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author Robert McIntyre <rlm@mit.edu>
date Tue, 26 Jan 2016 23:32:36 -0800
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1 #+title: Prof. Sussman's Reading List
2 #+author: Gerald Sussman (compiled by Robert McIntyre)
3 #+email: rlm@mit.edu
4 #+description: Professor Sussman's reading recommendations
5 #+keywords: Sussman physics computer science reading list MIT
6 #+SETUPFILE: ../../aurellem/org/setup.org
7 #+INCLUDE: ../../aurellem/org/level-0.org
8 #+babel: :mkdirp yes :noweb yes :exports both
10 #+BEGIN_QUOTE
11 Serving as a TA for Professor Sussman will get you three things: great
12 advice, spectacular reading recommendations, and lots of high quality
13 tea. I can't share the advice or the tea, but I can compile a reading
14 list. Some of the materials on this list represent research paths that
15 lead to unexplored territory. Some are textbooks that express concepts
16 so clearly they will change your life and make you weep for joy. I
17 hope that you will get something interesting out of this reading list,
18 wherever you are in life -- there's stuff I wish I knew about in
19 middle school, and there are things I can't wait to read this
20 summer. Enjoy! (and send corrections to reading-list@aurellem.org!)
22 --Robert McIntyre
23 #+END_QUOTE
25 # If you want to cite any of these papers, [[./sussman-recs.bib][here]] is a bibtex format file
26 # that contains all of these papers in the order they appear on the
27 # page. ([[./sussman-recs.bib]]). (In Progress!)
29 * Some /Real/ High school Reading
31 - [[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
32 - ISBN: 9780521277037
33 - Readable, not too heavy.
34 - Minimal dependencies
35 - You can just go through it slowly and understand at each step.
37 - [[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]]
38 - ISBN: 0881334200
39 - HIGHLY accessible.
40 - This will change your life.
41 - You will understand special relativity!
43 - [[http://www.feynmanlectures.info/][The Feynman Lectures on Physics]]
44 - Highly understandable
45 - Just go there and learn something already!
47 - [[http://aurellem.org/society-of-mind/][Society of Mind]], by [[http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/][Marvin Minsky]]
48 - A trove of wonderful ideas!
50 - [[http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/discountpromotion/?site_locale=en_US&code=L3QCSD][Quantum Computing since Democritus]], by [[http://www.scottaaronson.com/][Scott Aaronson]]
51 - Everything you might want to know about computing with QM, with
52 a philosophical outlook.
54 - Bible, Talmud, Koran
55 - Read them whether or not you believe them!
56 - Be sure to read between the lines, and you can discover what
57 people were actually thinking back then.
58 - Very interesting documents!
59 - [[http://jhom.com/topics/voice/bat_kol_bab.htm][Bava Metzia 59b]] is an interesting story!
61 * Representative Student Theses
63 #+BEGIN_QUOTE
64 These are students where I played a large role in their
65 education. Many of them represent compelling research directions
66 that desperately need to be extended by the next generation of
67 researchers! As Minsky says, if you want to do something really new,
68 go back to points in the past where there was a neat idea that never
69 really caught on, and follow the path of that idea to see where it
70 leads. A comprehensive list of all my student's works can be found
71 at my [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/gjs.html][homepage]].
73 --Prof. Sussman
74 #+END_QUOTE
76 In particular, here's two great ideas that seem extremely promising
77 and have NOT been properly explored! You could be the first person
78 to get them working!
80 - Using chaos to get unlimited measurement precision!
81 - In chaotic systems, states that are near to each other at one
82 point in time become exponentially farther apart from each other
83 as the system evolves in time. Therefore, you might be able to
84 attain arbitrary precision by waiting for the system to evolve,
85 and then determining what initial state must have led to the
86 later state.
87 - Two notable papers:
88 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/5953][A Global Approach to Parameter Estimation of Chaotic Dynamical
89 Systems]], by [[http://eas.caltech.edu/people/3209/profile][Athanassios G. Siapas]], 1992.
90 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7060][Parameter Estimation in Chaotic Systems]], by Elmer Hung, 1995.
