Algebra Game Books
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Algebra (Straight Forward Math Series/Book 1)
Published in Paperback by Garlic Press (2000)
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For BOTH parents, teachers, and homeschoolers
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 13 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-06
Review Date: 2004-11-06
Excellent book
Helpful Votes: 17 out of 17 total.
Review Date: 2004-07-11
Review Date: 2004-07-11
This series starts with the ultimate in basics and moves rapidly, in a well ordered fashion, to the essence of Algebraic concepts. The book takes what you learned in Arithmatic and shows you how it applies to upper Mathematics. The explainations are clear and precise with no fluff. We used it when my daughter was struggling with the conceptual jump from Arithmatic to Mathematics. The book leaves no gaps or guess work. When she was through with the exercises in book 1 she tested into the upper half of Algebra 1. I highly recommend it for any student. Forget the expensive, boring, repetitive, & typically hated curriculums. We did follow it with the second book which is equally as well done.
Clear, uncluttered, step by step progressions
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-07
Review Date: 2006-10-07
I am delighted to use this excellent, thin (77 page) algebra text with my son. I have been homeschooling my five children beginning in 1993. After dragging through Saxon Algebra with my two daughters, I was weary of the cluttered, text-rich format that covered way too much material. In about a month and a half, we will have covered this book completely. I look forward to receiving Algebra Book 2.
I plan to supplement with Saxon and Barron's Algebra the Easy Way for word problems. However, I want a clear initial presentation of the basics that progresses logically. This book delivers in a very pleasing way.
Thank you, Stephen Jahnke!
I plan to supplement with Saxon and Barron's Algebra the Easy Way for word problems. However, I want a clear initial presentation of the basics that progresses logically. This book delivers in a very pleasing way.
Thank you, Stephen Jahnke!
Complexity and Approximation: Combinatorial Optimization Problems and Their Approximability Properties
Published in Hardcover by Springer (2003-02-01)
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Complexity book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-24
Review Date: 2007-08-24
The book is excellent for teaching approximation algorithms. The book was new, but I benefit of a reduced price (probably promotional).
A great sequel to Garey and Johnson
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2001-03-30
Review Date: 2001-03-30
This book is a great sequel to Garey and Johnson. The appendix of this book gives a list of all NP optimisation problems together with their current approximability (or inapproximability results) in a Garey Johnson fashion.
Developing approximation algorithms for NP hard problems is now a very active field in Mathematical Programming and Theoretical Computer Science. There have been a number of exciting developments like semidefinite programming , the Goemans Williamson algorithm for max cut et al.
On the other hand, from a theoretical computer science point of view, we now have a proof that many of these problems cannot have polynomial approximation algorithms unless P=NP.
This book provides an excellent introduction to both areas. A worthy supplement to Garey and Johnson, Papadimitriou's books on combinatorial optimisation and computational complexity, Hochbaum's book on approximation algorithms, Alon and Spencer's book on the probabilistic method and finally Motwani and Raghavan's book on randomised algorithms.
A great sequel to Garey and Johnson
Helpful Votes: 15 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 2001-03-29
Review Date: 2001-03-29
This book is a great sequel to Garey and Johnson. The appendix of this book gives a list of all NP optimisation problems together with their current approximability (or inapproximability results) in a Garey Johnson fashion.
Developing approximation algorithms for NP hard problems is now a very active field in Mathematical Programming and Theoretical Computer Science. There have been a number of exciting developments like semidefinite programming , the Goemans Williamson algorithm for max cut et al.
On the other hand, from a theoretical computer science point of view, we now have a proof that many of these problems cannot have polynomial approximation algorithms unless P=NP.
This book provides an excellent introduction to both areas. A worthy supplement to Garey and Johnson, Papadimitriou's books on combinatorial optimisation and computational complexity, Hochbaum's book on approximation algorithms, Alon and Spencer's book on the probabilistic method and finally Motwani and Raghavan's book on randomised algorithms.
Introduction to the theory of games
Published in Unknown Binding by ()
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An Early Masterpiece in Game Theory
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-19
Review Date: 2008-04-19
I developed an interest in game theory some years ago and began collecting a small library of acknowledged "essential references" in the subject in order to educate myself. Of all the books that I own, this masterpiece by J. C. C. McKinsey stands out for its clarity of exposition, its amazingly clear logical organization, and its readability. Any sufficiently motivated person with the requisite mathematical background can teach himself a fair amount of game theory by studying this book on his own. McKinsey's book is a model of what mathematical exposition SHOULD be (but rarely is).
The book appeared in 1952 and hence is hopelessly out of date; game theory has undergone significant development in the past few decades. However, McKinsey's book still offers the clearest introduction to the
established "core" materials to be found in any text. In fact, I have repeatedly found that McKinsey's book, together with the old 1957 classic by Luce and Raiffa, provides novel insights and enlightening discussions that are not to be found in any of the most popular standard references currently in use in university-level game theory courses.
In addition to his interests in game theory, McKinsey was a logician of some repute. It is our loss that he died under tragic circumstances in 1953 when merely 45 years old. His death came only one year after the release of his book on game theory and two years after his separation from the Rand Corporation, where so much of the early work in game theory took place. We can only speculate how this magnificent book might have evolved through successive editions had McKinsey lived another 30 years.
The book appeared in 1952 and hence is hopelessly out of date; game theory has undergone significant development in the past few decades. However, McKinsey's book still offers the clearest introduction to the
established "core" materials to be found in any text. In fact, I have repeatedly found that McKinsey's book, together with the old 1957 classic by Luce and Raiffa, provides novel insights and enlightening discussions that are not to be found in any of the most popular standard references currently in use in university-level game theory courses.
In addition to his interests in game theory, McKinsey was a logician of some repute. It is our loss that he died under tragic circumstances in 1953 when merely 45 years old. His death came only one year after the release of his book on game theory and two years after his separation from the Rand Corporation, where so much of the early work in game theory took place. We can only speculate how this magnificent book might have evolved through successive editions had McKinsey lived another 30 years.
Thorough theoretical description of the concept of the "game"
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-16
Review Date: 2008-07-16
The inclusion of the word "introduction" in the title does not mean elementary, the level of mathematics is very advanced. In the broadest definition of the term, "game" it is a set of optional choices where the goal of the selectors is to maximize or minimize their return, often relative to an opponent. That is the definition used in this book. Few actual games are mentioned and many theorems and proofs are included.
The chapter titles are:
*) Rectangular games
*) The fundamental theorem for rectangular games
*) The solutions of a rectangular game
*) A method of approximating the value of a game
*) Games in extensive form
*) Games in extensive form - general theory
*) Games with infinitely many strategies
*) Distribution functions
*) Stieltjes integrals
*) The fundamental theorem for continuous games
*) Separable games
*) Games with convex payoff functions
*) Applications to statistical inference
*) Linear programming
*) Zero-sum n-person games
*) Solutions of n-person games
*) Games without zero-sum restriction: the vonNeumann-Morgenstern theory
*) Some open problems
To understand the material in this book, you need a solid grounding in differentiable and integral calculus, linear algebra, probability and stochastic processes. However, if you have that background, you will find an understandable and nearly complete theoretical description of the general concept of games.
