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Stick Software's Recommended Book List People often ask us what books we recommend to learn how to program for OS X, or to learn more about fractals, or various topics like that. We've put up this recommended book list to try to answer such questions as helpfully as we can. There are, at the present time, three sections to this list: Fractals & Chaos Theory Fractals & Chaos Theory The Fractal Geometry of Nature — Benoit Mandelbrot The original, the definitive, the mother lode. Mandelbrot's book more or less created fractals as a field of mathematical study. It is quite difficult reading; often the mathematics are at quite a high level, and often Mandelbrot doesn't bother explaining what he's talking about, leaving the reader to fill in the gaps. Sometimes he even deliberately leaves out essential information related to a topic that he was not ready to "show his hand" on yet. But despite all these problems, I have found close study of this book to be more rewarding than any other book on fractals. Chaos and Fractals: New Frontiers of Science — Peitgen / Jürgens / Saupe Peitgen, Jürgens and Saupe have produced several books together over the years. This one is the culmination of all their work, and the only one I would recommend. It builds upon the earlier works (to the extent of reusing text and figures in large chunks), but is more refined and up to date. It is very comprehensive; I am not aware of any other book on fractals that covers so many topics so thoroughly with such clarity. Essential as a reference work; too bulky and obscure for a good introductory work. (For that, Flake's "The Computational Beauty of Nature" is probably what I would recommend). Chaos: Making a New Science — Gleick Without a doubt the best (and best selling) "popular science" book on Chaos. Gleick is particularly well-known for this book and his book on Feynman, Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman. He also has a new book on Isaac Newton. This book talks about concepts, personalities, and history; not a lot of actual math here. It will make you fall in love with chaos, though, and there's a lot to be said for that. Fractals, Chaos, Power Laws: Minutes from an Infinite Paradise — Schroeder I own this book, but have read only small parts of it. It is more concerned with chaos than other books on this list, and is much less concerned with the making of pretty pictures. My primary interest in fractals is their connection to aesthetics and art, so Schroeder's book does little for me. However, it is very popular as a more intellectual (less aesthetic) introduction to chaos theory and the mathematics of fractals. Fractal Geometry: Mathematical Foundations and Applications — Falconer This book has gotten good reviews, and looks interesting; I don't have it yet, but it's on my Amazon "wish list". Intended as a textbook, it sounds like it covers a wide range of topics, and presents a clearer picture of the mathematics than many other books. Recommended for someone interested in exercises, proofs, and a more academic look at fractals. The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation — Flake Another book I don't have yet, but I include it for completeness since it is popular. This looks like a good book for someone who wants a deeper understanding of the concepts than would be provided by Gleick, but wants to be gently introduced to the mathematics. Flake "reminds" the reader of all sorts of basic math, from introductory number theory to linear algebra. He also provides source code for many of the topics he covers; very useful for the more geeky among us, and a breath of fresh air compared to the "here's a bunch of half-explained formulas, now you figure out how to translate them into code" approach of many other books. Cocoa & Objective-C Programming Cocoa Programming — Scott Anguish This book would be the one I personally would recommend for any reasonably experienced programmer. It goes more into depth than others, it is quite up to date, and there's a huge amount of substance to sink your teeth into. Recommended even for those who have been programming in Cocoa for a while; you'll learn something here. If you're relatively new to programming, or have never worked with an object-oriented framework before, Aaron Hillegass's book "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X" might be a better choice; but if you get through that, you'll probably want to buy this one next. Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X — Aaron Hillegass Probably the most popular book on Cocoa programming. A somewhat more gentle (but less in-depth) introduction than "Cocoa Programming" by Scott Anguish et al. More of a tutorial and guide than a reference work. Published in 2001, it is probably starting to fall out of date a bit, but most of the changes in OS X 10.2 versus 10.1 will not affect the typical beginner much. Learning Cocoa with Objective-C (2nd Edition) — James Duncan Davidson Also a very popular book, and greatly improved in its second edition. Very example and tutorial oriented, and quite up to date. Helps the user learn Interface Builder, ProjectBuilder and Objective-C, too. Possibly a bit shallow to get the reader writing their own Cocoa programs from scratch, but