone who makes extensive use of statistical methods in their work."
books:recommended  statistics  data_analysis  to:NB  to_teach:undergrad-ADA  coveted  cox.david_r. 
may 2011 by cshalizi
A Call for Judgment: Sensible Finance for a Dynamic Economy by Amar Bhide - Powell's Books
"Bhide warns us that modern finance is on a collision course with the true heart of capitalism: innovation and entrepreneurship. Deepening this disconnect is the growing complexity of banks, which habitually fail to hold bankers accountable for their mistakes, while blatantly subverting the tough banking rules established in the 1930s. As Bhide makes clear, the erosion of these rules displaced traditional relationship-based lending in favor of liquid, anonymous securities, which ultimately succeeded in depriving large banks (and other publicly traded companies) of oversight by investors with first-hand knowledge of the business or its managers. Identifying this lack of monitoring as a fatal flaw that destabilized the economy and helped trigger the financial crisis, Bhide pushes for tough, straightforward limits on the activities of commercial banks and financial instruments such as money market funds."

ETA: review: http://bactra.org/reviews/bhide-contra-finance.html
books:recommended  regulation  banking  securitization  political_economy  financial_crisis_of_2007-- 
october 2010 by cshalizi
W I N D O W S E A T
Considering how much flying I'll be doing over the next year or so, I really should get this.

ETA: It's fun.
books:recommended  landscape  via:britta 
october 2010 by cshalizi
Free Mall of Cthulhu Ebook! - Food Court of Fear
"Right now there are two ebook versions of my novel The Mall of Cthulhu available. One is the kindle edition, the other is the version on webscription.net. Though it's priced higher, I know some folks may want to buy the webscription version because of concerns about Amazon's DRM. Here's the problem, though-- the webscription.net version is an unauthorized edition. Nobody connected with that edition has the right to sell an electronic version of my book, and at this point, it's not at all clear that I will ever get paid for what amounts to the theft of my intellectual property. Nobody's returning my emails, and let's be honest--we're not talking about big money here, so it's not worth anybody's while to involve attorneys or anything." Therefore, Cooper has made the PDF of the advance reading copy free online, which is certainly one way to undermine the competition! (I paid for my paper copy and recommend it.)
books:recommended  novels  cthulhiana  horror  intellectual_property 
may 2010 by cshalizi
Barfield, T.: Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History.
This looks extremely promising, not least because Barfield was studying Afghanistan _before_ 2001: "introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, explaining what unites them as Afghans despite [their[ regional, cultural, and political differences.... [G]overning these peoples was relatively easy when power was concentrated in a small dynastic elite ... delicate political order broke down in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when Afghanistan's rulers mobilized rural militias to expel first the British and later the Soviets. Armed insurgency proved remarkably successful against the foreign occupiers, but it also undermined the Afghan government's authority and rendered the country ever more difficult to govern as time passed...."
afghanistan  the_continuing_crises  19th_century_history  20th_century_history  imperialism  books:recommended 
january 2010 by cshalizi
Shirley Jackson: Novels and Stories
Shirley Jackson is getting a Library of America edition!!! ("She restoreth my faith in terror and dread", as Dorothy Parker said.)
books:recommended  horror  jackson.shirley 
january 2010 by cshalizi
Powell's Books - R in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell) by Joseph Adler
About 1/2 R as a programming language, and 1/2 shot explanations of how to do particular analyses in R. I've now used it with decent success as a supplemental textbook.
R  programming  statistics  books:recommended 
november 2009 by cshalizi
The Big Idea: C.L. Anderson « Whatever
I like how the author thinks, certainly. Edited later: the novel's _really good_: http://bactra.org/weblog/algae-2009-10.html#bitter-angels . Edited yet
later: The author is actually Sarah Zettel (this is not a big secret), who wrote
many other good novels under her own name in the '90s.
books:recommended  novels  science_fiction  perpetual_peace  via:james-nicoll 
august 2009 by cshalizi
Tor.com / Science fiction and fantasy / Blog posts / Better to travel hopefully: Dan Simmons’s
The great Jo Walton appreciates Dan Simmons's great _Hyperion_. I have one quibble: one should also read _The Fall of Hyperion_, and _then_ stop.
book_reviews  books:recommended  simmons.dan  walton.jo 
may 2009 by cshalizi
Life and Art of Albrecht Durer - Panofsky (@ Labyrinth)
Still, I think, the best (English) book available on Durer, and so of interest for a huge number of reasons (not least being the first great artist to get what the printing press could do).
books:recommended  art  art_history  lives_of_the_artists  work_of_art_in_the_age_of_mechanical_reproduction  history_of_ideas  history_of_tastes  iconology  early_modern_european_history  durer.albrecht  panofsky.erwin 
april 2009 by cshalizi
Random Graph Dynamics - Durrett (@Labyrinth)
A very nice attempt by Durrett to bring some proper mathematical hygiene to studying networks more interesting than the Erdos-Renyi (-Rappoport-Solomonoff) model. Particularly nice on using branching processes to prove results about network growth processes (as might be expected given Durrett's earlier work on particle systems).
books:recommended  networks  random_graphs  branching_processes  stochastic_processes  epidemic_models  durrett.richard 
december 2008 by cshalizi
Our Natural History: The Lessons of Lewis and Clark - Botkin (@ Labyrinth)
Nice book about the history of American landscapes and ecosystems, framed through recounting the Lewis and Clark expedition.
books:recommended  ecology  landscape  american_history  popular_science  botkin.daniel 
december 2008 by cshalizi
Powell's Books - Get Your War on: The Definitive Account of George Bush's War on Terror 2001-2008 by David Rees
Only GYWO and the Medium Lobster are adequate chroniclers of our times; and the Medium Lobster is not available in print form.
books:recommended  the_continuing_crises  comics  rees.david 
august 2008 by cshalizi
Chaco Anasazi: Sociopolitical Evolution in the Prehistoric Southwest - Sebastian [@Labyrinth]
Neat, if you're interested in the Anasazi/prehistoric Southwest/social evolution; includes a nifty and pertinent simulation model.
books:recommended  archaeology  anasazi  new_mexico  sebastian.lynne  simulation 
august 2008 by cshalizi
Introduction to Machine Learning - Ethem Alpaydin [@Labyrinth]
Useful introductory survey/reference; mathematically undemanding. Nice that it has chapters on hidden Markov models and various model-combination methods.
books:recommended  machine_learning  classifiers  regression  clustering  markov_models  ensemble_methods 
august 2008 by cshalizi
Statistical Physics, Part 1 - Landau & Lifshitz [@Labyrinth]
Still, IMHO, _the_ textbook on statistical mechanics at the graduate level.
books:recommended  statistical_mechanics  landau.lev 
august 2008 by cshalizi
Ian Hacking, The Taming of Chance [Labyrinth]
Excellent history of the rise of statistics in the 19th century, albeit one that reads very strangely if you're used to the internal account of the technology, and not the social/intellectual context
books:recommended  hacking.ian  statistics  history_of_science  history_of_ideas 
july 2008 by cshalizi
The Vampire Tapestry: Suzy McKee Charnas: Books
The best, most intelligent vampire novel ever written is coming back into print. Buy it and read it.
books:recommended  charnas.suzy_mckee  science_fiction  vampires 
may 2008 by cshalizi
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