The chapter titles are:
*) Rectangular games
*) The fundamental theorem for rectangular games
*) The solutions of a rectangular game
*) A method of approximating the value of a game
*) Games in extensive form
*) Games in extensive form - general theory
*) Games with infinitely many strategies
*) Distribution functions
*) Stieltjes integrals
*) The fundamental theorem for continuous games
*) Separable games
*) Games with convex payoff functions
*) Applications to statistical inference
*) Linear programming
*) Zero-sum n-person games
*) Solutions of n-person games
*) Games without zero-sum restriction: the vonNeumann-Morgenstern theory
*) Some open problems
To understand the material in this book, you need a solid grounding in differentiable and integral calculus, linear algebra, probability and stochastic processes. However, if you have that background, you will find an understandable and nearly complete theoretical description of the general concept of games.
Axiom of Choice (Lecture Notes in Mathematics)
Published in Paperback by Springer (2006-07-06)
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An essential resource for this important Axiom of Mathematics
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-15
Review Date: 2008-04-15
As a graduate student in Mathematics, I felt self-assured that my knowledge in mathematics was complete enough to consider myself competent. This book showed me how wrong I was. Even though you are taught to notice when the axiom of choice is used, at least I never thought much about it. Even though I don't consider myself a fan of set theory, I think it is important to see these details at least once in your life. Anyway, give this book a chance if you can borrow it from your local library. You won't regret it, I can assure that.
Computing Equilibria and Fixed Points: The Solution of Nonlinear Inequalities (Theory and Decision Library C)
Published in Hardcover by Springer (1998-11-30)
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This is a very good book on game theory.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 1999-06-17
Review Date: 1999-06-17
This is very good book on game theory. I am research scholar in Indian Institute of Technology , West bengal , India . I am a poor student. In my field I am not getting any book. I shall be grate ful if you spare this book to me on my follwing address. Thanking you. Sankar kr. Roy Research Scholar Indian Institute of Technology West Bengal, Kharagpur 721302 India.
History: Fiction or Science? Dating methods as offered by mathematical statistics. Eclipses and zodiacs. Chronology Vol.I
Published in Paperback by Delamere Resources (2007-08-20)
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Average review score: 
Treading on sore toes?
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-15
Review Date: 2008-01-15
The professional historians faint as prominent mathematician Doctor Fomenko et al research the known historical data and come to fairly controversial conclusions.
For example, the English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. As the sign of recognition of the special role of the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.
The Russian historians brand it as pseudoscience because Dr Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by over two centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called `Tartars and Mongols' were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a trilingual state and aspiring Global Empire with Arabic and Turkic spoken as freely as Russian.
The ancient proto-Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities and the hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called `blood tax'). Their `invasions' were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion.
Fomenko proves for a fact that official Russian history is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scholars brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs. Their ascension to the throne was the result of conspiracy, so they charged these German historians-imports with the noble mission of making Romanov's reign look legitimate.
Dr Fomenko et al prove Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. These rulers represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate Godounovs and the ambitious Romanov upstarts.
The European historians fume not only because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History but for asserting that all medieval European Kings and Princes were but breakaway vice-regents and vassals of the Global Empire who badly needed glorious and very `ancient' past in order to legitimize their new independence from the Empire.
Dr Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one: the Ancient Rome: the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the 14th century A. D., the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, the Ancient Egypt: the pyramids of Giza become dated to the 11th to 14th century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global Empire, no less.
The civilization of the `ancient'' Egypt is irrefutably dated to the 11th to 15th century A. D. following the breakthrough in decoding of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone and painted on the temple walls.
Arabic historians may find some consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire as a part of the Global empire in the 15th - 17th century. The trouble is that this Empire was initially a proto-Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, but built in 1550-1557 A.D. by Sultan Suleiman according to Fomenko and Islam with all its key figures is datable to 15th 16th century A. D.!
The Chinese historians are also an unhappy lot because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such history. Period. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the 17th 18th century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation.
The Divinity excommunicates Dr Fomenko because the history of religions according to Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the 11th century and Jesus Christ ), Bacchic Christianity (11th to 12th century, before and after Jesus Christ), Jesus Christ Christianity (12th to 14th century) and its subsequent mutations (15th to 17th cy) into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on..; and The Old Testament written after the New Testament in xiv-xvi cy A.D., if you please! Everybody served? Saint Augustine was quite prescient when he said: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."
For example, the English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. As the sign of recognition of the special role of the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.
The Russian historians brand it as pseudoscience because Dr Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by over two centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called `Tartars and Mongols' were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a trilingual state and aspiring Global Empire with Arabic and Turkic spoken as freely as Russian.
The ancient proto-Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities and the hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called `blood tax'). Their `invasions' were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion.
Fomenko proves for a fact that official Russian history is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scholars brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs. Their ascension to the throne was the result of conspiracy, so they charged these German historians-imports with the noble mission of making Romanov's reign look legitimate.
Dr Fomenko et al prove Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. These rulers represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate Godounovs and the ambitious Romanov upstarts.
The European historians fume not only because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History but for asserting that all medieval European Kings and Princes were but breakaway vice-regents and vassals of the Global Empire who badly needed glorious and very `ancient' past in order to legitimize their new independence from the Empire.
Dr Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one: the Ancient Rome: the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the 14th century A. D., the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, the Ancient Egypt: the pyramids of Giza become dated to the 11th to 14th century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global Empire, no less.
The civilization of the `ancient'' Egypt is irrefutably dated to the 11th to 15th century A. D. following the breakthrough in decoding of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone and painted on the temple walls.
Arabic historians may find some consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire as a part of the Global empire in the 15th - 17th century. The trouble is that this Empire was initially a proto-Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, but built in 1550-1557 A.D. by Sultan Suleiman according to Fomenko and Islam with all its key figures is datable to 15th 16th century A. D.!
The Chinese historians are also an unhappy lot because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such history. Period. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the 17th 18th century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation.
The Divinity excommunicates Dr Fomenko because the history of religions according to Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the 11th century and Jesus Christ ), Bacchic Christianity (11th to 12th century, before and after Jesus Christ), Jesus Christ Christianity (12th to 14th century) and its subsequent mutations (15th to 17th cy) into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on..; and The Old Testament written after the New Testament in xiv-xvi cy A.D., if you please! Everybody served? Saint Augustine was quite prescient when he said: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Helpful Votes: 16 out of 25 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-08
Review Date: 2007-04-08
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Pants on fire?
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-19
Review Date: 2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Has history been tampered with?
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-23
Review Date: 2007-10-23
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RAZQNMXM4M9CL Has history been tampered with? Yes, it has! Did events and eras such as the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Roman Empire , the Dark Ages, and the Renaissance, actually occur within a very different chronology from what we've been told? Yes, they certainly did!
The history of humankind is both drastically shorter and dramatically different than generally presumed.
Why is it so? On one hand, it was usual custom to justify the claims to title and land by age and ancestry, and on the other the court historians knew only too well how to please their masters. The so called universal classic world history is a pack of intricate lies for all events prior to the 16th century. World history as we learn it today was entirely fabricated in the 16th-18th centuries. It's likely that nobody told you before, but
there is not a single piece of firm written evidence or artefact that is reliably and independently dated prior to the 11th century.