91 - No one put enough effort into seeing if it really worked.
92 - Seems to allow for almost unlimited precision in measurement.
93 - Initial results look very promising, with a =13 order of
94 magnitude= improvement in measurement precision in a simple
95 experiment.
96 - You will win the Nobel Prize if you can get it to work, because
97 you will revolutionize the way we do measurements. In
98 particular, you could measure the Gravitational Constant with
99 unprecedented accuracy.
101 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/12007][Towards Intelligent Structures: Active Control of Buckling]]
102 - By [[http://www.berlinplace.com/][Andrew A. Berlin]], 1994
103 - Achieves a 10 fold increase in strength by actively eliminating
104 vibrational modes.
105 - Such a good idea; It's cool, short -- great!
106 - Better quality, color version of the thesis [[http://www.berlinplace.com/aitr-1590.pdf][here]].
107 - No one's followed up on it!
109 In historical order:
111 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/6888][A System for Representing and Using Real-World Knowledge]]
112 - By [[http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sef/][Scott Elliot Fahlman]], 1977
113 - Basically the reason that the Connection Machine was later
114 invented.
116 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/5679][The Connection Machine]]
117 - By [[http://longnow.org/people/board/danny0/][Danny Hillis]], 1981
118 - Beautiful thesis, though it doesn't tell you anything you can
119 really /do/ today.
121 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/6948][A Circuit Grammar For Operational Amplifier Design]]
122 - By Andrew Ressler, 1984
123 - If you're an Electrical Engineering person.
125 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/6959][ONTIC: A Knowledge Representation System for Mathematics]]
126 - By [[http://ttic.uchicago.edu/~dmcallester/][David A. McAllester]], 1987
127 - Very hard, very deep.
128 - You will need to know a lot of Math.
130 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7025][KAM: Automatic Planning and Interpretation of Numerical
131 Experiments Using Geometrical Methods]]
132 - By Kenneth Man-Kam Yip, 1989
133 - Coolest PhD thesis ever!
134 - Solve problems using graphs.
135 - So cool!
137 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/80483][Botanical Computing: A Developmental Approach to Generating
138 Interconnect Topologies on an Amorphous Computer]]
139 - By [[http://sta.uwi.edu/pelican/60under60/dcoore.asp][Daniel Coore]], 1999
140 - Interesting to programmers especially.
142 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/86667][Programmable Self-Assembly: Constructing Global Shape using
143 Biologically-inspired Local Interactions and Origami Mathematics]]
144 By [[http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~rad/][Radhika Nagpal]], 2001
145 - Also Interesting to programmers.
147 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8228][Cellular Computation and Communications using Engineered Genetic
148 Regulatory Networks]]
149 - By [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rweiss/][Ron Weiss]], 2001
150 - Third in a line of bio / amorphous computing papers which should
151 be highly interesting to programmers.
153 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/6082][An Algorithm for Bootstrapping Communications]]
154 - By Jake Beal, 2001
155 - Seems like it could be "the right thing" for how modules in the
156 brain learn to talk to each other.
157 - Someone should expand on this work!
158 - Also a PhD thesis from Beal on this: [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38483][Learning by Learning to
159 Communicate]], 2007
161 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37913][Games, Puzzles, and Computation]]
162 - By [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/bob/][Robert Aubrey Hearn]], 2006.
164 - [[http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49525][Propagation Networks: A Flexible and Expressive Substrate for
165 Computation]]
166 - By [[http://web.mit.edu/~axch/www/][Alexey Andreyevich Radul]], 2009
167 - Is a completely new way to program computers.
168 - Under active development. You can get the latest code [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/propagators/propagator.tar][here]].
170 * From Sussman's Bookshelf:
172 - [[http://www.amazon.com/Introductory-Network-Theory-Amar-Bose/dp/B0000CMXS1][Introductory Network Theory]], by A.G. Bose and K.N. Stevens
173 - ASIN: B0000CMXS1
174 - Get the real story about RLC circuits!
175 - Obsolete -- it only covers linear circuits.
