SCL – reading list

My goal here is to gather good reading material in science, engineering and mathematics that is available freely online (often only free as in beer). The list below is currently sorted alphabetically by title. Please contact me with any suggestions you might have, or if you discover dead or poor links.

• Algebraic Topology (2002) by Allen Hatcher.

• Algorithmic Game Theory (2007) edited by Noam Nisan, Tim Roughgarden, Eva Tardos and Vijay V. Vazirani.

• Algorithms (2006) by Sanjoy Dasgupta, Christos H. Papadimitriou, and Umesh V. Vazirani.

• Algorithms for Reinforcement Learning (2010) by Csaba Szepesvári

• Approximate Dynamic Programming (book chapter from Dynamic Programming and Optimal Control (2007); 2010 – actively updated) by Dimitri P. Bertsekas

• The Art of Unix Programming (2003) by Eric S. Raymond.

• Computer Vision: Algorithms and Applications (2010) by Richard Szeliski.

• Convex Optimization (2008) by Stephen Boyd and Lieven Vandenberghe.

• Distributed Control of Robotic Networks (2009) by Francesco Bullo, Jorge Cortés, and Sonia Martínez.

• Feedback Control Theory (1992) by John C. Doyle, Bruce A. Francis, and Allen R. Tannenbaum; (also partial link).

• Feedback Systems (2008) by Karl J. Åström and Richard M. Murray

• Gaussian Processes for Machine Learning (2006) by Carl Edward Rasmussen and Christopher K. I. Williams. (note: errata, datasets, etc. available on main book page.)

• Graph Theory (2005) by Reinhard Diestel; see notes at bottom of this page.

• Handbook of Mathematical Functions (1972) by Milton Abramowitz and Irene A. Stegun

• The House Mouse: Atlas of Embryonic Development (1989) by Karl Theiler

• Linear Matrix Inequalities in System and Control Theory (1994) by Stephen Boyd, Laurent El Ghaoui, E. Feron, and V. Balakrishnan.

• The Little Book of Semaphores (2007) by Allen B. Downey.

• Markov Chains and Stochastic Stability (1993, 2005) by S.P. Meyn and R.L. Tweedie.

• Mathematical Control Theory: Deterministic Finite-Dimensional Systems (1998) by Eduardo D. Sontag

• A Mathematical Introduction to Robotic Manipulation (1994) by Richard M. Murray, Zexiang Li and S. Shankar Sastry

• A Mathematical Theory of Communication (1948) by Claude E. Shannon

• Matters Computational (draft; 2010) by Jörg Arndt

• Non-Uniform Random Variate Generation (1986) by Luc Devroye.

• Optimal Filtering (1979) by Brian D.O. Anderson and John B. Moore.

• Planning Algorithms (2006) by Steve LaValle.

• Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction (1998) by Richard S. Sutton and Andrew G. Barto.

• Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (1996) by Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman with Julie Sussman.

Disclaimer: I have not yet read all of these works in their entirety. Study at your own risk!

Notes: Recently the author or publisher of Graph Theory (2005) by R. Diestel stopped distributing a free electronic edition and now follows an obnoxious ‘‘eBook’’ paradigm (i.e., low-quality free edition is available, with pay-for-progressively better renderings). Contact me by email if you desire a personal copy of the 3rd edition, especially if you haven't other means to get the book.