Naturally, after what you've learned in school and university, you will not easily believe that the classical history of ancient Rome, Greece, Asia, Egypt, China, Japan, India, etc., is manifestly false.
You will point accusing finger to the pyramids in Egypt, to the Coliseum in Rome and Great Wall of China etc., and claim, aren't they really ancient, thousands of years ancient? Well, there is no valid scientific proof that they are older than 1000 years!
The oldest original written document that can be reliably dated belongs to the 11th century!
New research asserts that Homo sapiens invented writing (including hieroglyphics) only 1000 years ago. Once invented, writing skills were immediately and irreversibly put to the use of ruling powers and science.
The consensual chronology we live with was essentially crafted in the 16th century by the Jesuits.
The world history was compiled from contradictory mix of innumerable copies of ancient Latin and Greek manuscripts and other irrefutable proofs delivered by late mediaeval astronomers that were cemented by the authority of writings of the Church Fathers.
Early in life, we learn about ancient history. Children love the magical lessons of history - they are like fairy tales. Teachers recite breathtaking stories; very soon We learn by heart the names and deeds of brave warriors, wise philosophers, fabulous pharaohs, cunning high priests and greedy scribes.
We learn of gigantic pyramids and sinister castles, kings and queens, dukes and barons, powerful heroes and beautiful ladies, emaciated saints and low-life traitors.
Ancient history is based documents, manuscripts, printed books, paintings, monuments and artefacts - called primary sources.
The problem is that neither these ancient documents, nor events described therein can be irrefutably dated, moreover they contradict each other for the most part.
When a school textbook tells us that Genghis Khan in year X or Alexander in year Y, have each conquered half of the world, it means only that it is so said in some of the written sources.
There are no answers to simple questions:
When were these primary sources written?
Where and by whom were these sources found?
It is wrongly presumed that ancient and medieval chronicles, written by Genghis Khan's or Alexander the Great contemporaries and eyewitnesses, are readily available. Actually, only sources written hundreds or even thousands of years after the events are there, compiled mostly in the 16th 18th centuries, or even later.
As a rule, these sources suffered considerable multiple manipulations, falsifications and distortions by editing. At the same time,
innumerable originals of ancient documents under various pretexts were destroyed in Europe under various pretexts.
The names of persons and geographical sites often changed meaning and location during the course of the centuries.
Geographical locations became clearly defined on maps only with the advent of printing.
This made possible the circulation of identical copies of the same map for purposes of the military, navigation, education and governance tasks.
Historians from Oxford say: "hey, everybody knows that Julius Caesar lived in the first century B.C.
`Julius Caesar' statement is only a point of view as
there is simply no irrefutable documentary proof that Julius Caesar or any other great name of antiquity ever existed.
Better than that - extremely rare sources that can be reliably dated back to the 10th-14th centuries A D, do not show the polished picture of classical history.
They show a picture both contradictory and confusing.
All methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts are erroneous:
Radio-carbon C14 method produces dating with exactitude of plus minus 1500 years, therefore it is too crude for dating of events in historical timeframe!
The Almagest tractate, which lies as corner stone contemporary chronology, compiled in the 2nd century A D by Ptolemy, the founding father of astronomy, contains astronomical data of 9th to 16th century!
The Bronze Age,that has supposedly began 5000 years ago. Bronze is made of 90% copper and 10% tin, but the technology for tin extraction dates back to 14th century A D!.
All eclipses contained in manuscripts, like Thucydides one, relating 'ancient' events have exclusively medieval dating. All horoscopes cut in stone or painted in Egyptian temples, like Dendera have exclusively early medieval dating solutions.
Not quite what you have learned in school? Open your eyes, and, you will find sufficient proof to reach step by step the inevitable conclusion that the classical chronology is false and therefore, that the history of ancient and medieval world universally accepted today, is also false. Have a fresh outlook on everything said or printed about "ancient" and "enigmatic" Roman, Greek and Egyptian, medieval as well as all other "lost and found" civilizations.
Antiquity and Dark Ages are phantoms invented in the 16th 18th and polished in 19th 20thcenturies. Human civilization is in fact barely 1000 years old!
This book will change your perception of History forever!
What if Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt were invented during Renaissance?
What if The Old Testament was a rendition of events of the Middle Ages?
What if Jesus Christ was born in 1053 and crucified in 1086 AD?
Sounds Unbelievable?
Not after you've read "History: Fiction or Science?" by Anatoly Fomenko, the genius mathematician.
Armed with astronomy and computers Anatoly Fomenko turns History into a rocket science.
The history of humankind is both drastically shorter and dramatically different than generally presumed.
Why is it so? On one hand, it was usual custom to justify the claims to title and land by age and ancestry, and on the other the court historians knew only too well how to please their masters. The so called universal classic world history is a pack of intricate lies for all events prior to the 16th century. World history as we learn it today was entirely fabricated in the 16th-18th centuries. It's likely that nobody told you before, but
there is not a single piece of firm written evidence or artefact that is reliably and independently dated prior to the 11th century.
Naturally, after what you've learned in school and university, you will not easily believe that the classical history of ancient Rome, Greece, Asia, Egypt, China, Japan, India, etc., is manifestly false.
You will point accusing finger to the pyramids in Egypt, to the Coliseum in Rome and Great Wall of China etc., and claim, aren't they really ancient, thousands of years ancient? Well, there is no valid scientific proof that they are older than 1000 years!
The oldest original written document that can be reliably dated belongs to the 11th century!
New research asserts that Homo sapiens invented writing (including hieroglyphics) only 1000 years ago. Once invented, writing skills were immediately and irreversibly put to the use of ruling powers and science.
The consensual chronology we live with was essentially crafted in the 16th century by the Jesuits.
The world history was compiled from contradictory mix of innumerable copies of ancient Latin and Greek manuscripts and other irrefutable proofs delivered by late mediaeval astronomers that were cemented by the authority of writings of the Church Fathers.
Early in life, we learn about ancient history. Children love the magical lessons of history - they are like fairy tales. Teachers recite breathtaking stories; very soon We learn by heart the names and deeds of brave warriors, wise philosophers, fabulous pharaohs, cunning high priests and greedy scribes.
We learn of gigantic pyramids and sinister castles, kings and queens, dukes and barons, powerful heroes and beautiful ladies, emaciated saints and low-life traitors.
Ancient history is based documents, manuscripts, printed books, paintings, monuments and artefacts - called primary sources.
The problem is that neither these ancient documents, nor events described therein can be irrefutably dated, moreover they contradict each other for the most part.
When a school textbook tells us that Genghis Khan in year X or Alexander in year Y, have each conquered half of the world, it means only that it is so said in some of the written sources.
There are no answers to simple questions:
When were these primary sources written?
Where and by whom were these sources found?
It is wrongly presumed that ancient and medieval chronicles, written by Genghis Khan's or Alexander the Great contemporaries and eyewitnesses, are readily available. Actually, only sources written hundreds or even thousands of years after the events are there, compiled mostly in the 16th 18th centuries, or even later.
As a rule, these sources suffered considerable multiple manipulations, falsifications and distortions by editing. At the same time,
innumerable originals of ancient documents under various pretexts were destroyed in Europe under various pretexts.
