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Free Data Science Books

learndatasci.com

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Re: Free Data Science Books

#14

Post by shubhamjain »

Although, there is no denying that this is a valuable resource but I have started to get turned off by a list of n books to learn something - they can be valuable but it is undeniable that they can also be overwhelming and perplex someone about how to get started. I believe technical books should be used to complement your knowledge of the field not to get started in it. For eg, "Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja" will be very valuable because I already have experience in JS and it will help me understand some of the caveats that I might have overlooked. The best way has always been to get start implement something regarding the subject and try to dive into everything you uncover.

A blog post submitted here mentioned the same sentiment [1] -

> I can’t fully explain how immensely unmotivating it is to be given a huge list of resources without any context. It’s akin to a teacher handing you a stack of textbooks and saying “read all of these”. I struggled with this approach when I was in school. If I had started learning data science this way, I never would have kept going.

[1]: https://www.dataquest.io/blog/how-to-actually-learn-data-sci...

Re: Free Data Science Books

#16

Post by noobermin »

Honest question: is ML/DS something you can just pick up and be hired[0]? May be I'm ignorant, but I'd think employers would look for a degree in some related field to actually consider you for a position doing it.

[0] As in how you can pick up web hacking, do a few websites and create a reputation and get hired that way without a formal degree.

Re: Free Data Science Books

#18

Post by weavie »

viewer5 wrote: post #3

Any specific recommendations from anyone?

The Elements of Statistical Learning together with the online course (http://www.r-bloggers.com/in-depth-introduction-to-machine-l...) makes for a great introduction.

EDIT: Oops I should have said "An Introduction to Statistical Learning with Applications in R" rather than The Elements of Statistical Learning. The Elements book goes into way too much depth to be a good introduction to the subject.

Re: Free Data Science Books

#19

Post by hellofunk »

noobermin wrote: post #16

Honest question: is ML/DS something you can just pick up and be hired[0]? May be I'm ignorant, but I'd think employers would look for a degree in some related field to actually consider you for a position doing it. [0] As in how you can pick up web hacking, do a few websites and create a reputation and get hired that way without a formal degree.

There was a thread on here a month or two ago about this. In general, it was noted that it's best (for both employment as well as just getting stuff done) to have a deep understanding of a particular area of ML rather than a general understanding of many areas. Usually those with a deep understanding have focused on it in school. But the latter group of generalists is a much larger group in the software industry, since most of us did not go to school for this specifically.

Re: Free Data Science Books

#20

Post by jpmonette »

shubhamjain wrote: post #14

Although, there is no denying that this is a valuable resource but I have started to get turned off by a list of n books to learn something - they can be valuable but it is undeniable that they can also be overwhelming and perplex someone about how to get started. I believe technical books should be used to complement your knowledge of the field not to get started in it. For eg, "Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja" will…

Thank you - this is a wonderful ressource that I had lost in my list of bookmarks about data science. That's another good example of information overload.
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