177 - [[http://www.amazon.com/Linear-Nonlinear-Circuits-Leon-Chua/dp/0070108986][Linear and Nonlinear Circuits]], by Chua, Desoler, and Kuh
178 - ISBN: 0070108986
179 - More up-to-date than /Network Theory/
180 - 10/10 would teach
181 - Mathematically very clear
183 - [[http://frank.harvard.edu/aoe/][The Art of Electronics]], by Horowitz & Hill
184 - ASIN: B001ERDQVI
185 - Practical
186 - Beautiful
188 - [[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
189 Meyer
190 - ISBN: 0471574953
191 - Get the 2nd or 3rd edition, not later ones.
193 - [[http://www.maa.org/publications/maa-reviews/a-survey-of-modern-algebra][A Survey of Modern Algebra]], by Garrett Birkhoff and Saunders
194 MacLane
195 - ISBN: 9781568814544
196 - Goes all the way to Galois Theory!
197 - Clear!
199 - [[http://usf.usfca.edu/vca//][Visual Complex Analysis]], Needham
200 - ISBN: 0198534469
201 - Easy reading, well written
202 - Wonderful use of graphics!
204 - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/solid-shape][Solid Shape]], Jan Koenderink
205 - ISBN: 026211139X
206 - Just good!
208 - [[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
209 - ISBN: 9780521592710
210 - OMG just read this already!
211 - Here's [[http://www-biba.inrialpes.fr/Jaynes/prob.html][some]] [[http://omega.albany.edu:8008/JaynesBook.html][links]] to the book.
212 - This book will change your life, and make probability make
213 sense. Truly excellent book.
214 - Why aren't you reading this!?
216 - [[http://www.perseusacademic.com/book.php?isbn=0805390219][Calculus on Manifolds]], Spivak
217 - ISBN: 9780805390216
218 - Great Mathematical notation!
219 - Was an inspiration for [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/6946/sicm-html/book.html][SICM]].
220 - Book contains a great flame!
222 - [[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1258635.The_Variational_Principles_of_Mechanics][The Variational Principles of Mechanics]], by Cornelius Lanczos
223 - ISBN: 0486650677
224 - Very philosophic; deep.
225 - You could read it 100 times and learn something new each time!
227 - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/computers-and-thought][Computers and Thought]], by Edward A. Feigenbaum (Editor), Julian
228 Feldman (Editor).
229 - ISBN: 0262560925
230 - This book includes some of the very interesting early papers in
231 AI, and is overall a great book. Of course, some of the included
232 papers are not very interesting.
234 - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/configuration-space-method-kinematic-design-mechanisms][The Configuration Space Method for Kinematic Design of Mechanisms]],
235 by Elisha Sacks and Leo Joskowicz
236 - ISBN: 9780262013895
237 - I learned a lot reading this.
239 - [[http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199549078.do][Principles of Development]], by Wolpert
240 - ISBN: 0199554285
242 - [[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1547380.A_Genetic_Switch][A Genetic Switch]], by Mark Ptashne
243 - ISBN: 0865423156
244 - Such clarity!
245 - [[http://www.mskcc.org/research/lab/mark-ptashne/genetic-switch-lecture-series][Lecture Series Based on the book!]]
247 - [[http://making-of-a-fly.me/][The Making of a Fly]], by Peter A. Lawrence
248 - ISBN: 0632030488
249 - Probably out of date already, but very well written!
251 - [[http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Formation-Ciliate-Studies-Models/dp/0195048903][Pattern Formation: Ciliate Studies and Models]], by Joseph Frankel
252 - ISBN: 0195048903
253 - My type of book!
255 - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/harmonic-mind][The Harmonic Mind]], Volumes 1 and 2, by Smolenck and Legendre
256 - ISBN: 9780262516198
257 - I'm very interested in the amazing latency of the human
258 brain. This book presents a way by which multiple stages of
259 computation can be folded together into a single computation,
260 and is an interesting hypothesis about how the mind might work!
262 - [[http://www.arrl.org/shop/ARRL-Handbook-2013-Hardcover-Edition][The Radio Amateur's Handbook]], [[http://www.arrl.org/][ARRL]]
263 - /practical/ electronics book
264 - They've been making this book for about 100 years!
