The Nature of Computation
"To put it bluntly: this book rocks! It's 900+ pages of awesome. It somehow manages to combine the fun of a popular book with the intellectual heft of a textbook, so much so that I don't know what to call it (but whatever the genre is, there needs to be more of it!)." -- Scott Aaronson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology"A creative, insightful, and accessible introduction to the theory of computing, written with a keen eye toward the frontiers of the field and a vivid enthusiasm for the subject matter." -- Jon Kleinberg, Cornell University"If you want to learn about complexity classes, scaling laws in computation, undecidability, randomized algorithms, how to prepare a dinner with Pommard, Quail and Roquefort, or the new ideas that quantum theory brings to computation, this is the right book. It offers a wonderful tour through many facets of computer science. It is precise and gets into details when necessary, but the main thread is always at hand, and entertaining anecdotes help to keep the pace." -- Marc Mézard, Université de Paris Sud, Orsay"A treasure trove of ideas, concepts and information on algorithms and complexity theory. Serious material presented in the most delightful manner!" -- Vijay Vazirani, Georgia Instituute of Technology"A fantastic and unique book - a must-have guide to the theory of computation, for physicists and everyone else." -- Riccardo Zecchina, Politecnico di Torino