The names of persons and geographical sites often changed meaning and location during the course of the centuries.
Geographical locations became clearly defined on maps only with the advent of printing.
This made possible the circulation of identical copies of the same map for purposes of the military, navigation, education and governance tasks.
Historians from Oxford say: "hey, everybody knows that Julius Caesar lived in the first century B.C.
`Julius Caesar' statement is only a point of view as
there is simply no irrefutable documentary proof that Julius Caesar or any other great name of antiquity ever existed.
Better than that - extremely rare sources that can be reliably dated back to the 10th-14th centuries A D, do not show the polished picture of classical history.
They show a picture both contradictory and confusing.
All methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts are erroneous:
Radio-carbon C14 method produces dating with exactitude of plus minus 1500 years, therefore it is too crude for dating of events in historical timeframe!
The Almagest tractate, which lies as corner stone contemporary chronology, compiled in the 2nd century A D by Ptolemy, the founding father of astronomy, contains astronomical data of 9th to 16th century!
The Bronze Age,that has supposedly began 5000 years ago. Bronze is made of 90% copper and 10% tin, but the technology for tin extraction dates back to 14th century A D!.
All eclipses contained in manuscripts, like Thucydides one, relating 'ancient' events have exclusively medieval dating. All horoscopes cut in stone or painted in Egyptian temples, like Dendera have exclusively early medieval dating solutions.
Not quite what you have learned in school? Open your eyes, and, you will find sufficient proof to reach step by step the inevitable conclusion that the classical chronology is false and therefore, that the history of ancient and medieval world universally accepted today, is also false. Have a fresh outlook on everything said or printed about "ancient" and "enigmatic" Roman, Greek and Egyptian, medieval as well as all other "lost and found" civilizations.
Antiquity and Dark Ages are phantoms invented in the 16th 18th and polished in 19th 20thcenturies. Human civilization is in fact barely 1000 years old!
This book will change your perception of History forever!
What if Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt were invented during Renaissance?
What if The Old Testament was a rendition of events of the Middle Ages?
What if Jesus Christ was born in 1053 and crucified in 1086 AD?
Sounds Unbelievable?
Not after you've read "History: Fiction or Science?" by Anatoly Fomenko, the genius mathematician.
Armed with astronomy and computers Anatoly Fomenko turns History into a rocket science.
Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-03
Review Date: 2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun (ie. closer), different tilt on its axis (ie. less than 23.5 degrees), different orbit (ie. more circular), different rotation (ie. in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different relative positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently from how we would today? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history or geography is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Geek Logik: 50 Foolproof Equations for Everyday Life
Published in Hardcover by Workman Publishing Company (2006-10-04)
List price: $12.95
New price: $5.99
Used price: $4.04
Used price: $4.04
Average review score:
Personally engaging!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-28
Review Date: 2007-08-28
The easiest refresher of introductory algebra I've ever seen. No cold-turkey review of numerous rules, this! Geek Logic introduces a mnemonic indicationg the order of arithmatic functions, then the fun begins--readers assign numerical values to formulae and calculate personal answers to hilarious life quandries. It's so entertaining, I forgot I was "studying." I hope the sequel delves into more advanced algebraic functions.
cute and clever
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-16
Review Date: 2007-01-16
Overall, not a terribly useful book, but very cute and clever. A good gift for the geek in your life.
Fun and silly
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-01
Review Date: 2007-07-01
As a high school (and later college) student, I always struggled with the utility of algebra, asking the ages old question, "When am I going to use this stuff in life?" Sundem's _Geek Logik_ finally answers that question with 50 equations that provide a mathematical answer to such burning real-life questions as "Should I get a tatoo?" or "Am I over qualified for my job?" The answers may surprise you. Certainly its not the sort of book one takes too seriously, but the process of crunching through the formulae is both entertaining and (to me) fascinating to see how the equations were put together.
Fun gift for the math geek in your life
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-09
Review Date: 2007-03-09
Very witty/fun book. Geve this to my husband, who's a senior level statistical analyst, and he took it to work and had a ball with it. The other analysts were asking to borrow it over the weekend.
Math Made Fun!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-20
Review Date: 2007-01-20
I haven't had this much fun with math since I calculated my latest tax refund! This book not only gives good, useful information, but it is a great way to review some basic algebra. Better for the brain than crosswords. I loved it!
The compleat strategyst : being a primer on the theory of games of strategy
Published in Unknown Binding by ()
List price:
Used price: $9.94
Average review score:
Dated and Quirky -- not best intro
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-21
Review Date: 2007-07-21
It's cheap, it's a classic, and it's got a sense of humor. These would
seem good reasons to choose this as your intro to game theory.
On the other hand, it's dated, the elaborate writing style can
get tiring, and most importantly the ideas are not communicated
very well. For example, there's quite a bit of focus at
the beginning on the formalism itself (the payoff matrix),
instead of tying to applications and intuition.
I highly recommend Philip Straffin's book on game theory as an
alternative. My son and I were reading The Compleat Strategyst
together and he found it a turn-off. We switched to Straffin's
book and are both enjoying it. The pedagogy is excellent, the
writing is clear, and there are many examples and exercises.
It not only gets the ideas across better -- it is also more
precise, with many explicit definitions, theorems, and proofs.
Game Theory and Strategy (New Mathematical Library)
seem good reasons to choose this as your intro to game theory.
On the other hand, it's dated, the elaborate writing style can
get tiring, and most importantly the ideas are not communicated
very well. For example, there's quite a bit of focus at
the beginning on the formalism itself (the payoff matrix),
instead of tying to applications and intuition.
I highly recommend Philip Straffin's book on game theory as an
alternative. My son and I were reading The Compleat Strategyst
together and he found it a turn-off. We switched to Straffin's
book and are both enjoying it. The pedagogy is excellent, the
writing is clear, and there are many examples and exercises.
It not only gets the ideas across better -- it is also more
precise, with many explicit definitions, theorems, and proofs.
Game Theory and Strategy (New Mathematical Library)
Games People Play
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-10
Review Date: 2007-06-10
Funny thing about words: depending on context, they can evoke quite different moods. Take, for example, "matrix": when referring to a certain movie with Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne Moss, most people react favorably. Used, however, when discussing mathematics, and the majority will feel something different, perhaps akin to fear and repulsion. On the one hand, this is understandable; working with matrices can be tedious grunt work with little of the theoretical beauty that much of math offers; on the other hand, it is the heart and soul of one particularly interesting branch, game theory.
J.D. Williams's The Compleat Strategyst is an introduction to game theory and by the end of the volume you will see your fair share of matrices, but this should not be overly intimidating. Williams knows that they can be unwieldy and does his best to simplify matters. But first, he introduces us to game theory itself.
Essentially, game theory is a mathematical method for calculating strategies. In most games, the theory will be too overly simple, but it does offer a lot of insights with practical implications in fields such as economics (for example, John Nash of "A Beautiful Mind" won his Nobel Prize for work in this field). The classic illustration, not really discussed in this book, involves the Prisoner's Dilemma: two men are held for a crime. If neither confesses, both go free; if only one confesses, he gets a light sentence and the other gets a heavy one; if both confess, they each get a medium sentence. What should the prisoner's strategy be? Silence can result in the best payout (freedom), but also the worst if the other prisoner confesses. Confession guarantees a sentence, but at worst, it will not be as bad as the one that can result from silence.
