20090417
《我的十年書單》
不是說其他書不好看,也可能因為其他書太好看,所以遲遲未清理這張清單。這只是本清單的第一部份,涵蓋部份我認為必須一看(至少看一次)的書籍。但由於種種原因,諸如時間、金錢、空間上的限制而未能實現。希望,在可見的將來,可以一口氣把它們看完。
電腦科學
書名:The Emperor's New Mind
作者:Roger Penrose
為何想看:二十世紀科普中的巨著。涵蓋電腦科學、思維、數學及物理。作者用近 600 頁的篇幅去解釋為何我們不能真正了解人是如何思考的。內容廣博,推導嚴謹,是我看過各類關於杜林機( Turing Machine)、計算理論(Computation Theory)、複數(Complex Number)、碎形(Fractal) 中最精彩的一部,關於人工智能的一本巨著。
書名:Introduction to the Theory of Computation
作者:Michael Sipser
為何想看:計算理論(Computation Theory)的入門書。雖說入門,但內容涵蓋多個重要題目,包括有限狀態自動機(Finite Automata)、杜林機、P / NP 難題、複雜性(Complexity)等等及其相關問題的嚴謹証明。作者序中有一小段發人深省的說話:
Computer technology changes quickly. Specific technical knowledge, though useful today, becomes outdated in just a few years. Consider instead the abilities to think, to express yourself clearly and precisely, to solve problems, and to know when you haven't solved a problem. These abilities have lasting values. Studying theory trains you in these areas.
物理學
書名:The Feynman Lectures on Physics
作者:Richard P. Feynman (1918 - 1988)
為何想看:被籲為講解相對論比愛因斯坦還要好的物理學家。此書是作者把60年代在加州理工學院的講課內容輯錄成書的傑作,花名紅皮書的『費曼物理學講義』在出版40年後仍被世界各地研究物理的人不停參巧及引用。1948年費曼提出『路徑積分』(Path Integral) 方法以解決量子電動力學的問題。1965年諾貝爾物理學獎得主之一。
書名:The Principles of Quantum Mechanics
作者:Paul Dirac (1902 - 1984)
為何想看:偉大的狄拉克(Paul Dirac),量子力學的開山祖師之一,曾是劍橋大學『盧卡遜數學教授』(此職位現為霍金(Stephen Hawking)擔任),其科學上的哲學為:"Physical laws should have mathematical beauty and simplicity." 此書於1930年出版,引入後來被廣泛應用的 Delta 函數及bra-ket 符號。狄拉克預言正電子(positron)的存在,後於1932年被証實。1933年諾貝爾物理學獎得主之一。Amazon 網站上其中一位給此書 5 星的書評:
"Dirac's masterpiece surely needs no reviews, but I dare to write one for younger people. This is it! The first chapter alone would be worth of the price. Wonderful insights, not to be found anywhere else, in almost every page. Supremely elegant, yet natural and self-contained. The whole way of writing physics was transformed by this gem of a book. Learn, at Chapter V, what led Feynman to his version of Quantum Mechanics. Schwinger started here too (at fourteen!). Unparalleled."
數學
書名:A Course of Pure Mathematics
作者:G. H. Hardy (1877 - 1947)
為何想看:1908年,劍橋大學數學家Hardy 為改革英國的數學教學方法而寫成的書,被籲為數學分析(Mathematical Analysis) 及微積分的入門經典巨著。雖說入門,但Hardy當年寫此書時是有意為尖子而設,故書中附有大量非常困難的題目。作者序中有以下一段:
"This book has been designed primarily for the use of first year students at the Universities whose abilities reach or approach something like what is usually described as 'scholarship standard'. I hope that it may be useful to other classes of readers, but it is this class whose wants I have considered first. It is in any case a book for mathematicians: I have nowhere made any attempt to meet the needs of students of engineering or indeed any class of students whose interests are not primarily mathematical."
2008年,此書出版了百周年記念版,是為第10版。
書名:Theory of Games and Economic Behavior
作者:John von Neumann (1903 - 1957), Oscar Morgenstern (1902 - 1977)
為何想看:數學家 Neumann 和經濟學家 Morgenstern 於1944年的巨著,首次將博弈論(Game Theory)數學化,被視為博弈論作為一門有系統科學的鼻祖。書中詳述多種博弈背後的理論,包括2-person、3-person、zero-sum、non-zero-sum 等等。Amazon 上的 5 星書評:
"You basically have to be a mathematician to get full value from this book. This book is absolutely full of equations and complex proofs. For a beginner with little math, I'd recommend Game Theory by Morton Davis, or for someone with some university math I'd recommend Games and Decisions by Luce and Raiffa. However, if your math is good, you might as well go straight to this book, which started the whole field of game theory."
此書的60周年記念版於2004年出版。
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