#+title: Prof. Sussman's Reading List

 #+author: Gerald Sussman (compiled by Robert McIntyre)

 #+email: rlm@mit.edu

 #+description: Professor Sussman's reading recommendations

 #+keywords: Sussman physics computer science reading list MIT

 #+SETUPFILE: ../../aurellem/org/setup.org

 #+INCLUDE: ../../aurellem/org/level-0.org

 #+babel: :mkdirp yes :noweb yes :exports both

 

 #+BEGIN_QUOTE

 Serving as a TA for Professor Sussman will get you three things: great

 advice, spectacular reading recommendations, and lots of high quality

 tea. I can't share the advice or the tea, but I can compile a reading

 list. Some of the materials on this list represent research paths that

 lead to unexplored territory. Some are textbooks that express concepts

 so clearly they will change your life and make you weep for joy. I

 hope that you will get something interesting out of this reading list,

 wherever you are in life -- there's stuff I wish I knew about in

 middle school, and there are things I can't wait to read this

 summer. Enjoy! (and send corrections to reading-list@aurellem.org!)

 

 --Robert McIntyre

 #+END_QUOTE

 

 If you want to cite any of these papers, [[./sussman-recs.bib][here]] is a bibtex format file

 that contains all of these papers in the order they appear on the

 page. ([[./sussman-recs.bib]]).

 

 * Some /Real/ High school Reading

 

   - [[http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/physics/cosmology-relativity-and-gravitation/first-course-general-relativity][A First Course in General Relativity]], by Bernard F Schultz

     - ISBN: 9780521277037

     - Readable, not too heavy.

     - Minimal dependencies

     - You can just go through it slowly and understand at each step. 

 

   - [[http://www.amazon.com/Space-Special-Relativity-David-Mermin/dp/0881334200][Space and Time in Special Relativity]], by [[http://www.lassp.cornell.edu/mermin/][David Mermin]]

     - ISBN: 0881334200

     - HIGHLY accessible.

     - This will change your life.

     - You will understand special relativity!

 

   - [[http://www.feynmanlectures.info/][The Feynman Lectures on Physics]]

     - Highly understandable

     - Just go there and learn something already!

 

   - [[http://aurellem.org/society-of-mind/][Society of Mind]], by [[http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/][Marvin Minsky]]

     - A trove of wonderful ideas!

 

   - [[http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/discountpromotion/?site_locale=en_US&code=L3QCSD][Quantum Computing since Democritus]], by [[http://www.scottaaronson.com/][Scott Aaronson]]

     - Everything you might want to know about computing with QM, with

       a philosophical outlook.

 

   - Bible, Talmud, Koran

     - Read them whether or not you believe them!

     - Be sure to read between the lines, and you can discover what

       people were actually thinking back then.

     - Very interesting documents!

     - [[http://jhom.com/topics/voice/bat_kol_bab.htm][Bava Metzia 59b]] is an interesting story!

 

 * Representative Student Theses

   

   These are students where I played a large role in their

   education. Many of them represent compelling research directions

   that desperately need to be extended by the next generation of

   researchers! As Minsky says, if you want to do something really new,

   go back to points in the past where there was a neat idea that never

   really caught on, and follow the path of that idea to see where it

   leads. A comprehensive list of all my student's works can be found

   at my [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/gjs.html][homepage]]. If you want to cite any of these papers, you can

   find bibtex citations here: [[./sussman-recs.bib]].

 

   In particular, here's two great ideas that seem extremely promising

   and have NOT been properly explored! You could be the first person

   to get them working!

 

   - Using chaos to get unlimited measurement precision!

     - In chaotic systems, states that are near to each other at one

       point in time become exponentially farther apart from each other

       as the system evolves in time. Therefore, you might be able to

       attain arbitrary precision by waiting for the system to evolve,

       and then determining what initial state must have led to the

       later state.

     - Two notable papers: 

       - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/5953][A Global Approach to Parameter Estimation of Chaotic Dynamical

         Systems]], by [[http://eas.caltech.edu/people/3209/profile][Athanassios G. Siapas]], 1992.

       - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7060][Parameter Estimation in Chaotic Systems]], by Elmer Hung, 1995.

