A Student's Guide to Python for Physical Modeling: Updated Edition Updated Edition

I just found this by "accident" while googling a question about python. I am so very happy to have found this book - I purchased the kindle version within minutes of finding it (the paper version is not available for another month) - I just knew this would be a great book. My hunch was right - I love this book! I have been on and off using Python for at least 6 or 7 years as needed for scientific computing. I have perused many of the most popular Python books and purchased a good many. What usually happens is I lose interest quickly and never finish the book. But this book seems different. It is written in a very clear language and gets right to the point of programming with Python and uses the latest packages such as Anaconda or Enthought Canopy with focus on numpy and matplotlib. I really like the style of the book and the content. The level is for beginning programmers (which I am not) but suitable for intermediate and advanced programmers for sure. I highly recommend this for self-study as all the programs are available online and they actually work out of the box. I am sure I will finish this book and refer back to it for years to come.

(This review is based on the first edition.) If you are a scientist used to coding in other languages, and want to get the flavor of Python, this little book is an easy and pleasant way to begin. It would also be a great textbook for a one-semester introduction to coding aimed at students who have taken calculus. The price point is great (only $25) and the design of the book is lovely, a LaTeX tour de force for which the designer, as well as Princeton University Press, deserve considerable praise.An earlier reviewer compared this book unfavorably to Mark Newman's "Computational Physics," which I think is unfair. Far too many books devote paragraph after paragraph to things that could have been clearly dealt with in a sentence or two. To paraphrase an apothegm attributed to Cyril Connolly: Inside every fat book there is a thin book crying to be let out. This book is the one that escaped!

A nice no nonsense introduction to scientific computing aspects in python. It introduces concepts and techniques around clear and engaging examples that help you get up and running using python for modeling.

Chapters 1-4 provide a thorough, readable introduction to Python, including some of the powerful 'Pythonic' particulars to the language. Two realistic, accessible labs constitute chapter 5 with lab extensions for practice. The rest of the chapters alternate between introducing new Python features and labs. The appendices are helpful with administration issues. I particularly like the 'Your Turn' short exercises (with solutions in an appendix.)I will be using this book in my high school physics classes.

A really nice book

Book was in great condition.

very didactic, I recommend it

The book is very thin on most of the topics and lightly touches each of the subject matter and barely scratch the itch. It gets you started on python but offer very little insights into physical modelling computational techniques using python. A much more robust book from both a python and computational modelling perspective is Mark Newman's "Computational Physics" . This book provides little insights into how and the why of modelling . Hers a typical comparison on the depth--- this book offer 3 pages on random numbers and simulation. The Newman book offers 47 pages on random number simulation and the list goes on....