In 2019 I wrote about some of my favourite books I read that year and I never got round to doing a follow-up post with books from 2020, 2021 etc. Finally, in 2024 I’m actually going to write up some of these books. I’ve read around 90 books since the start of 2020, and a […]
I made a concerted effort to read more in 2019 – and I succeeded, reading a total of 42 books over the year (and this doesn’t even include the many books I read to my toddler). I’ve chosen a selection of my favourites from the year to highlight in this blog post in the hope […]
Summary: Fascinating book covering the whole breadth of high performance Python. It starts with detailed discussion of various profiling methods, continues with chapters on performance in standard Python, then focuses on high performance using arrays, compiling to C and various approaches to parallel programming. I learnt a lot from the book, and have already started improving […]
Summary: A useful guide to automating ArcGIS using Python, which is fully up-to-date with the latest version of ArcGIS. Definitely provides "quick answers to common problems", but it may take more effort to get a deep understanding of the methods used. Good breadth of coverage – but notably lacks raster examples – and well explained […]
Summary: This book takes you all the way from Morse Code to a fully working computer, explaining everything along the way. What’s more, it’s a great read too! If you ever wondered how a computer worked then buy this and read it – even if you think you already know (unless you’re, you know, a chip designer at […]
Summary: Great book – clear explanations, useful example code and a friendly, easy-going writing style. One of my favourite academic books ever! Reference: Marsland, S., 2009, Machine learning: An Algorithmic Perspective, Chapman & Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, Florida, 390pp Machine Learning can be a difficult topic – as I found out when taking a Masters-level machine […]
Summary: I’d recommend this for people interested in adding Matplotlib functionality to GUI and web applications, and for those who need a bit more information on how to do advanced plotting with Matplotlib. Most general users will be able to get the information they need from the Matplotlib website. Reference: Tosi, S., 2009, Matplotlib for […]
Summary: Very useful for reference while producing graphs, and very comprehensive (including heat-maps, 3D graphs and maps). Reference: Mittal, H. V., 2011, R Graph Cookbook, Packt Publishing, Birmingham, UK, 272 pages, Publisher’s Website As a scientist I often need to plot graphs of my data, so I am keen to learn more about how to […]
Summary: Great book – both for GIS concepts and for teaching Python libraries. Lives up to the boast on the front cover – you really will learn to create complete mapping applications, learning a lot of useful tools and techniques on the way. Reference: Westra, E., 2010, Python Geospatial Development, Packt Publishing, Birmingham, UK, 508 […]
Summary: Very interesting, and great fun for a geek like me! Now I just need to find the time/money to visit these places… Reference: Graham-Cumming, J., 2009, The Geek Atlas, O’Reilly, 544 pages O’Reilly Link I’m a great fan of John Graham Cumming’s blog, so when the chance came to review his book, The Geek […]