Math Adventures with Python: An Illustrated Guide to Exploring Math with Code

The first chapter of this book will quickly draw you into studying the rest of the text. Most of the graphics require using the Processing software for the graphics. It is not difficult to download the Processing graphics software. It did require a small donation to the software company. Please note the download files have to be extracted. Once extracted the file to start the program is easily found. You will need to inform the Processing program you are working in Python. The Turtle Spiral Graphics and a Star is Born Graphics in chapter 1 are quite beautiful. If you are new to writing code, it is quite nice to see these graphics produced with simple code. The author does provide code for the excercises on the nostarch.com/mathadventures website. Unfortunately the code is not completely written out, For excercises1-5 and 1-6 please remember to import turtle and to call the appropriate defined code. As an example for excercise 1-5 you have to define spiral() and it has to be called at the end of your code. For high school students, the math and associated graphics are a nice supplement to those learning trigonometry, matrices, and complex variables. These topics are covered at a very introductory level. I have gone through all the code and only had problems at page 70 when I entered yscl = -height/rangey. I lost all my vertical lines on the grid. The subsequent complete code for grid.pyde on page 71 works. The code on page 115 for the CircleSineWave.pyde works beautifully if you using the Processing Software. I tried all of the code changes as described on page 113 and 114 and they work. It was easier for me to work backwards from the complete code . I am looking forward to completing the book. The author Peter Farell deserves are thanks. If a new edition comes out, the author should consider providing complete code in the online answers. As I work my way through the rest of the book, I may add to this review.

If you like Python (I do) and if you are interested in using the graphic programming language Processing as I am, then this is a gem. It demonstrates Python used as the scripting language for Processing. Also, the math problems that are used to demonstrate this combination are themselves quite interesting and worth understanding. If you want to see the results of your computations, then this in the combination package to do it with. All the code runs though there are a few typos here and there as well as an occasional confusing explanation. And I could never get the Julia set to display properly. It just ran and ran and ran without ever finishing. I may go back to it later on.

To start off, I am a Math and Python hobbyist who really enjoyed this book. I went through every page, did every exercise, and got all the code to work (but not with out quite a bit of effort). There are some super cool programs having to do with mathematical ideas (I still get wowed thinking about the 100 city traveling salesman problem). To be honest though I don't think I learned much math. The main player in the book is a graphing program called "Processing". I'm not a Pythonista so I don't know how Processing translates to the Python community but I thought it was great, intuitive, and easy (I've seen other renditions of the Mandelbrot set and the code in the book is remarkably short). To mention a few issues with the book, it could have used more problems with hints or answers and full code at the end of a project would have been nice. All in all, though, it was a lot of fun.

I haven't read everything this book has, but I glanced over the table of contents and tried code samples in the first couple of chapters, and I like the approach and how they teach you about graphical representations of mathematical functions, etc., and how you can use python with processing, etc.

I read this book to dive a bit deeper into python, and it was good fun.I was however a bit annoyed to find when I reached the chapter on complex numbers, the code for the Mandelbrot set provided does not seem to work. This sucked as I was especially excited for this chapter when I picked up a copy. Farrell goes into well enough detail to explain how the Mandelbrot should function, so you get a good intuition there, but if you follow the book, you will not generate any properly functioning code.What's a bit more annoying is that they seem to realize this. If you go onto the associated GitHub link with the book, the posted code for this chapter is extensively modified from whats given in the book. It includes an entirely untouched on arrange function, changes how the list z is composed, and throws the xscl and yscl into the rect function.This was very frustrating, and ruined my motivation to even pick the book back up for several weeks.

This is an excellent book for learning Python and math concepts needed for computer science and programming. Highly recommend.

This is a well written book and a topic that especially important and that is making mathematics come alive using the Python programming language.

Muy buen libro, excelente contenido.

"Math Adventures with Python", is one of those books only the English speaking countries seem to be able to produce; in the sense that some inherently difficult fields like Mathematics and Python Programming are presented in a way that is good fun and at the same time makes the understanding of these concepts easily understandable. In a way, I wish books like these were available in my youth; it would have spared me many hours in studying mathematics. The book isn’t expensive but precious: richly illustrated with clear diagrams, some even in colour. In an entertaining way one is even introduced to subjects that pertain to higher mathematics and in the process one learns a lot of Programming in Python, especially in the field of computer graphics. I think this book is also very useful for high school students and university undergraduates. Enjoy!

The book arrived very quick, in a matter of 3-4 days (1 day faster than what was written in the beginning).It has a lot of interesting projects where you can learn Python and maths.

Entschuldigung, wenn ich erst über mich schreibe! Ich habe im laufe meines bisherigen Lebens mit BASIC, LOGO, Pascal, C, Rexx und zu einem kleinen Teil mit tcl/tk programmiert. Das ganze auf nichtkommerzieller Basis. Python habe ich auch versucht, aber meine Probleme damit gehabt. Seit sicher 10 Jahren oder mehr habe ich im Grunde gar nicht mehr programmiert.Ich will meine Kenntnisse wieder auffrischen, also habe ich mir unter anderem dieses Buch gekauft. Grafisch habe ich fast alles schon gemacht, was in diesem Buch behandelt wird. Ich habe Fraktale mit LOGO dargestellt und Apfelmännchen mit BASIC und GFA-Basic. Eine einfache Version von Conways Game of Life habe ich mit C programmiert.Nun zu dem Buch:Ich bin etwas zwiegespalten. Ich hatte auf eine gewisse Weise mehr erwartet. Anererseits erfüllt das Buch zum guten Teil das, was das Auffrischen betrifft. Das gute am Buch und Python 3 ist, das man ähnlich wie bei LOGO, das Programm direkt in der Umgebung schreiben und starten kann. Bei den Beispielen hätte ich mir vielleicht gewünscht, das das Arrow-Fraktal mit dabei gewesen wäre. Aber das ist Jammern auf hohem Niveau.

This book could do better. Every chapter prompts you to do the exercises based on the information in each and every chapter, but it does not contain any answers for them. So how are you supposed to know if you've done it correctly? Trial and error obviously, but this is frustrating if you are getting it wrong and can't find the solution.