With a blend of software engineering facts and thought-provoking opinions, Fred Brooks offers insight for anyone managing complex projects. These essays draw from his experience as project manager for the IBM System/360 computer family and then for OS/360, its massive software system. Now, 45 years after the initial publication of his book, Brooks has revisited his original ideas and added new thoughts and advice, both for readers already familiar with his work and for readers discovering it for the first time.The added chapters contain (1) a crisp condensation of all the propositions asserted in the original book, including Brooks' central argument in The Mythical Man-Month: that large programming projects suffer management problems different from small ones due to the division of labor; that the conceptual integrity of the product is therefore critical; and that it is difficult but possible to achieve this unity; (2) Brooks' view of these propositions a generation later; (3) a reprint of his classic 1986 paper "No Silver Bullet"; and (4) today's thoughts on the 1986 assertion, "There will be no silver bullet within ten years."

    I was smart enough to earn an honors degree in philosophy from Harvard, but an aptitude test told me to avoid computer programming. I'm sure it was right. But then I designed a learning system for myself that quadrupled my aptitude for learning computer languages. It worked so well for me that I've used it to teach coding to grandmothers, cab drivers, musicians, and 50,000 other newbies. "Mark Myers' method of getting what can be...difficult information into a format that makes it exponentially easier to consume, truly understand, and synthesize into real-world application is beyond anything I've encountered before." —Amazon reviewer Jason A. Ruby reviewing my first book, A Smarter Way to Learn JavaScript Quadruple your learning ability. Washington University research shows that a key teaching method I use—interactive recall practice—improves learning performance 400 percent. "I don't feel lost and I don't feel that I am forgetting things as I go along." —Amazon reviewer Leonie M. reviewing my second book, A Smarter Way to Learn HTML and CSS Understanding is easy. Remembering is hard. Computer languages are not inherently hard to understand, even for non-techies. Remembering is the problem. If you remember all of Chapter 1 through Chapter 10, you'll understand Chapter 11. But you don't remember. Though you read and read, most of it doesn't stick. You don't have a solid foundation to build on. Halfway through the book, it all collapses. That's when most people give up."I've signed up to a few sites like Udemy, Codecademy, FreeCodeCamp, Lynda, YouTube videos, even searched on Coursera but nothing seemed to work for me. This book takes only 10 minutes each chapter and after that, you can exercise what you've just learned right away!" —Amazon reviewer Constanza Morales reviewing my first book, A Smarter Way to Learn JavaScript Interactive exercises make it stick. Research shows that you will remember everything if you're repeatedly asked to recall it. That's the beauty of flash cards. But technology offers an even better way to make information stick. With my book you get almost a thousand interactive exercises—they're free online—that embed the whole book in your memory. Algorithms check your work to make sure you know what you think you know. When you stumble, you do the exercise again. You keep trying until you know the chapter cold. "Not only do the exercises make learning fun, they reinforce the material right away so it sinks in deeper." —Amazon reviewer Timothy B. Miller reviewing my second book, A Smarter Way to Learn HTML and CSS You won't get bored or sleepy. The exercises keep you engaged, give you extra practice where you're shaky, and prepare you for each next step. Every lesson is built on top of a solid foundation that you and I have carefully constructed. Each individual step is small. But all the little steps add up to real knowledge—knowledge that you retain. I finally feel like I KNOW it and won't need to look up the syntax each time..." —Amazon reviewer J. Caritas reviewing my third book, A Smarter Way to Learn jQuery Really, it ain't that hard.

    Erno Rubik inspires us with what he’s learned in a lifetime of creating, curiosity, and discovery.Erno Rubik was a child when he first became obsessed with puzzles of all kinds. “Puzzles,” he writes, “bring out important qualities in each of us: concentration, curiosity, a sense of play, the eagerness to discover a solution.” To Rubik puzzles aren’t just games—they’re creativity machines. He encourages us to embrace our inner curiosity and find the puzzles that surround us in our everyday lives. “If you are determined, you will solve them,” he writes. Rubik’s own puzzle, the Cube, went on to be solved by millions worldwide for over forty years, become one of the bestselling toys of all time, and to be featured as a global symbol of intelligence and ingenuity.In Cubed, Rubik covers more than just his journey to inventing his eponymous cube. He makes a case for always being an amateur—something he has always considered himself to be. He discusses the inevitability of problems during any act of invention. He reveals what it was like to experience the astonishing worldwide success of an object he made purely for his own play. And he offers what he thinks it means to be a true creator (hint: anyone can do it). Steeped in the wisdom and also the humility of a born inventor, Cubed offers a unique look at the imperfect science of creation.

