Customer Reviews

Noise

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is one of those books that I picked up as I was fascinated with the topic, "noise." Having had a life-long aversion to all types of "noise" (in all of its various manifestations) - which Kosko defines as "a signal we don't like" - I was quite interested in what I had read while glancing through it at the bookstore Upon reading it; however, I was quite disappointed, this book is quite bland and seems to leap from topic to topic (although some of those had the potential to be fascinating) and I really could not determine what angle the author was trying to take. "Noise" could be a book on physics, philosophy, law, pop-science, acoustics, computer science, or many other things (in no particular order). That happens to be its downfall - it's a book in search of focus. Overall, I was greatly disappointed as I had originally hoped this would be an enlightening book: in the end, it was little more than a noisy diversion to my list of books to read.

Notice that the ratings bifurcate and that most of the low ones admit to quitting pretty early. Kosko has a deeper emphasis on aspects of noise that are close to his own research, which is what I'd want and expect. If you're looking for popular biz-techno-babble, this isn't it. If you're looking for a classroom textbook on noise, complete with homework assignments, this isn't it either. If you'd like a fascinating introduction to the topic of noise, self-contained but with plenty of references to dig deeper, this is the book for you.

"Noise" begins with a few non-technical subjects such as regulations on noise levels in residential areas, and then gets to information theory. The non-technical chapters are interesting, as are the comments about information theory. The problem is that I found the actual chapters on information theory impossibly difficult and gave up. As an indication of my background, I have a Master's degree in statistics, so I have to conclude this book is for a select group of readers only.

"Noise" is entertaining and enlightening as Kosko takes you through a bevy of stimulating notions regarding the various forms of noise and how they affect our lives in both beneficial and detrimental ways. With rhythmic tenacity you explore the fundamental makeup of signals and the underlying associated energy. Kosko's explanation of stochastic resonance (SR) and how it can be exploited to tickle the best out of vibrational and oscillatory systems is fascinating. No one has to do any Fourier transforms here but every ME and EE sophomore should spend a weekend reading and contemplating what Kosko is offering in this fun book. "Noise" belongs on every engineer's bookshelf.

My sense is that Kosko has thought a lot about noise, and knows a lot about noise but he isn't equipped to write a book for general readership. Maybe a serious scientist would find this one interesting. I did not -- and I am wild about science writing. Give me Stephen Jay Gould, Loren Eisely, Edward O. Wilson, Sven Birkerts, Julian Jaynes, James Burke, William Irwin Thompson ... see my many reviews ... but not this.

I got this book to learn about noise for my upcoming post-doctoral studies. Unfortunately, it is the worst popular science book I have ever read (and I read alot of 'em). Kosko glosses over certain topics that require much more explanation to fully understand, while going in-depth into other, more uninteresting examples in a redundant and boring fashion. He often throws out rather complex concepts as if the reader must know what it is, which makes for such a bumpy ride. Do you know the difference between positive and negative frequency is? Kosko will assume you do. I have been tempted several times to throw the book down and give up on it. Want a good pop sci book, try Brian Greene or James Gleick.

Pop science writing is a tough thing to do well and an even tougher thing to sell to the general public but it seems publishers have hit upon a recipe for creating a dumbed-down pop-sci book: take an interesting germ of an idea, whip it full of air with lots of quotations, redundant examples of any given phenomenon the author is trying to explain, pages of endnotes and an extensive bibliography (which sadly was not included in the Kosko book) and then slap a cool looking graphic on the front cover. Voila! an instant 300 page pop-sci book.

This book adheres very closely to that recipe. Sad, as I was really looking forward to this book.

The benchmark for an outstanding pop-sci book is still held by James Gleick's 'Chaos' in my opinion. 'Noise' falls very short of that, sorry to say.

I had high expectations for this book, but I was disappointed. It concentrated too much on digital systems, rather than broadening the definition of noise to cover the natural environment. I lost interested in the last 1/3 of the book, and couldn't wait to finish.

I had to fight every chapter in this book. It is horribly boring. It is clear that Professor Kosko really enjoys noise, but he fails to make it interesting.

Kosko's latest book, Noise, wins on substance and writing style. This is popular science as it should appear. Kosko serves up surprisingly readable prose up front, and detailed footnotes at the end. Sure is refreshing to see that you can start anywhere in the text, then go deeper into the science at will by flipping to the back if you want the heavy artillery. I really enjoyed the chapter "White Noise ain't so White." Didn't know noise came in so many kinds and colors. Great read.