266 - [[http://www.amazon.com/Radiotron-Langford-Smith-Reproduced-Distributed-Corporation/dp/B000JILVH4][Radiotron Designer's Handbook, 4th edition, RCA]]
267 - ASIN: B000JILVH4
268 - I'm very interested in hi-fi.
270 * Marvin Minsky
272 #+BEGIN_QUOTE
273 Minsky really made me as a person. He was my adviser when I was a
274 student at MIT, and he got me my first job. He had the "magnetism"
275 to attract the most talented people to MIT to work on AI, and the
276 right amount of negligence and delegation to create an environment
277 where people could thrive. He is certainly the reason that I was
278 seduced into working on AI. Minsky has vast and deep Scientific
279 knowledge -- he could walk into almost any class: Chemistry,
280 Physics, Math, Computer Science, and teach the class well without
281 preparation!
283 --Prof. Sussman
284 #+END_QUOTE
286 - http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/ Much of Minsky's work is here,
287 including his book, /The Emotion Machine/, and several essays and
288 papers. Check it out!
290 - [[http://aurellem.org/society-of-mind/][Society of Mind]] Read it online! Each chapter of this book is a
291 short, self-contained essay about some aspect of intelligence or
292 development.
294 - [[https://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/papers/MusicMindMeaning.html][Music, Mind, and Meaning]] Minsky is one of a few living people who
295 can /improvise/ complicated Baroque era fugues. You can hear one
296 of these improvisations [[http://aurellem.org/mmm/][here]].
298 - [[http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/papers/steps.html][Steps towards Artificial Intelligence]] Here, Minsky outlines how we
299 might begin to build an AI. This is considered to be one of the
300 founding papers of the field, along with Turing's "Computing
301 Machinery and Intelligence" [[http://www.loebner.net/Prizef/TuringArticle.html][paper]].
303 - Perceptrons, by Marvin Minsky
304 - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/perceptrons][MIT Press]], ISBN: 9780262631112
305 - Really good for "Math types."
306 - Uses geometry for proving things.
307 - People unwisely considered it to kill off Neural Nets; In fact,
308 it only shows the limitations of certain simple kinds of Neural
309 Nets.
311 * For Fun
312 - [[http://prce.hu/w/TAAP.html][Time's Arrow and Archimedes' Point]], by Huw Price
313 - ISBN: 0195117980
314 - A reasonable philosopher!
316 - [[http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~cmw/wer.html][Was Einstein Right? : Putting General Relativity To The Test]], by
317 Clifford M. Will
318 - ISBN: 0465090869
320 - [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land][Stranger in a Strange Land]], by Robert A. Heinlein
321 - ISBN: 0441790348
323 - [[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/729][Hackers, Heroes of the Computer Revolution]], by Steven Levy
324 - ISBN: 1449388396
325 - Accuracy is not too good - people's names are spelled wrong, for
326 example.
327 - But the /feelings/ are exactly right! "This book really captures
328 what it was like to be in the AI lab back in the good old days."
330 * Selected works by Sussman
332 - [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/6946/sicm-html/book.html][SICM (Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics)]] This is
333 the textbook of [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/6946/][6.946]], a class in Classical Mechanics that Sussman
334 generally teaches in the Fall.
335 - ISBN: 9780262194556
336 - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/structure-and-interpretation-classical-mechanics][MIT Press]]
338 - [[http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/][SICP (Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs)]] This is
339 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
340 Computer Science class at MIT. It's a classic!
341 - ISBN: 0-262-01077-1
343 - [[http://www.schemers.org/Documents/Standards/R5RS/HTML/][R5RS (Revised^5 Report on the Algorithmic Language Scheme)]]
344 Spec. for the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheme_%28programming_language%29][scheme]] computer language. Sussman is very proud of
345 the short length of this document compared to the specifications
346 for most other computer languages. It's based on the [[http://www.masswerk.at/algol60/report.htm][Revised
347 Report on the Revised Report on the Algorithmic Language Algol 60]]
349 - [[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/6946/calculus-indexed.pdf][Functional Differential Geometry]] Treatment of functional
350 differential geometry in the classic SIC[M/P] style.