    In it, Russell offers a nontechnical, undogmatic account of his philosophical criticism as it relates to arithmetic and logic. Rather than an exhaustive treatment, however, the influential philosopher and mathematician focuses on certain issues of mathematical logic that, to his mind, invalidated much traditional and contemporary philosophy.In dealing with such topics as number, order, relations, limits and continuity, propositional functions, descriptions, and classes, Russell writes in a clear, accessible manner, requiring neither a knowledge of mathematics nor an aptitude for mathematical symbolism. The result is a thought-provoking excursion into the fascinating realm where mathematics and philosophy meet — a philosophical classic that will be welcomed by any thinking person interested in this crucial area of modern thought.

    Politicians and marketers present shoddy evidence for dubious claims all the time. But smart people make mistakes too, and when it comes to statistics, plenty of otherwise great scientists--yes, even those published in peer-reviewed journals--are doing statistics wrong."Statistics Done Wrong" comes to the rescue with cautionary tales of all-too-common statistical fallacies. It'll help you see where and why researchers often go wrong and teach you the best practices for avoiding their mistakes.In this book, you'll learn: - Why "statistically significant" doesn't necessarily imply practical significance- Ideas behind hypothesis testing and regression analysis, and common misinterpretations of those ideas- How and how not to ask questions, design experiments, and work with data- Why many studies have too little data to detect what they're looking for-and, surprisingly, why this means published results are often overestimates- Why false positives are much more common than "significant at the 5% level" would suggestBy walking through colorful examples of statistics gone awry, the book offers approachable lessons on proper methodology, and each chapter ends with pro tips for practicing scientists and statisticians. No matter what your level of experience, "Statistics Done Wrong" will teach you how to be a better analyst, data scientist, or researcher.

    This book will offer students a broad outline of essential mathematics and will help to fill in the gaps in their knowledge. The author explains the basic points and a few key results of all the most important undergraduate topics in mathematics, emphasizing the intuitions behind the subject. The topics include linear algebra, vector calculus, differential and analytical geometry, real analysis, point-set topology, probability, complex analysis, set theory, algorithms, and more. An annotated bibliography offers a guide to further reading and to more rigorous foundations.

    Now the journey continues in a new, updated edition that includes all the latest information on mathematical proofs, fractals, prime numbers, and chaos, as well as new material on* the relationship between mathematical knots and DNA* how computers based on quantum logic can significantly speed up the factoring of large composite numbers* the relationship between four-dimensional geometry and physical theories of the nature of matter* the application of cellular automata models to social questions and the peregrinations of virtual ants* a novel mathematical model of quasicrystals based on decagon-shaped tilesBlazing a trail through rows of austere symbols and dense lines of formulae, Peterson explores the central ideas behind the work of professional mathematicians-- how and where their pieces of the mathematical puzzle fit in, the sources of their ideas, their fountains of inspiration, and the images that carry them from one discovery to another.

    This works well in simple situations - but we are at a loss when this approach fails. What then?Lateral thinking is all about freeing up your imagination. Through a series of special techniques, in groups or working alone, Edward de Bono shows how to stimulate the mind in new and exciting ways.Soon you will be looking at problems from a variety of angles and offering up solutions that are as ingenious as they are effective. You will become much more productive and a formidable thinker in your own right.

    New co-authors--Irl Bivens and Stephen Davis--from Davidson College; both distinguished educators and writers.* More emphasis on graphing calculators in exercises and examples, including CAS capabilities of graphing calculators.* More problems using tabular data and more emphasis on mathematical modeling.

