Graphics and Compute: Volume 5 Ray-Tracing (Hardback)

Strong content, uneven pacing. I would still recommend it.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.

Better than I expected. Rare to find a technical book this well judged.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. The author is unusually honest about where the simplifications break down, which I appreciated. This is the book I wish had existed when I started working with javascript.

Three stars feels about right. Useful, but not essential.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. I particularly liked the way the author builds up from simple cases before introducing the harder material. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Useful as a reference, less so as a straight read from cover to cover.