So what is the best strategy? Generally, if both prisoners act rationally, they will take the choice that results with the least "bad" result: That would mean confession, which at worst, results in a medium sentence (which is better than the long sentence that silence could lead to). Of course, things can work out differently in the real world.
In many games (though not the Prisoner's Dilemma), the player gets to play multiple times, in which case, the best strategy can actually be a mix of various strategies. The laying out of these various strategies and the various payouts is in the form of a matrix, a square or rectangular grid of numbers, with each row representing a strategy of player A and each column one for player B.
Even if this seems a little bewildering, Williams does a good job at explaining it, lacing his examples with plenty of humor (which I actually found only mildly funny, but it does lighten the prose). But no matter how good the writing is, eventually, the complexity of matrices can get overwhelming. It is here that one of the weaknesses of the book shows: due to its age (this edition was written in 1966), the use of computers is virtually ignored, although they could be very useful: the work here uses algorithms that can be reproduced easily on a computer. Then again, maybe it's more important to know the mechanics of game theory rather than relying on a computer.
Most of the math in this book is basic addition and multiplication, so if you're patient enough, you can learn this material even if you're not mathematically inclined. And even if you don't want to learn the more complex methods (or do the sample exercises), you can still get a lot of good insight from this book. The Compleat Strategyst may not help you win many games - at least directly - but it will give you an opportunity to think about them in a new manner.
J.D. Williams's The Compleat Strategyst is an introduction to game theory and by the end of the volume you will see your fair share of matrices, but this should not be overly intimidating. Williams knows that they can be unwieldy and does his best to simplify matters. But first, he introduces us to game theory itself.
Essentially, game theory is a mathematical method for calculating strategies. In most games, the theory will be too overly simple, but it does offer a lot of insights with practical implications in fields such as economics (for example, John Nash of "A Beautiful Mind" won his Nobel Prize for work in this field). The classic illustration, not really discussed in this book, involves the Prisoner's Dilemma: two men are held for a crime. If neither confesses, both go free; if only one confesses, he gets a light sentence and the other gets a heavy one; if both confess, they each get a medium sentence. What should the prisoner's strategy be? Silence can result in the best payout (freedom), but also the worst if the other prisoner confesses. Confession guarantees a sentence, but at worst, it will not be as bad as the one that can result from silence.
So what is the best strategy? Generally, if both prisoners act rationally, they will take the choice that results with the least "bad" result: That would mean confession, which at worst, results in a medium sentence (which is better than the long sentence that silence could lead to). Of course, things can work out differently in the real world.
In many games (though not the Prisoner's Dilemma), the player gets to play multiple times, in which case, the best strategy can actually be a mix of various strategies. The laying out of these various strategies and the various payouts is in the form of a matrix, a square or rectangular grid of numbers, with each row representing a strategy of player A and each column one for player B.
Even if this seems a little bewildering, Williams does a good job at explaining it, lacing his examples with plenty of humor (which I actually found only mildly funny, but it does lighten the prose). But no matter how good the writing is, eventually, the complexity of matrices can get overwhelming. It is here that one of the weaknesses of the book shows: due to its age (this edition was written in 1966), the use of computers is virtually ignored, although they could be very useful: the work here uses algorithms that can be reproduced easily on a computer. Then again, maybe it's more important to know the mechanics of game theory rather than relying on a computer.
Most of the math in this book is basic addition and multiplication, so if you're patient enough, you can learn this material even if you're not mathematically inclined. And even if you don't want to learn the more complex methods (or do the sample exercises), you can still get a lot of good insight from this book. The Compleat Strategyst may not help you win many games - at least directly - but it will give you an opportunity to think about them in a new manner.
Good but hasn't changed
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-03
Review Date: 2007-04-03
I had the original 1954 edition. I thought that this new edition of the book may have been updated in the intervening 28 years. Nope. Not at all. Same exact book only with a different cover.
Beware!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-11
Review Date: 2007-07-11
Warning: This book only tells you how to solve game theory problems, NOT WHY the solutions work! So you actually aren't truly learning game theory at all. It's really more an answer key than a primer on game theory. If that's what you want, fine, but if you're looking for an initial step on the road to UNDERSTANDING game theory, look elsewhere.
For mechanics not engineers
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-07
Review Date: 2007-11-07
Game theory for the users not for mathematicians.
Write a book on jet engines for engineers and you'll have chapters on the choice of alloy for the turbine blades and casing, formulae for fuel nozzle diameters, air flow and compression ratios, etc. Write a book on jet engines for mechanics, and it might be just as long, but have very different content, with types of failures and their causes, proper tool selections, techniques for cleaning internal components, etc.
"The Compleat Strategyst" is for people who (figuratively) turn wrenches in problems of decision-making. Were it for mathematicians, it would have long, convuluted derivations of axioms, and use sigma notation on 2 out of three pages. As a liberal arts major, it was a relief to find out that calculus appears nowhere in this book, as greek letters mixed in math disturb my digestion, and cause anxiety attacks. You'll need some math, but only what would show up in junior high school pre-algebra. The worst you'll run into are ratios with five or more elements and some long division problems, nothing that requires a recovery period.
What it does have is a first rate explaination of decision matrices for economists, historians, and poli-sci majors, along with other essential topics in game theory. The focus is basic, two-player games with only passing mention to anything other than zero-sum games, but within its limits, it is very good. Use of matrices to support decisions, the value of randomness in situations where strategies are of similar risk-benefit, and multiple strategy games are covered very well. Although basic, enough detail and examples are given, that the concepts can be readily applied to real world decisions. Any student of political science would do well to read this book and do the problems.
The book was first publish in 1954, and the illustrations and prose can be a little 'camp' at times, but younger readers will be mildly amused at the corniness of their elders, and have a brief glimpse of life during the Cold War, and the early post-WW II era.
Within in its limits, Great! But it is limited.
E. M. Van Court
Write a book on jet engines for engineers and you'll have chapters on the choice of alloy for the turbine blades and casing, formulae for fuel nozzle diameters, air flow and compression ratios, etc. Write a book on jet engines for mechanics, and it might be just as long, but have very different content, with types of failures and their causes, proper tool selections, techniques for cleaning internal components, etc.
"The Compleat Strategyst" is for people who (figuratively) turn wrenches in problems of decision-making. Were it for mathematicians, it would have long, convuluted derivations of axioms, and use sigma notation on 2 out of three pages. As a liberal arts major, it was a relief to find out that calculus appears nowhere in this book, as greek letters mixed in math disturb my digestion, and cause anxiety attacks. You'll need some math, but only what would show up in junior high school pre-algebra. The worst you'll run into are ratios with five or more elements and some long division problems, nothing that requires a recovery period.
