Description: An introduction to a wide ranging set of fields in computer science based on lecture notes by Scott Aaaronson
Positives:
Broad range of topics.
Proof sketches for most results.
Quirky style makes for reasonably entertaining reading despite being quite information dense.
Negatives:
Can get quite heavy
Sometimes forgets himself and assumes more knowledge on behalf of the reader than he’s explained—e.g. it will be very difficult to understand some of the things he talks about in the chapter on formal logic without first understanding the mathematical concept of a syntax, a model, or what it means for a syntax to assert that a proof of a statement exist.
Book: Quantum Computing since Democritus
Description: An introduction to a wide ranging set of fields in computer science based on lecture notes by Scott Aaaronson
Positives:
Broad range of topics.
Proof sketches for most results.
Quirky style makes for reasonably entertaining reading despite being quite information dense.
Negatives:
Can get quite heavy
Sometimes forgets himself and assumes more knowledge on behalf of the reader than he’s explained—e.g. it will be very difficult to understand some of the things he talks about in the chapter on formal logic without first understanding the mathematical concept of a syntax, a model, or what it means for a syntax to assert that a proof of a statement exist.