Books, and Other Resources
Books and Other Resources
Table of Contents
Reading
Math
- Karl Gustafson's PDEs - This is probably my favorite PDE book that I have worked through. It helped make me interested in the topic.
- Strauss' PDE - This one is great for undergraduates. It has many real-world examples.
- Visual Complex Analysis - This book is a very useful companion to any complex analysis class. It motivates the subject very well, includes details you might miss in a class, and probably will make the subject feel more immediately useful.
- Wavelets Made Easy – Nievergelt - This book is very accessible and is what got in interested in wavelets. The programming exercises are very helpful.
- C++ and MPI parallel - I really like this book. I wish it covered a few more interesting algorithms!
- Frames for Undergraduates - This book was useful for understanding what frames are and aren't. I used it for curvelets and would have wished there was some discussion about them.
- Lines and Curves: A Practical Geometry Handbook - This is one of my favorite books. Interesting problems are given that build an intuition for geometric properties. Absolutely recommended.
- Numerical Linear Algebra - The pace of this book is quick so it is worth reading slowly. The exercise section of each chapter is fairly short but are very thoughtful and useful.
- Inside the FFT Black Box: Serial and Parallel Fast Fourier Transform Algorithms
- Gödel's Proof - I enjoyed this book. However, I felt that it was not particularly deep and left feeling like G\"odel's proof was more of
- Graph Theory: A Problem Oriented Approach - I worked through the problems in this book. I couldn't find a better introduction to graph theory.
- Solving Linear Systems -
- Garden of Integrals - I got this book for Christmas last year.
- A Radical Approach to Real Analysis - This book helped me understand and become a little more interested in what I used to think was my least favorite topic.
- PDEs for Geometric Design - Interesting book that has good visuals of PDEs.
- Templates for the Solution of Linear Systems - If you ever have been curious as to how ODE45 and BICGSTAB worked in MATLAB, this is the book for you! The explanations are helpful
- Matrix Methods - t
- Proofs without Words - This is really fun. Highly recommended as a gift to mathematically minded friends. I think I prefer the second one.
- Proofs without Words II -
- Visual Complex Analysis -
- Proofs from the Book -
Miscellaneous
- Jared Diamond's Books
- Guns Germs and Steel
- Collapse
- Upbeat - Rajeth
- On Intelligence -
- Cool Rules -
- Culture of Narcissism -
General Interest/Popular Math
Food
- Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day by Jeff Hertzberg - Even grad students have five minutes!
- The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey by Janna Gur - Yes! You can make laffa easily at home.
- Barefoot Contessa Parties! By Ina Garten - We have eaten countless apple crostatas! Everything I have made from here is a winner.
Languages
I have set a goal for myself to be fluent in 5 languages before I turn 25, and I am on track to make it. I speak the following languages. Listen to clips of me speaking each one.
- Spanish
- Portuguese
- Hebrew
- Rabot Kibalti (mp3). This is a translation of a favorite poem/hymn of mine. The translation was done by Tal Lachmann.
- Farsi (Persian)
- English
Language Learning
- Anki - Awesome! When I finish my grad school apps, I want to make it possible for visitors to submit their own words and add automatically to my anki decks.
- Forvo - This site is invaluable for language learning. For mathematicians, you may find it interesting to hear how the French actually say 'Legendre' or 'D'Alembert'.
- Wiktionary - This site is really cool and I have tried intermittenly to use it to automate creation of Anki cards with mixed results. This is possible because it is easy to grab the data from Wiktionary and then use some simple regular expressions to grab the relevent info to put on the Anki cards. In some cases, there is too much info, and it would be cool to link this to Forvo (which allows access to their API…). It would also be interesting to use text-to-speech from the IPA when Forvo does not have an entry.
- IvriTeX and FarsiTeX : I like playing with \(\LaTeX\) alot!
Other
- Symptoms of Inner Peace - I love the poster everytime I see it at Soulfoods.
- The Paradox of Our Time - Short read to make you think!
- Grow Organic - I bought a very healthy kalamata olive tree from them! It shipped beautifully and quickly to Seattle.
- The other Andy Barr (link) - To make it clear, this is not me. Just a photographer who coincidentally shares my name and beat me to the domain!