     - No one put enough effort into seeing if it really worked.

     - Seems to allow for almost unlimited precision in measurement. 

     - Initial results look very promising, with a =13 order of

       magnitude= improvement in measurement precision in a simple

       experiment. 

     - You will win the Nobel Prize if you can get it to work, because

       you will revolutionize the way we do measurements. In

       particular, you could measure the Gravitational Constant with

       unprecedented accuracy. 

 

   - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/12007][Towards Intelligent Structures: Active Control of Buckling]]

     - By [[http://www.berlinplace.com/][Andrew A. Berlin]], 1994

     - Achieves a 10 fold increase in strength by actively eliminating

       vibrational modes. 

     - Such a good idea; It's cool, short -- great!

     - No one's followed up on it!

   

   In historical order:

 

   - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/6888][A System for Representing and Using Real-World Knowledge]]

     - By [[http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sef/][Scott Elliot Fahlman]], 1977

     - Basically the reason that the Connection Machine was later

       invented.

 

   - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/5679][The Connection Machine]]

     - By [[http://longnow.org/people/board/danny0/][Danny Hillis]], 1981

     - Beautiful thesis, though it doesn't tell you anything you can

       really /do/ today.

 

   - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/6948][A Circuit Grammar For Operational Amplifier Design]]

     - By Andrew Ressler, 1984

     - If you're an Electrical Engineering person.

 

   - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/6959][ONTIC: A Knowledge Representation System for Mathematics]]

     - By [[http://ttic.uchicago.edu/~dmcallester/][David A. McAllester]], 1987

     - Very hard, very deep.

     - You will need to know a lot of Math.

 

   - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7025][KAM: Automatic Planning and Interpretation of Numerical

     Experiments Using Geometrical Methods]]

     - By Kenneth Man-Kam Yip, 1989

     - Coolest PhD thesis ever!

     - Solve problems using graphs.

     - So cool!

 

   - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/80483][Botanical Computing: A Developmental Approach to Generating

     Interconnect Topologies on an Amorphous Computer]]

     - By [[http://sta.uwi.edu/pelican/60under60/dcoore.asp][Daniel Coore]], 1999

     - Interesting to programmers especially.

 

   - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/86667][Programmable Self-Assembly: Constructing Global Shape using

     Biologically-inspired Local Interactions and Origami Mathematics]]

     By [[http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~rad/][Radhika Nagpal]], 2001

     - Also Interesting to programmers.

 

   - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8228][Cellular Computation and Communications using Engineered Genetic

     Regulatory Networks]]

     - By [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rweiss/][Ron Weiss]], 2001

     - Third in a line of bio / amorphous computing papers which should

       be highly interesting to programmers.

 

   - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/6082][An Algorithm for Bootstrapping Communications]] 

     - By Jake Beal, 2001

     - Seems like it could be "the right thing" for how modules in the

       brain learn to talk to each other.

     - Someone should expand on this work!

     - Also a PhD thesis from Beal on this: [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38483][Learning by Learning to

       Communicate]], 2007

 

   - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37913][Games, Puzzles, and Computation]]

     - By [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/bob/][Robert Aubrey Hearn]], 2006.

       

   - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49525][Propagation Networks: A Flexible and Expressive Substrate for

     Computation]]

     - By [[http://web.mit.edu/~axch/www/][Alexey Andreyevich Radul]], 2009

     - Is a completely new way to program computers.

     - Under active development. You can get the latest code [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/propagators/propagator.tar][here]].

 

 * From Sussman's Bookshelf:

 

   - [[http://www.amazon.com/Introductory-Network-Theory-Amar-Bose/dp/B0000CMXS1][Introductory Network Theory]], by A.G. Bose and K.N. Stevens

     - ASIN: B0000CMXS1

     - Get the real story about RLC circuits!

     - Obsolete -- it only covers linear circuits.