    But facing the sea change that AI will bring can be paralyzing. How should companies set strategies, governments design policies, and people plan their lives for a world so different from what we know? In the face of such uncertainty, many analysts either cower in fear or predict an impossibly sunny future.But in Prediction Machines, three eminent economists recast the rise of AI as a drop in the cost of prediction. With this single, masterful stroke, they lift the curtain on the AI-is-magic hype and show how basic tools from economics provide clarity about the AI revolution and a basis for action by CEOs, managers, policy makers, investors, and entrepreneurs.When AI is framed as cheap prediction, its extraordinary potential becomes clear: Prediction is at the heart of making decisions under uncertainty. Our businesses and personal lives are riddled with such decisions. Prediction tools increase productivity--operating machines, handling documents, communicating with customers. Uncertainty constrains strategy. Better prediction creates opportunities for new business structures and strategies to compete. Penetrating, fun, and always insightful and practical, Prediction Machines follows its inescapable logic to explain how to navigate the changes on the horizon. The impact of AI will be profound, but the economic framework for understanding it is surprisingly simple.

    But first, let me tell you a little secret about SEO marketing... Most of the search engine optimization advice on the Internet is just plain wrong!If you've sifted through the torrents of search engine optimization advice online, you may have noticed two things: - Most of the knowledge on SEO is either completely outdated or just dead-wrong.- Google's constant updates have rendered many well known SEO strategies completely useless.Why is this so? Google are constantly evolving, making it extremely difficult to know what currently works. Some recent changes: 1. August, 2014 - Google announced sites secured with SSL certificates will get an advantage in search engines.2. July, 2014 - Google released a big update dramatically affecting how often the local business listings appear in the search results.3. May, 2014 - Google announced a game changing update, punishing sites with poor quality content and user experience.SEO 2014 walks you through the above updates and more. This book also reveals industry secrets about Google's algorithm, so you can learn SEO from a fundamental level, achieve top rankings in Google, and generate hundreds, or even thousands of new customers to your site. Sidestep the feared 2014 Google updatesContrary to Internet marketing chatter, problems caused by Google updates are hardly irrecoverable or unavoidable—but you need the right knowledge. This book reveals in granular detail: - Recent Google updates—Panda 4.0, Pigeon, Hummingbird and beyond.- Steps required to recover from a Google penalty.- How to avoid being penalised in 2014 and beyond.Discover powerful link building techniques experts use to get top rankings and generate massive trafficLink building is simply the strongest factor for ranking high in Google. Unfortunately, most widely-used methods just plain suck! This chapter walkers you through the most powerful techniques that work wonders and won't get you in hot-water with Google. You will also discover: 1. How to leverage social media to skyrocket traffic to your site.2. How to find "money" keywords that will send customers to your site.3. The dirty secret about link-building.4. Sneaky tricks to get local businesses ranking high with local search engine optimization.5. How to get expert SEO or internet marketing advice, completely free.6. The new meta technology search engines love, schema.org, and how to use it to get more traffic.You will also learn the little-known search engine optimization tools top internet marketing experts useThe SEO tools chapter lists 20+ of the powerful tools top internet marketing experts are using to automate their search engine optimization, saving weeks of time, and creating bigger results... and most of the tools are free! And read the very special bonus chapter on pay-per-click advertisingIn this special bonus chapter, learn how to quickly and effectively setup a pay-per-click advertising campaign with Google AdWords, and send more traffic and customers to your website overnight. As one of the most advanced and comprehensive SEO books ever published, SEO 2014 contains everything you need to learn SEO and dominate search engines in 2014. Purchase from Amazon and get started right away!

    Inside these pages some of the biggest (and smallest) mysteries of the natural world are explained in essays by real working scientists, which are then illustrated by artists given free rein to be as literal or as imaginative as they like. The result is a celebration of the wonder that inspires every new discovery. Featuring work by such contemporary luminaries as Lisa Congdon, Jen Corace, Neil Farber, Susie Ghahremani, Jeremyville, and many more, this is a work of scientific and artistic exploration to pique the interest of both the intellectually and imaginatively curious.