a good introduction. Cocoa Recipes for Mac OS X — Bill Cheeseman This book takes an unusual approach that some people seem to like and others don't. The entire book is devoted to building a single Cocoa application, step by step. Each step builds on what has come before, so you really can't jump around in the book at all. And the book is entirely example-driven; there is very little text talking about higher-level concepts, principles and design. If you learn best by example, and you want to see a large, high-quality application in Cocoa built from the ground up, then this book might be very good for you. Others will probably find it frustrating. Building Cocoa Applications: A Step by Step Guide — Garfinkel / Mahoney Not recommended, although some people like it a lot. More errors in the text than others, making you go to the web for errata pages. Relies too much on just presenting source code for the reader to type in, without adequate explanation of what the code does and why it's structured the way it is. Less of a gentle introduction than Hillegass's book "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X", less comprehensive than Anguish's book "Cocoa Programming". Cocoa in a Nutshell: A Quick Desktop Reference — Beam / Davidson Very recently released; I know little about it. Appears to be intended as a more reference-oriented companion to "Learning Cocoa with Objective-C" by James Duncan Davidson (who co-authored this book). Looks like it covers topics that other books do not, such as networking services and non-Cocoa frameworks from Apple such as AddressBook, DiscRecording and Messaging. Objective-C Pocket Reference — Andrew Duncan Probably the best book to read to learn Objective-C, if Apple's PDF on the language is not enough for you. Covers Objective-C both from Cocoa and non-Cocoa perspectives. Try Apple's PDF first, and if it's not enough to let you jump into one of the Cocoa programming books (which all mostly assume knowledge of C and Objective-C), then this book is recommended. Object-Oriented Programming: An Evolutionary Approach — Cox / Novobilski The original reference work on Objective-C; the second edition was published May of 1991. So don't expect anything about OS X or Cocoa. But it's still a good book. If you want to read about the language itself, its history, the motivations behind its design, and its relationship to other languages, this is the book for you. If you want an introduction to the concept of object-oriented programming that is not mucked up by the foulness of C++ or Java, but rather gets you started down the One True Path of Cocoa right off the bat, this would also be a good place to start. I learned Objective-C from this book, and it is still handy as a reference work. Kind of the Kernighan & Ritchie of Objective-C. Art, Photography & Light Art & Fear — Bayles / Orland I was introduced to this book by a photography instructor some time ago now. I recommend it to everyone I know who ever explores their more creative side with any sort of artmaking. More practical than a book of philosophy, but more thoughtful than a self-help book, Art & Fear is one of those surprisingly rare books that simply discusses, in depth and without preconceptions, all aspects of a particular human undertaking. Sort of like an owner's manual for your creative urge. Death Valley National Park — Hirschmann Death Valley is probably my favorite spot for photography in the world. There are a great many books on Death Valley, and I can't claim to have looked at them all. This recommendation (and I do recommend this book) is based upon having gone into a bookstore in the Death Valley area that was well-stocked with books, looked at all of them, and decided which one I wanted to pay for. Speaking as one who has wasted a lot of film trying to capture the ineffable beauty of this spot, I think Hirschmann has what it takes; the photos are top-quality. The accompanying text is also good, although not what I bought the book for. Orbit — Apt / Helfert / Wilkinson This is a fairly remarkable book from National Geographic. It consists of photos of the planet we all share, taken from orbit (thus the title), mainly (perhaps entirely?) from the Space Shuttle. It is a unique point of view that most of us will never occupy first-hand. Our planet is stunningly beautiful, and often surprising in its appearance. The accompanying text is also good, although (again) not what I bought the book for. Earth From Above — Arthus-Bertrand The perspective offered by this book is a bit more accessible; the photos are taken from heights attainable in a small airplane, not the Space Shuttle. Still, it's a perspective on the world most of us don't often get. The pictures are from all around the world, and are often of people or man-made things; this is not nature photography. It offers a sort of random sampling of the state of the world at the turn of the millennium, from above. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes ugly, usually interesting. Magnificent Universe — Ken Croswell Probably the book I would most recommend for people looking for a coffee-table style book of beautiful photographs of the universe. Marvelously produced, stunning photos, well-balanced between our solar system and objects further away, good well-written text. The white-on-black text is hard to read, but certainly increases the visual impact of the book, which may be a worthwhile tradeoff. Other Worlds: Images of the Cosmos from Earth and Space — Trefil / Levy Like Orbit (above), this is a National Geographic book, and is exactly what you would expect from them: a well-designed collection of stunning photographs. The text is short and perhaps a bit fluffy, but then it's not the point of the book anyway. Like "Magnificent Universe" above, this book has a balance of photos from both our solar system and beyond, and its design is more traditional than that book (for better or for worse). A View of the Universe — David Malin Although this book is now getting fairly old (published in 1993), Malin's astrophotography ages well. This remains one of the most beautiful books of photographs of the universe published. Malin is world-famous for his photographs, which he has been taking for decades, and justly so. My favorites are his billowing, glowing pictures of nebulae, with their insanely garish colors and almost tangible shock fronts. The text is well-written and provides an easy introduction to the objects portrayed, making this a good way to learn about the universe as well as to be amazed by its beauty. Color & Light In Nature (2nd Ed.) — Lynch / Livingston This is one of my favorite books. A fascinating look at the many tricks light can play, from mirages to auroras to rainbows. Photographs illustrate most of the phenomena, even those sufficiently rare that you are unlikely ever to witness them yourself. After reading this book, you don't see the world in the same way any more. You will find yourself gazing upwards toward the zenith looking for the various types of haloes, examining rainbows for details you hadn't known existed before, and getting distracted by the optical effects visible while you're driving. How to Use Your Eyes — Elkins This book reminds me of the preceding one. But it is not so much about optical phenomena and the properties of light as it is about the little-noticed details of the world that surrounds us. Stamps, twigs, cracks in pavement; no topic is too obscure or mundane for his penetrating gaze. The similarity to "Color & Light In Nature" stems from the fact that this book will transform the way in which you see the world. Which is my favorite kind of book. M.C. Escher: His Life and Complete Graphic Work — J.L. Locher (Ed.) Escher is one of those rare people who deserve to be talked about as much as they are in fact talked about. A genius working at the intersection between mathematics and art. I have seen many books on Escher, and in my opinion this one is the best. It contains reproductions of every print he ever made, plus a great deal of explanatory text, and its production is high quality and polished. Escher is a source of inspiration for me, and this book is a channel through which that inspiration flows. Infrared Photography Handbook — White It's not my intention to recommend "how-to" books on photography here; there are far too many of them, and I know far too little of them to be a competent reviewer. I am therefore recommending this book and the next one, not as books every photographer should have, but rather as books about somewhat unusual types of photographic work that are fun to explore. Infrared photography is easy to do, produces unusual and often stunning results, and is guaranteed to unstick you from whatever photographic rut you may be in. This book is a good overview for fairly knowledgeable photographers; some may find it too technical, but a certain amount of technical background is probably a good idea when trying to take pictures of light that you can't even see with your own eyes. If what you want is to just play around shooting a few rolls of IR film, there are simpler books that will tell you how to do that. But if you want to understand the characteristics of light and learn to predict what your IR film will "see" so you can get professional-quality photographs, this book is essential. Polaroid Transfers: A Complete Visual Guide to Creating Image and Emulsion Transfers — Kathleen Thormod Carr It's not my intention to recommend "how-to" books on photography here; there are far too many of them, and I know far too little of them to be a competent reviewer. I am therefore recommending this book and the previous one, not as books every photographer should have, but rather as books about somewhat unusual types of photographic work that are fun to explore. Polaroid transfers are easy to do, with a relatively small amount of relatively inexpensive equipment (considering it's photography). They have a unique and beautiful look that will give you a new perspective on your backlog of old negatives, and you may find that you prefer working with them to making more traditional prints. Even if that turns out not to be the case, it will be a fascinating adventure that will change your perspective on photography. This book is thorough, clear, well-written and inspirational. Let us know if this was helpful to you! Feel free to send on book recommendations, too, but please, no recommendations from the author, their friends or their agents; I am not soliciting marketing pitches here. Thanks! |
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