 

   - [[http://www.amazon.com/Linear-Nonlinear-Circuits-Leon-Chua/dp/0070108986][Linear and Nonlinear Circuits]], by Chua, Desoler, and Kuh

     - ISBN: 0070108986

     - More up-to-date than /Network Theory/

     - 10/10 would teach

     - Mathematically very clear

 

   - [[http://frank.harvard.edu/aoe/][The Art of Electronics]], by Horowitz & Hill

     - ASIN: B001ERDQVI

     - Practical

     - Beautiful

 

   - [[http://www.amazon.com/Analysis-Design-Analog-Integrated-Circuits/dp/0471574953/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1401819423&sr=1-1&keywords=Analysis+and+Design+of+Analog+Integrated+Circuits+3rd+edition][Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated Circuits]], by Grey and

     Meyer

     - ISBN: 0471574953

     - Get the 2nd or 3rd edition, not later ones.

 

   - [[http://www.maa.org/publications/maa-reviews/a-survey-of-modern-algebra][A Survey of Modern Algebra]], by Garrett Birkhoff and Saunders

     MacLane

     - ISBN: 9781568814544

     - Goes all the way to Galois Theory!

     - Clear!

 

   - [[http://usf.usfca.edu/vca//][Visual Complex Analysis]], Needham

     - ISBN: 0198534469

     - Easy reading, well written

     - Wonderful use of graphics!

 

   - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/solid-shape][Solid Shape]], Jan Koenderink

     - ISBN: 026211139X

     - Just good!

 

   - [[http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/physics/theoretical-physics-and-mathematical-physics/probability-theory-logic-science][Probability: the Logic of Science]], by E.T. Jaynes

     - ISBN: 9780521592710

     - OMG just read this already!

     - Here's [[http://www-biba.inrialpes.fr/Jaynes/prob.html][some]] [[http://omega.albany.edu:8008/JaynesBook.html][links]] to the book.

     - This book will change your life, and make probability make

       sense. Truly excellent book.

     - Why aren't you reading this!?

 

   - [[http://www.perseusacademic.com/book.php?isbn=0805390219][Calculus on Manifolds]], Spivak

     - ISBN: 9780805390216

     - Great Mathematical notation!

     - Was an inspiration for [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/6946/sicm-html/book.html][SICM]].

     - Book contains a great flame!

 

   - [[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1258635.The_Variational_Principles_of_Mechanics][The Variational Principles of Mechanics]], by Cornelius Lanczos 

     - ISBN: 0486650677

     - Very philosophic; deep.

     - You could read it 100 times and learn something new each time!

 

   - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/computers-and-thought][Computers and Thought]], by Edward A. Feigenbaum (Editor), Julian

     Feldman (Editor).

     - ISBN: 0262560925

     - This book includes some of the very interesting early papers in

       AI, and is overall a great book. Of course, some of the included

       papers are not very interesting.

 

   - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/configuration-space-method-kinematic-design-mechanisms][The Configuration Space Method for Kinematic Design of Mechanisms]],

     by Elisha Sacks and Leo Joskowicz

     - ISBN: 9780262013895

     - I learned a lot reading this. (RLM should read this!)

 

   - [[http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199549078.do][Principles of Development]], by Wolpert

     - ISBN: 0199554285

 

   - [[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1547380.A_Genetic_Switch][A Genetic Switch]], by Mark Ptashne

     - ISBN: 0865423156

     - Such clarity!

     - [[http://www.mskcc.org/research/lab/mark-ptashne/genetic-switch-lecture-series][Lecture Series Based on the book!]]

 

   - [[http://making-of-a-fly.me/][The Making of a Fly]], by Peter A. Lawrence

     - ISBN: 0632030488

     - Probably out of date already, but very well written!  

     

   - [[http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Formation-Ciliate-Studies-Models/dp/0195048903][Pattern Formation: Ciliate Studies and Models]], by Joseph Frankel

     - ISBN: 0195048903

     - My type of book!

 

   - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/harmonic-mind][The Harmonic Mind]], Volumes 1 and 2, by Smolenck and Legendre

     - ISBN: 9780262516198

     - I'm very interested in the amazing latency of the human

       brain. This book presents a way by which multiple stages of

       computation can be folded together into a single computation,

       and is an interesting hypothesis about how the mind might work!

 

   - [[http://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-Handbook-2013-Hardcover-Edition][The Radio Amateur's Handbook]], [[http://www.arrl.org/][ARRL]]

     - /practical/ electronics book

     - They've been making this book for about 100 years!