Music
Music I listen to
I gained an appreciation for Israeli music during a summer abroad there.
- World Folk Playlist
- Heavy Metal Playlist
- Russian Piano Playlist
Music I play
I play a variety of instruments, but my strength is the piano. I am for the most part self taught, but have received some classical training. Here are some of my favorite songs, and their accompanying sheet music.
| SONG | COMPOSER | PERFORMANCE | SHEET MUSIC | GENRE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sorabji | ||||
| Op. 8, no.12 | Scriaban | Horowitz | link | Classical |
| Op. 11 | Scriaban | Richter | link | Classical |
Me playing Op. 11 no. 24
Institutions/Organizations of Interest
- Stanford Philopsophy Library - I referenced this often during my philosophy club days.
- The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies - I am interested in doing research here in the future, or suggesting my sister go there. The wonderful thing about computers is we get to choose our environments and I am still deciding whether the desert is a place I want to experience for an extended time.
- The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity - I worked on an ethics essay but unfortunately did not make it on time.
- Asher Elias' efforts for Ethiopian Education in Israel - Website News Article , This is an awesome effort. I love the impact of this.
- Rocky Mountain Institute - Check out their blog! It would be wonderful to visit if I get into any Colorado schools.
- Yes! Magazine - One of my favorite magazines! They are native to the NW and I cannot recommend them highly enough.
- Ode Magazine - Also a worthwhile read.
- IRC (International Rescue Committee) - Watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYCA6g9bNg0). Listen to your heart. Go volunteer!
- SACNAS - A great organization that encourages higher education among underrepresented communities. I am a proud member of the award-winning Seattle chapter (Chapter site, me!).
Good Businesses in Seattle/the Eastside
- SoulFood Books- come visit if you are in Seattle! - I cannot overstate this. This place is a home away from home. Make sure you check out an open-mic, preferably in person, or online through their webstream.
- Redmond Eye Clinic - Fixed my glasses for free MANY times. Always helpful.
- Sustainable Seattle - Take the survey! You may learn something about yourself.
- Sushiland - Redmond
- Iman Center - Wonderful Persian lessons.
- Zoka (Kirkland location) - Very nice and friendly neighborhood cafe.
- Persepolis - Nice Persian store. The owner Gholam is a great guy! On 13112 NE 20th St in Bellevue.
- Parklane Gallery - Compelling, local art. The owners are wonderful and are artists too! (link)
- Gastronom - The relatively inexpensive sunflower and raisin halva is a great, high fat energy source. Really nice rusticky and seedy breads without some of the pretentiousness and high price of some recent 'artisan' bakeries. On 900 160th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98008.
- Eltana - Wood-Fired Bagel Cafe on Capitol Hill - Inspiration for my own bagel experiments.
Family
- Brother
- Shipping Solutions Worldwide - If you need to ship a car or container from any where from Paraguay to Ashdod, to Tashkent to Kaula Lumpur, they are the ones! (especially if you are in the D.C. area). Just tell Raul or Edgar that, "Andy sent you" and I promise you will be fine.
Things I dislike in papers
- Overuse of the word `novel'.
- Talking about code you developed to test something; not providing said code.
- When deriving a stencil for a discrete operator, not providing a picture or matrix of the stencil.
Favorite Papers
- Michael Elad's K-SVD.
- I really enjoyed reading this paper and will use it as a paradigm for when I make papers. The clarity, introduction, and development make it very easy to follow through and Elad introduces great references all along the way. (link)
- Ron Kimmel Fast Edge Integration.
- This paper, in a manner similar to Elad's (not surprising because they work next to each other!), starts with a generous introduction that is not condescending in the least bit and clearly sets the stage for the rest of the paper. However, don't confuse this with simplicity or lack of depth. Kimmel introduces each formula in a logical order such that you really feel like he has a firm idea at the end of the road, and, no formula has any terms where the definition is not easy to spot. I really enjoyed talking with him at the Technion. (link)
Interesting Papers
Calligraphy
I really enjoy looking at different scripts. Even without understanding them, I am quite fascinated by different systems of lettering. Here are some examples. Disclaimer I have no idea what most of these say! So please don't be offended. I just like the letters! (Cool Article)