    Cooper details many of these meta functions to explain his central thesis: programmers need to seriously re-evaluate the many user-hostile concepts deeply embedded within the software development process. Rather than provide users with a straightforward set of options, programmers often pile on the bells and whistles and ignore or de-prioritise lingering bugs. For the average user, increased functionality is a great burden, adding to the recurrent chorus that plays: "computers are hard, mysterious, unwieldy things." (An average user, Cooper asserts, who doesn't think that way or who has memorised all the esoteric commands and now lords it over others, has simply been desensitised by too many years of badly designed software.) Cooper's writing style is often overblown, with a pantheon of cutesy terminology (i.e. "dancing bearware") and insider back-patting. (When presenting software to Bill Gates, he reports that Gates replied: "How did you do that?" to which he writes: "I love stumping Bill!") More seriously, he is also unable to see beyond software development's importance--a sin he accuses programmers of throughout the book. Even with that in mind, the central questions Cooper asks are too important to ignore: Are we making users happier? Are we improving the process by which they get work done? Are we making their work hours more effective? Cooper looks to programmers, business managers and what he calls "interaction designers" to question current assumptions and mindsets. Plainly, he asserts that the goal of computer usage should be "not to make anyone feel stupid." Our distance from that goal reinforces the need to rethink entrenched priorities in software planning. -- Jennifer Buckendorff, Amazon.com

    This is not the same as “doing math.” The latter usually involves the application of formulas, procedures, and symbolic manipulations; mathematical thinking is a powerful way of thinking about things in the world -- logically, analytically, quantitatively, and with precision. It is not a natural way of thinking, but it can be learned. Mathematicians, scientists, and engineers need to “do math,” and it takes many years of college-level education to learn all that is required. Mathematical thinking is valuable to everyone, and can be mastered in about six weeks by anyone who has completed high school mathematics. Mathematical thinking does not have to be about mathematics at all, but parts of mathematics provide the ideal target domain to learn how to think that way, and that is the approach taken by this short but valuable book. The book is written primarily for first and second year students of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at colleges and universities, and for high school students intending to study a STEM subject at university. Many students encounter difficulty going from high school math to college-level mathematics. Even if they did well at math in school, most are knocked off course for a while by the shift in emphasis, from the K-12 focus on mastering procedures to the “mathematical thinking” characteristic of much university mathematics. Though the majority survive the transition, many do not. To help them make the shift, colleges and universities often have a “transition course.” This book could serve as a textbook or a supplementary source for such a course. Because of the widespread applicability of mathematical thinking, however, the book has been kept short and written in an engaging style, to make it accessible to anyone who seeks to extend and improve their analytic thinking skills. Going beyond a basic grasp of analytic thinking that everyone can benefit from, the STEM student who truly masters mathematical thinking will find that college-level mathematics goes from being confusing, frustrating, and at times seemingly impossible, to making sense and being hard but doable. Dr. Keith Devlin is a professional mathematician at Stanford University and the author of 31 previous books and over 80 research papers. His books have earned him many awards, including the Pythagoras Prize, the Carl Sagan Award, and the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics Communications Award. He is known to millions of NPR listeners as “the Math Guy” on Weekend Edition with Scott Simon. He writes a popular monthly blog “Devlin’s Angle” for the Mathematical Association of America, another blog under the name “profkeithdevlin”, and also blogs on various topics for the Huffington Post.

    But as risk expert Gerd Gigerenzer shows, the surprising truth is that in the real world, we often get better results by using simple rules and considering less information. In Risk Savvy, Gigerenzer reveals that most of us, including doctors, lawyers, financial advisers, and elected officials, misunderstand statistics much more often than we think, leaving us not only misinformed, but vulnerable to exploitation. Yet there is hope. Anyone can learn to make better decisions for their health, finances, family, and business without needing to consult an expert or a super computer, and Gigerenzer shows us how.Risk Savvy is an insightful and easy-to-understand remedy to our collective information overload and an essential guide to making smart, confident decisions in the face of uncertainty.