What it does have is a first rate explaination of decision matrices for economists, historians, and poli-sci majors, along with other essential topics in game theory. The focus is basic, two-player games with only passing mention to anything other than zero-sum games, but within its limits, it is very good. Use of matrices to support decisions, the value of randomness in situations where strategies are of similar risk-benefit, and multiple strategy games are covered very well. Although basic, enough detail and examples are given, that the concepts can be readily applied to real world decisions. Any student of political science would do well to read this book and do the problems.
The book was first publish in 1954, and the illustrations and prose can be a little 'camp' at times, but younger readers will be mildly amused at the corniness of their elders, and have a brief glimpse of life during the Cold War, and the early post-WW II era.
Within in its limits, Great! But it is limited.
E. M. Van Court
Game Programming Gems 6 (Book & CD-ROM) (Game Development Series)
Published in Hardcover by Charles River Media (2006-03-07)
List price: $69.95
New price: $41.28
Used price: $40.99
Used price: $40.99
Average review score:
Programming Tips from the Pros
Helpful Votes: 13 out of 24 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-03
Review Date: 2006-04-03
Intended for the intermediate to advanced game programmer, this is a book that will literally have something for everyone. It contains fifty-two 'gems' that is, articles on how to some particular aspect of game programming. Sophisticated game programming is probably the most complex programming there is. And this book goes into some pretty sophisticated programming details.
For instance:
1.2 Using Multicore Processors - New software that facilitates programming to make the most effective use of dual/triple core CPUs.
2.5 - Exact Buoyancy for Polyhedra - Your game character has built a raft. How does it look like it's floating realistically?
5.9 - Practical Sky Rendering - The sky is so simple, unless, of course you want it to look real. ==There is no question that the main driving force for faster computers is to make for more realistic gaming. And the faster computers allow more sophisticated programming to be done to make the grass wave realistically.
This is probably not a book you're going to sit down and read from cover to cover. You'll probably scan through and read the ones that are applicable to just what you need to do next. But then in a couple of weeks, in a couple of months....
For instance:
1.2 Using Multicore Processors - New software that facilitates programming to make the most effective use of dual/triple core CPUs.
2.5 - Exact Buoyancy for Polyhedra - Your game character has built a raft. How does it look like it's floating realistically?
5.9 - Practical Sky Rendering - The sky is so simple, unless, of course you want it to look real. ==There is no question that the main driving force for faster computers is to make for more realistic gaming. And the faster computers allow more sophisticated programming to be done to make the grass wave realistically.
This is probably not a book you're going to sit down and read from cover to cover. You'll probably scan through and read the ones that are applicable to just what you need to do next. But then in a couple of weeks, in a couple of months....
watch this trend
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-16
Review Date: 2007-04-16
One interesting feature of this book on game programming is how graphics does NOT dominate the discussion. Most books on the subject are chock-a-block with every graphics tip you could imagine. But Dickheiser does not write for the novice. He has gathered a set of papers (chapters) that try to delineate the research boundary. It is a measure of the rising maturity of the field, and the complexity of many games, that graphics is relatively deprecated.
Though I hasten to add that there are still the pretty colour plates of renderings, and several chapters on these methods.
Why is the book symptomatic of the changing trends? In part because graphical methods are starting to saturate. The techniques are now good enough for near-photorealistic impressions. If you look carefully at the non-graphics chapters, you see that they tackle non-trivial problems arising from evermore intricate games. One instance is the use of AI-style decision making methods for how a game proceeds. When well coded, it can give behaviour of characters that is more intelligent, hence yielding a more interesting game. Another chapter looks at the learning process in AI, where a player might change strategies. Here, the research use of Support Vector Machines is suggested as apropos for commercial game development.
Professionally, you should pay attention to the book for the trend it exemplifies. You probably got into game programming because you were attracted by the graphics. But as graphics methods peak, the value added aspect of games is starting to shift towards the story line and how elaborate is the game logic.
Though I hasten to add that there are still the pretty colour plates of renderings, and several chapters on these methods.
Why is the book symptomatic of the changing trends? In part because graphical methods are starting to saturate. The techniques are now good enough for near-photorealistic impressions. If you look carefully at the non-graphics chapters, you see that they tackle non-trivial problems arising from evermore intricate games. One instance is the use of AI-style decision making methods for how a game proceeds. When well coded, it can give behaviour of characters that is more intelligent, hence yielding a more interesting game. Another chapter looks at the learning process in AI, where a player might change strategies. Here, the research use of Support Vector Machines is suggested as apropos for commercial game development.
Professionally, you should pay attention to the book for the trend it exemplifies. You probably got into game programming because you were attracted by the graphics. But as graphics methods peak, the value added aspect of games is starting to shift towards the story line and how elaborate is the game logic.
Good bag of tricks for advanced game programmers
Helpful Votes: 43 out of 44 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-05
Review Date: 2006-04-05
This is the latest volume in the game programming gems series that is now six years old. This book, like the others in the series, is a collection of articles written by industry experts for the advanced game programmer. Because it covers so much ground with little or no background information, I doubt that one reader will be able to appreciate the whole book. The book comes with a CD that has source code for all of the articles, which is very helpful.
I'm a multimedia programmer rather than a game programmer, and I found quite a few nuggets in this edition. Among them was the article on using OpenCV, which is the open source computer vision library, and also the article on CPPUnit, which can be used for unit testing of any type of software, not just games. The section on math and physics was the least helpful. It either set the bar too low with easy articles like "How to do floating point faster than hardware", or set the bar too high with difficult terse articles such as "Real-Time Particle-Based Fluid Simulation". However, if you are into game physics, this section might be something you really enjoy. In the AI section, it seemed like I had seen most of the material before. The last article though was really unique - "Constructing a Goal-Oriented Robot for UnrealTournament Using Fuzzy Sensors, Finite-state Behaviors and Behavior Networks". This is an outstanding article for those interested in robots in games. The whole section on scripting was worthwhile. I especially enjoyed the Script language survey at the front of the section, since this is a moving target with many languages to choose from. The graphics section is quite advanced, and unless "Realtime Rendering" seems like light bedtime reading to you, most of the articles will probably not make much sense. My favorite section of the book was the one on audio for two reasons. First, most game programming books ignor this subject entirely. Second, it is hard to find readable books or articles on the subject with the effects presented in plain language as this section did in all five articles. I notice that Amazon does not show the table of contents, so I do that here:
SECTION 1 GENERAL PROGRAMMING
Introduction 1.1 Game Object Component System 1.2 Closest- String Matching Algorithm 1.3 Implementing Lock-Free Algorithms 1.4 Computer Vision in Games using the OpenCV library 1.5 Using CPPUnit to implement unit testing 1.6 Visualizing Performance Data 1.7 Faster Loading with Access-Based File Reordering 1.8 Stay in the Game: Asset Hotloading for Fast Iteration 1.9 Geographic Grid Registration of Game Objects 1.10 Real-Time Continuous Profiling 1.11 Fingerprinting Prerelease Builds to Deter and Detect Piracy 1.12 The Dynamic Actor Layer
SECTION 2 MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS
Introduction 2.1 Efficient Sequence Indexing 2.2 How to do floating point faster than hardware. 2.3 Solving linear systems by using the cross product 2.4 Real-Time Particle-Based Fluid Simulation 2.5 Exact Buoyancy for Polyhedra
SECTION 3 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Introduction 3.1 Designing a Multi-layer Pluggable AI Engine Framework 3.2 Smart Scene Load Management using Fuzzy Logic 3.3 Achieving coordination with autonomous NPC's 3.4 Using a Quantified Judgment Model for Engagement Analysis 3.5 Short-term memory using support vector machine (SVM) 3.6 Applying Model-Based Decision-Making Methods to Games 3.7 Constructing a Goal-Oriented Robot for UnrealTournament Using Fuzzy Sensors, Finite-state Behaviors and Behavior Networks
SECTION 4 SCRIPTING SYSTEMS
Introduction 4.1 A Script language survey 4.2 Managing High-Level Scripts Execution within 4.3 Automatic Function Binding for Game Scripting and Networking 4.4 Programming advanced control mechanisms with Lua coroutines 4.5 Binding C/C++ objects to Lua
SECTION 5 GRAPHICS
Introduction 5.1 Automatic Realistic Idle Motion Synthesis for Interactive Characters" 5.2 GPU Terrain Rendering 5.3 Rendering Road Signs Sharply 5.4 Interactive Fluid Dynamics and Rendering on the GPU 5.5 Spatial Partitioning using an Adaptive Binary Tree 5.6 Enhanced Object Culling with (Almost) Oriented Bounding Boxes 5.7 Fast per-pixel lighted scenes with a high number of lights 5.8 Efficient Sky Rendering Techniques 5.9 High Dynamic Range Rendering using OpenGL Frame Buffer Objects 5.10 Skin Splitting for Optimal Skin Rendering
SECTION 6 AUDIO
Introduction 6.1 Real- Time Sound Generation From Deformable Meshes 6.2 Volume Control Through Chained Busses 6.3 Faking Real-time DSP Effects 6.4 A lightweight oscillator for ambient sound generation 6.5 Cheap Doppler effect
SECTION 7 NETWORKING AND MULTIPLAYER
Introduction 7.1 Complex High-Level Systems 7.2 Reliable Peer-to-Peer Gaming Connection Penetrating Firewall and NAT 7.3 Massively Multiplayer Online Prototype (MMOP): Utilizing Second Life for Game Concept Prototyping 7.4 Dynamically Adaptive Streaming of 3D Data for Animated Characters 7.5 Generating globally unique identifiers for game objects About the CD-ROM
Index
I'm a multimedia programmer rather than a game programmer, and I found quite a few nuggets in this edition. Among them was the article on using OpenCV, which is the open source computer vision library, and also the article on CPPUnit, which can be used for unit testing of any type of software, not just games. The section on math and physics was the least helpful. It either set the bar too low with easy articles like "How to do floating point faster than hardware", or set the bar too high with difficult terse articles such as "Real-Time Particle-Based Fluid Simulation". However, if you are into game physics, this section might be something you really enjoy. In the AI section, it seemed like I had seen most of the material before. The last article though was really unique - "Constructing a Goal-Oriented Robot for UnrealTournament Using Fuzzy Sensors, Finite-state Behaviors and Behavior Networks". This is an outstanding article for those interested in robots in games. The whole section on scripting was worthwhile. I especially enjoyed the Script language survey at the front of the section, since this is a moving target with many languages to choose from. The graphics section is quite advanced, and unless "Realtime Rendering" seems like light bedtime reading to you, most of the articles will probably not make much sense. My favorite section of the book was the one on audio for two reasons. First, most game programming books ignor this subject entirely. Second, it is hard to find readable books or articles on the subject with the effects presented in plain language as this section did in all five articles. I notice that Amazon does not show the table of contents, so I do that here:
SECTION 1 GENERAL PROGRAMMING
Introduction 1.1 Game Object Component System 1.2 Closest- String Matching Algorithm 1.3 Implementing Lock-Free Algorithms 1.4 Computer Vision in Games using the OpenCV library 1.5 Using CPPUnit to implement unit testing 1.6 Visualizing Performance Data 1.7 Faster Loading with Access-Based File Reordering 1.8 Stay in the Game: Asset Hotloading for Fast Iteration 1.9 Geographic Grid Registration of Game Objects 1.10 Real-Time Continuous Profiling 1.11 Fingerprinting Prerelease Builds to Deter and Detect Piracy 1.12 The Dynamic Actor Layer
SECTION 2 MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS
Introduction 2.1 Efficient Sequence Indexing 2.2 How to do floating point faster than hardware. 2.3 Solving linear systems by using the cross product 2.4 Real-Time Particle-Based Fluid Simulation 2.5 Exact Buoyancy for Polyhedra
SECTION 3 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Introduction 3.1 Designing a Multi-layer Pluggable AI Engine Framework 3.2 Smart Scene Load Management using Fuzzy Logic 3.3 Achieving coordination with autonomous NPC's 3.4 Using a Quantified Judgment Model for Engagement Analysis 3.5 Short-term memory using support vector machine (SVM) 3.6 Applying Model-Based Decision-Making Methods to Games 3.7 Constructing a Goal-Oriented Robot for UnrealTournament Using Fuzzy Sensors, Finite-state Behaviors and Behavior Networks
SECTION 4 SCRIPTING SYSTEMS
Introduction 4.1 A Script language survey 4.2 Managing High-Level Scripts Execution within 4.3 Automatic Function Binding for Game Scripting and Networking 4.4 Programming advanced control mechanisms with Lua coroutines 4.5 Binding C/C++ objects to Lua
SECTION 5 GRAPHICS
Introduction 5.1 Automatic Realistic Idle Motion Synthesis for Interactive Characters" 5.2 GPU Terrain Rendering 5.3 Rendering Road Signs Sharply 5.4 Interactive Fluid Dynamics and Rendering on the GPU 5.5 Spatial Partitioning using an Adaptive Binary Tree 5.6 Enhanced Object Culling with (Almost) Oriented Bounding Boxes 5.7 Fast per-pixel lighted scenes with a high number of lights 5.8 Efficient Sky Rendering Techniques 5.9 High Dynamic Range Rendering using OpenGL Frame Buffer Objects 5.10 Skin Splitting for Optimal Skin Rendering
SECTION 6 AUDIO
Introduction 6.1 Real- Time Sound Generation From Deformable Meshes 6.2 Volume Control Through Chained Busses 6.3 Faking Real-time DSP Effects 6.4 A lightweight oscillator for ambient sound generation 6.5 Cheap Doppler effect
SECTION 7 NETWORKING AND MULTIPLAYER
Introduction 7.1 Complex High-Level Systems 7.2 Reliable Peer-to-Peer Gaming Connection Penetrating Firewall and NAT 7.3 Massively Multiplayer Online Prototype (MMOP): Utilizing Second Life for Game Concept Prototyping 7.4 Dynamically Adaptive Streaming of 3D Data for Animated Characters 7.5 Generating globally unique identifiers for game objects About the CD-ROM
Index
Curve Ball: Baseball, Statistics, and the Role of Chance in the Game
Published in Paperback by Springer (2003-04-08)
List price: $19.95
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Average review score:
Non Fiction
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-03
Review Date: 2007-09-03
A look at baseball from a sports statistics and published mathematical analysis front. Interesting, but not as ground breaking as some of the amateur non university researchers came up with not too much later. A bit of an overview.