 

   - [[http://www.amazon.com/Radiotron-Langford-Smith-Reproduced-Distributed-Corporation/dp/B000JILVH4][Radiotron Designer's Handbook, 4th edition, RCA]]

     - ASIN: B000JILVH4

     - I'm very interested in hi-fi.

 

 * Marvin Minsky 

   Minsky really made me as a person. He was my adviser when I was a

   student at MIT, and he got me my first job. He had the "magnetism"

   to attract the most talented people to MIT to work on AI, and the

   right amount of negligence and delegation to create an environment

   where people could thrive. He is certainly the reason that I was

   seduced into working on AI. Minsky has vast and deep Scientific

   knowledge -- he could walk into almost any class: Chemistry,

   Physics, Math, Computer Science, and teach the class well without

   preparation!

 

   - http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/ Much of Minsky's work is here,

     including his book, /The Emotion Machine/, and several essays and

     papers. Check it out!

   

   - [[http://aurellem.org/society-of-mind/][Society of Mind]] Read it online! Each chapter of this book is a

     short, self-contained essay about some aspect of intelligence or

     development. 

 

   - [[https://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/papers/MusicMindMeaning.html][Music, Mind, and Meaning]] Minsky is one of a few living people who

     can /improvise/ complicated Baroque era fugues. You can hear one

     of these improvisations [[http://aurellem.org/mmm/][here]].

 

   - [[http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/papers/steps.html][Steps towards Artificial Intelligence]] Here, Minsky outlines how we

     might begin to build an AI. This is considered to be one of the

     founding papers of the field, along with Turing's "Computing

     Machinery and Intelligence" [[http://www.loebner.net/Prizef/TuringArticle.html][paper]].

 

   - Perceptrons, by Marvin Minsky

     - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/perceptrons][MIT Press]], ISBN: 9780262631112

     - Really good for "Math types."

     - Uses geometry for proving things. 

     - People unwisely considered it to kill off Neural Nets; In fact,

       it only shows the limitations of certain simple kinds of Neural

       Nets.

 

 * For Fun

   - [[http://prce.hu/w/TAAP.html][Time's Arrow and Archimedes' Point]], by Huw Price

     - ISBN: 0195117980

     - A reasonable philosopher!

 

   - [[http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~cmw/wer.html][Was Einstein Right? : Putting General Relativity To The Test]], by

     Clifford M. Will

     - ISBN: 0465090869

 

   - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land][Stranger in a Strange Land]], by Robert A. Heinlein

     - ISBN: 0441790348

 

   - [[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/729][Hackers, Heroes of the Computer Revolution]], by Steven Levy

     - ISBN: 1449388396

     - Accuracy is not too good - people's names are spelled wrong, for

       example.

     - But the /feelings/ are exactly right! This book really captures

       what it was like to be in the AI lab back in the good old days.

 

 * Selected works by Sussman

   

   - [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/6946/sicm-html/book.html][SICM (Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics)]] This is

     the textbook of [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/6946/][6.946]], a class in Classical Mechanics that Sussman

     generally teaches in the Fall.

     - ISBN: 9780262194556

     - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/structure-and-interpretation-classical-mechanics][MIT Press]]

 

   - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/][SICP (Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs)]] This is

     the textbook of the (no longer offered) [[http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-001-structure-and-interpretation-of-computer-programs-spring-2005/][6.001]] introductory

     Computer Science class at MIT. It's a classic!

     - ISBN: 0-262-01077-1

 

   - [[http://www.schemers.org/Documents/Standards/R5RS/HTML/][R5RS (Revised^5 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme)]]

     Spec. for the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheme_%28programming_language%29][scheme]] computer language. Sussman is very proud of

     the short length of this document compared to the specifications

     for most other computer languages. It's based on the [[http://www.masswerk.at/algol60/report.htm][Revised

     Report on the Revised Report on the Algorithmic Language Algol 60]]

 

   - [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/6946/calculus-indexed.pdf][Functional Differential Geometry]] Treatment of functional

     differential geometry in the classic SIC[M/P] style.