Ray-Tracing Pocket Book (Paperback)

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

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

A superb guide. The examples are small but complete.

There is a particular kind of technical book that is dense without being difficult, and this is one of them. The author clearly knows the subject deeply and has thought hard about how to teach it. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. Worth the money and the reading time, without hesitation.

Very good, with a few caveats. The core material is strong.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The chapters on graphics & design are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Recommended, with the caveat that it is not a gentle introduction.