I'm on Book Two of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.
Non-Fiction:
More than I can count, as far as "I've read at least some, put a bookmark in it, and intend to finish it eventually." But in terms of the books I'm really actively engaging with right now, the top one is:
Neuroscience: Exploring The Brain[1] by Mark F. Bear, Barry W. Connors, and Michael A. Paradiso
And sort of in parallel with that, is
Analog Computing: Development, Programming, Applications, and Future Directions[2] by Bernd Ulmann
I have a longstanding general interest in what might be term "unconventional computing architectures" (or at least "non mainstream computing architectures"). And, frankly, a general interest in "unconventional" things all around.
In regards to analog computers, it's that, plus an awareness of the constraints of the Von Neumann Bottleneck[1] and a vague notion that analog computing might (keyword, might) offer some potential to avoid that, and/or avoid the insane power consumption of modern digital computers (relative to a given workload).
And that in turn ties back to the Neuroscience book, as I'm reading that mainly because of my interest in neuromorphic computing[2]. And neuromorphic computing and analog computing, while separate topics, seem like they may have some interesting touch-points.
Nice. I too have an interest in "unconventional computing" (analog/quantum/biological etc.) since i think that we are reaching the limits of conventional Von Neumann architectures and discrete mathematics in terms of efficiency, power consumption etc. Nature is analog and continuous with efficient energy consumption and while we have come very far by imposing discrete and boolean algebra on it, it is inherently only an approximation. Note also that at the quantum level nature is both continuous and discrete i.e. wave/particle duality and we again have a need to model continuous wave-like characteristics.
A few books that i am currently looking at which you might also find useful;
1) Principles of Neurobiology by Liqun Luo - Uses an integrated approach to neuroscience.
2) Handbook Of Unconventional Computing in 2-vols (Vol1-Theory, Vol2- Implementations) - A comprehensive resource.
I was recommended Liqun Luo's book by user periheli0n here - <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28743804">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28743804 But since it is somewhat advanced for a beginner in neuroscience like me, i pair it with Neurobiology: A Functional Approach by Georg Striedter for better understanding. I also find reading pop-sci books on Neuroscience/Brain a good supplement since these give a nice top-level overview (and thus stimulate motivation) before diving into the details in a textbook. Two i have found useful are The Accidental Mind by David Linden and Mapping the Mind by Rita Carter.
You can get pdfs of the Handbook of Unconventional Computing if you ask Google and/or Anna ;-)
One more book that i hope to get my hands-on is Peter Kogge's *The Zen of Exotic Computing" - <a href="https://epubs.siam.org/doi/10.1137/1.9781611977295" rel="nofollow">https://epubs.siam.org/doi/10.1137/1.9781611977295 This seems like a nice overview (plus more) of most of the stuff from the above Handbook. Also checkout the wikipedia link for original papers/books/etc. - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconventional_computing" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconventional_computing
You can get pdfs of the Handbook of Unconventional Computing if you ask Google and/or Anna ;-)
Agreed. In fact, I may have them downloaded already somewhere in my massive pile of <strike>pirate</strike> cough grey-market cough e-books. :-) But honestly, sometimes I still prefer reading off of paper. It's easier on the eyes in my experience.
Neurobiology: A Functional Approach by Georg Striedter for better understanding. I also find reading pop-sci books on Neuroscience/Brain a good supplement since these give a nice top-level overview (and thus stimulate motivation) before diving into the details in a textbook. Two i have found useful are The Accidental Mind by David Linden and Mapping the Mind by Rita Carter.
Cool, I will look into those. I have a whole pile of similar pop-sci stuff to churn through already, but the more the merrier!
One more book that i hope to get my hands-on is Peter Kogge's The Zen of Exotic Computing"*
Ooooohhh.. Now that sounds interesting. Thanks for the tip!
mindcrime · · focus · HN ↗
I'm on Book Two of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.
Non-Fiction:
More than I can count, as far as "I've read at least some, put a bookmark in it, and intend to finish it eventually." But in terms of the books I'm really actively engaging with right now, the top one is:
Neuroscience: Exploring The Brain[1] by Mark F. Bear, Barry W. Connors, and Michael A. Paradiso
And sort of in parallel with that, is
Analog Computing: Development, Programming, Applications, and Future Directions[2] by Bernd Ulmann
[1]: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0781760038/" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/dp/0781760038/
[2]: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Analog-Computing-Development-Programming-Applications/dp/3119146285" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Analog-Computing-Development-Programm...
jesuslop · · focus · HN ↗
mindcrime · · focus · HN ↗
In regards to analog computers, it's that, plus an awareness of the constraints of the Von Neumann Bottleneck[1] and a vague notion that analog computing might (keyword, might) offer some potential to avoid that, and/or avoid the insane power consumption of modern digital computers (relative to a given workload).
And that in turn ties back to the Neuroscience book, as I'm reading that mainly because of my interest in neuromorphic computing[2]. And neuromorphic computing and analog computing, while separate topics, seem like they may have some interesting touch-points.
[1]: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_architecture#Von_Neumann_bottleneck" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_architecture#Von_N...
[2]: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromorphic_computing" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromorphic_computing
rramadass · · focus · HN ↗
A few books that i am currently looking at which you might also find useful;
1) Principles of Neurobiology by Liqun Luo - Uses an integrated approach to neuroscience.
2) Handbook Of Unconventional Computing in 2-vols (Vol1-Theory, Vol2- Implementations) - A comprehensive resource.
mindcrime · · focus · HN ↗
I'll check that out, thanks for the pointer. In the meantime, I have a copy of Neurobiology by Professor Gordon M Shepherd, to work through.
2) Handbook Of Unconventional Computing in 2-vols (Vol1-Theory, Vol2- Implementations) - A comprehensive resource.
Yeah, I have those in an Amazon list waiting to be purchased "sometime soon". :-)
rramadass · · focus · HN ↗
You can get pdfs of the Handbook of Unconventional Computing if you ask Google and/or Anna ;-)
One more book that i hope to get my hands-on is Peter Kogge's *The Zen of Exotic Computing" - <a href="https://epubs.siam.org/doi/10.1137/1.9781611977295" rel="nofollow">https://epubs.siam.org/doi/10.1137/1.9781611977295 This seems like a nice overview (plus more) of most of the stuff from the above Handbook. Also checkout the wikipedia link for original papers/books/etc. - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconventional_computing" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconventional_computing
mindcrime · · focus · HN ↗
Agreed. In fact, I may have them downloaded already somewhere in my massive pile of <strike>pirate</strike> cough grey-market cough e-books. :-) But honestly, sometimes I still prefer reading off of paper. It's easier on the eyes in my experience.
Neurobiology: A Functional Approach by Georg Striedter for better understanding. I also find reading pop-sci books on Neuroscience/Brain a good supplement since these give a nice top-level overview (and thus stimulate motivation) before diving into the details in a textbook. Two i have found useful are The Accidental Mind by David Linden and Mapping the Mind by Rita Carter.
Cool, I will look into those. I have a whole pile of similar pop-sci stuff to churn through already, but the more the merrier!
One more book that i hope to get my hands-on is Peter Kogge's The Zen of Exotic Computing"*
Ooooohhh.. Now that sounds interesting. Thanks for the tip!