12 books I read in 2012 and found interesting

This is a list of 12 books I read in 2012 from Computer Science/Mathematics and found interesting. Usually Indian edition of books from these genre are released late or not available, so for some of these I had to depend on Infibeam.com for second hand ones. Most of these books are of introductory in nature. Here we go

1. The Drunkard's Walk How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow

As the title goes this is an interesting take on how randomness rules our lives from lotteries to some unexpected things happening in our lives

2. Code The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold

This book released by Microsoft Press details how Computers are built from digital signals to Software's. What makes this book good is the explanations, which are clear and simple.

3. Programming Pearls by Jon Bentley

This book gives a nice introduction to the challenges faced by a programmer and gives a good idea of some commonly used algorithms for sorting like quick sort. The main focus is on how an algorithm can be developed for specifying a specific problem. Easy to understand and quickly read.

4. Out of their Minds The Lives and Discoveries of 15 Great Computer Scientists by Dennis Shasha and Cathy Lazere

This book describes the lives of 15 great computer scientist grouped based on their area of work starting with John Backus and ending the Douglas B Lenat

5. The Universal Computer The Road from Leibniz to Turing by Martin Davis

This one I bought mainly because 2012 marked the birth Centenary of Alan M Turing the father of computer Science. True to its title this books explains the road from Leibniz to Turing

6. The Art of UNIX Programming by Eric S. Raymond

This is the only book in the list that specifically deals with computers. The title of this book is bit misleading as this book doesn't deal with UNIX programming rather it mainly deals with the history of UNIX. Nicely written and includes lots of information not found in any other books in this area.

7. The Code Book The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh

This books deals with the historical prospective and importance of cryptography. It includes the stories of Ceaser, the code breakers of Blecthley park...

8. The Number Mysteries A Mathematical Odyssey through Everyday Life by Marcus du Sautoy

This book is about the importance of numbers in every day life. Heard about him after his participation in Indian current affairs magazine Thelkas Think Fest

9. Mathematics The New Golden Age by Keith Devlin

First heard about this popular mathematics author after his Mathematical Thinking class in Coursera. This book is elementary in nature and could be help-full if you lost touch with basic mathematics for computer science.

10. The Theory That Would Not Die How Bayes Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne

Bought this book after knowing about bayes theorem and and its inventor Thomas Bayes, who has an interesting history. Bayes theorem explains concepts that are difficult for human intuition to digest.

11. Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos

This is yet another books on Numbers. In one part it also mentioned the story of Erik Demaine, the algorithm professor at MIT who got his PHD at the age of 20 and is home schooled.

12. Why Do Buses Come in Threes? The Hidden Mathematics of Everyday Life by Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham

This book is about the fun side of probability. It explains the birthday problem in an interesting manner like, "In a class of 23 students the probability of 2 students having the same birth-date is 50%!!!!!!!"