Reader reviews

Well worth picking up if you already have the basics.

I read this over a couple of weekends alongside a small side project, which turned out to be the ideal way to approach it. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. The chapters on graphics & design are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. Good value for the price and worth the time it takes to work through properly.

I got a lot out of this, even if a few sections felt rushed.

I have been working with kinematics for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. The balance between theory and practice is well judged; neither side dominates. The author avoids over-explaining, which keeps the pace up but means you need to pay attention. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.

The clearest explanation of web graphics I have come across.

I picked this up after getting stuck on a project and it turned out to be exactly the right book at the right time. The book rewards careful reading. Skimming it would be a mistake. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. The chapters on web graphics are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with web graphics.

A useful guide. The examples assume a particular environment, but that is fixable.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Solid, and I would buy another book from this author without hesitation.

I got a lot out of this, even if a few sections felt rushed.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. A good addition to a technical library, as long as you know what you are buying.

Good in places. I would borrow it before buying if you can.

I came to this book already familiar with the basics, and it still had plenty to offer. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The exercises at the end of each chapter are worth doing — they caught a few misconceptions I did not know I had. Three stars feels about right. It will stay on my shelf, but it will not be the first one I reach for.