For people with serious statistical interest
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-31
Review Date: 2006-07-31
I enjoyed this book a lot, but it's definitely for people who are serious about the use of statistics, not for fans looking to settle arguments about "who was better." You don't have to be a statistician, but you need to have some understanding of the basis of the math of statistics to understand this book.
good statisticians, pretty good writers
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-07
Review Date: 2007-02-07
This one is a book for the Sabermetrically inclined who already have a background in stats. In the first couple of chapters, the authors review some basic concepts through the lens of baseball before getting into some deeper analyses. To be honest, there's nothing in here that you can't get in Baseball Between the Numbers (although to the authors' credit, this book predates BBTN by 6 years) but it's a decent starter's guide. Worth the read, although those with a background in Sabermetrics will probably want to pass.
baseball statistics interpreted by professional statisticians
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-24
Review Date: 2008-01-24
Jim Albert and Jay Bennett share two traits that make them the perfect authors for this type of book (1) they are both baseball fans who know the game and have seen many games and much statistics from many angles and (2) they are both professional statisticians who understand probability and the subtle aspects that chance can have on statistics. By being professional statisticians they also know how sophisticated statistical techniques can add to ones ability to seriously address questions of strategy and comparison of player performance. That is what they accomplish in this book, teaching some basic probability and statistics along the way.
They also make it very interesting to the baseball fan by raising interesting baseball questions related to players that the fans relate to, namely the stars that the fans follow and the great clutch hits and clutch defensive plays that we baseball fans have imprinted in our memories, like Mazeroski's game winning home run in the 1960 World Series, or Willie Mays' famous over the shoulder catch of Vic Wertz's long fly ball in the 1954 series, or Bobby Thompson home run that won the 1951 playoffs for the Giants.
In the very beginning Albert and Bennett distinguish themselves from the sports statisticians that are hired by the teams. The sports statisticians collect the data and present it in various ways. However, this is merely exploratory data analysis. Albert and Bennett point out that a numerical difference in a hitting statistic such as on base percentage between Chuck Knoblauch and Kenny Lofton may be a real difference in ability but may also be a small enough difference to be merely due to chance. Finding ways to analyze the baseball data to make probabilistic inferences like answering the question of whether Lofton is better at getting on base than Knoblauch is the focus of what professional statisticians do and is the theme of the book.
In the course of reading the book you will learn many things about baseball. Some may agree with previous notions and some will be surprises. You will learn about the massive amount of major league baseball data available, about SABR a society for baseball research and more. You will be opened up to the hinden world of professional statistics where probability models have been used for over a century to handle military, engineering, energy, environmental, agricultural and medical problems. These same tools in recent years have been used to handle baseball questions also.
They start with simple table top baseball games like All Star Baseball to introduce concepts. They then move on to baseball data and probability. Then they look at statistical questions, situational effects in Chapter 4, hot hitting in Chapter 5, methods of measuring offensive performance in Chapter 6, more sophisticated measures in Chapter 7, simulation models in Chapter 8, measures of clutch play and team value in Chapter 9, ways to predict performance in Chapter 10, analyzing World Series results in Chapter 11 and final comments in Chapter 12.
This is a great book for any one who loves baseball and baseball statistics. It also is a great way to learn and become interested in the techniques of the professional statistician.
For statisticians that teach statistics, it provides a wealth of interesting examples to help illustrate important statistical concepts in basic or even advanced courses, including the value of Bayesian methods, the need for overdispersion models (e.g. batting averages) and the value of linear and nonlinear prediction models.
They also make it very interesting to the baseball fan by raising interesting baseball questions related to players that the fans relate to, namely the stars that the fans follow and the great clutch hits and clutch defensive plays that we baseball fans have imprinted in our memories, like Mazeroski's game winning home run in the 1960 World Series, or Willie Mays' famous over the shoulder catch of Vic Wertz's long fly ball in the 1954 series, or Bobby Thompson home run that won the 1951 playoffs for the Giants.
In the very beginning Albert and Bennett distinguish themselves from the sports statisticians that are hired by the teams. The sports statisticians collect the data and present it in various ways. However, this is merely exploratory data analysis. Albert and Bennett point out that a numerical difference in a hitting statistic such as on base percentage between Chuck Knoblauch and Kenny Lofton may be a real difference in ability but may also be a small enough difference to be merely due to chance. Finding ways to analyze the baseball data to make probabilistic inferences like answering the question of whether Lofton is better at getting on base than Knoblauch is the focus of what professional statisticians do and is the theme of the book.
In the course of reading the book you will learn many things about baseball. Some may agree with previous notions and some will be surprises. You will learn about the massive amount of major league baseball data available, about SABR a society for baseball research and more. You will be opened up to the hinden world of professional statistics where probability models have been used for over a century to handle military, engineering, energy, environmental, agricultural and medical problems. These same tools in recent years have been used to handle baseball questions also.
They start with simple table top baseball games like All Star Baseball to introduce concepts. They then move on to baseball data and probability. Then they look at statistical questions, situational effects in Chapter 4, hot hitting in Chapter 5, methods of measuring offensive performance in Chapter 6, more sophisticated measures in Chapter 7, simulation models in Chapter 8, measures of clutch play and team value in Chapter 9, ways to predict performance in Chapter 10, analyzing World Series results in Chapter 11 and final comments in Chapter 12.
This is a great book for any one who loves baseball and baseball statistics. It also is a great way to learn and become interested in the techniques of the professional statistician.
For statisticians that teach statistics, it provides a wealth of interesting examples to help illustrate important statistical concepts in basic or even advanced courses, including the value of Bayesian methods, the need for overdispersion models (e.g. batting averages) and the value of linear and nonlinear prediction models.
Good, but could have been better
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-01-01
Review Date: 2005-01-01
As a statistician and baseball fan, I had high expectations for this book. Generally, those expectations were met, although I came away from this book feeling like an opportunity had been lost. The biggest problem with the book is that the authors can't seem to decide how much knowledge to assume of their readers. The first 100 pages or so are presented at a sub-high school level, while the last few chapters assume the reader to have taken higher-level college courses in statistics. Also, I do not expect any book to be written and edited perfectly, but the typos actually become an occassional distraction from the text.
On the whole, though, I would still recommend this book--it is by far the best contemporary statistical breakdown of the game of baseball. It is an especially good complement to Michael Lewis's "Moneyball," which is a more anecdotal presentation of similar material. If you enjoy baseball at all, and have even a passing interest in batting averages, ERAs, and HRs, you will be entertained by this book and will probably learn a lot, too.
On the whole, though, I would still recommend this book--it is by far the best contemporary statistical breakdown of the game of baseball. It is an especially good complement to Michael Lewis's "Moneyball," which is a more anecdotal presentation of similar material. If you enjoy baseball at all, and have even a passing interest in batting averages, ERAs, and HRs, you will be entertained by this book and will probably learn a lot, too.
Books-Under-Review-->Games-->Card Games-->Special Decks-->Algebra Game
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BOOK 1 covers the Distributive Law, linear equations, number lines, properties of exponents, polynomials, and factoring polynomials. (Much easier than it sounds.)
Includes Answers and a Pre-Algebra Review. Excellent!