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Reading list

Machine Learning Basics for a Newbie
6 Steps of Machine learning Lifecycle Introduction to Predictive Modeling
Introduction to Exploratory Data Analysis & Data Insights Descriptive Statistics Inferential Statistics How to Understand Population Distributions?
Reading Data Files into Python Different Variable Datatypes
Probability for Data Science Basic Concepts of Probability Axioms of Probability Conditional Probability
Central Tendencies for Continuous Variables Spread of Data KDE plots for Continuous Variable Overview of Distribution for Continuous variables Normal Distribution Skewed Distribution Skeweness and Kurtosis Distribution for Continuous Variable
Central Tendencies for Categorical Variables Understanding Discrete Distributions Performing EDA on Categorical Variables
Dealing with Missing Values Understanding Outliers Identifying Outliers in Data Outlier Detection in Python Outliers Detection Using IQR, Z-score, LOF and DBSCAN
Sample and Population Central Limit Theorem Confidence Interval and Margin of Error
Bivariate Analysis Introduction
Covariance Pearson Correlation Spearman's Correlation & Kendall's Tau Correlation versus Causation Tabular and Graphical methods for Bivariate Analysis Performing Bivariate Analysis on Continuous-Continuous Variables
Tabular and Graphical methods for Continuous-Categorical Variables Introduction to Hypothesis Testing P-value Two sample Z-test T-test T-test vs Z-test Performing Bivariate Analysis on Continuous-Catagorical variables
Chi-Squares Test Bivariate Analysis on Categorical Categorical Variables
Multivariate Analysis A Comprehensive Guide to Data Exploration The Data Science behind IPL
Supervised Learning vs Unsupervised Learning Reinforcement Learning Generative and Descriminative Models Parametric and Non Parametric model
Machine Learning Pipeline Preparing Dataset Build a Benchmark Model: Regression Build a Benchmark Model: Classification
Evaluation Metrics for Machine Learning Everyone should know Confusion Matrix Accuracy Precision and Recall AUC-ROC Log Loss R2 and Adjusted R2
Dealing with Missing Values Replacing Missing Values Imputing Missing Values in Data Working with Categorical Variables Working with Outliers Preprocessing Data for Model Building
Understanding Cost Function Understanding Gradient Descent Math Behind Gradient Descent Assumptions of Linear Regression Implement Linear Regression from Scratch Train Linear Regression in Python Implementing Linear Regression in R Diagnosing Residual Plots in Linear Regression Models Generalized Linear Models Introduction to Logistic Regression Odds Ratio Implementing Logistic Regression from Scratch Introduction to Scikit-learn in Python Train Logistic Regression in python Multiclass using Logistic Regression How to use Multinomial and Ordinal Logistic Regression in R ? Challenges with Linear Regression Introduction to Regularisation Implementing Regularisation Ridge Regression Lasso Regression
Introduction to K Nearest Neighbours Determining the Right Value of K in KNN Implement KNN from Scratch Implement KNN in Python
Bias Variance Tradeoff Introduction to Overfitting and Underfitting Visualizing Overfitting and Underfitting Selecting the Right Model What is Validation? Hold-Out Validation Understanding K Fold Cross Validation
Introduction to Feature Selection Feature Selection Algorithms Missing Value Ratio Low Variance Filter High Correlation Filter Backward Feature Elimination Forward Feature Selection Implement Feature Selection in Python Implement Feature Selection in R
Introduction to Decision Tree Purity in Decision Tree Terminologies Related to Decision Tree How to Select Best Split Point in Decision Tree? Chi-Squares Information Gain Reduction in Variance Optimizing Performance of Decision Tree Train Decision Tree using Scikit Learn Pruning of Decision Trees
Introduction to Feature Engineering Feature Transformation Feature Scaling Feature Engineering Frequency Encoding Automated Feature Engineering: Feature Tools
Introduction to Naive Bayes Conditional Probability and Bayes Theorem Introduction to Bayesian Adjustment Rating: The Incredible Concept Behind Online Ratings! Working of Naive Bayes Math behind Naive Bayes Types of Naive Bayes Implementation of Naive Bayes
Understanding how to solve Multiclass and Multilabled Classification Problem Evaluation Metrics: Multi Class Classification
Introduction to Ensemble Techniques Basic Ensemble Techniques Implementing Basic Ensemble Techniques Finding Optimal Weights of Ensemble Learner using Neural Network Why Ensemble Models Work well?
Introduction to Stacking Implementing Stacking Variants of Stacking Implementing Variants of Stacking Introduction to Blending Bootstrap Sampling Introduction to Random Sampling Hyper-parameters of Random Forest Implementing Random Forest Out-of-Bag (OOB) Score in the Random Forest IPL Team Win Prediction Project Using Machine Learning Introduction to Boosting Gradient Boosting Algorithm Math behind GBM Implementing GBM in python Regularized Greedy Forests Extreme Gradient Boosting Implementing XGBM in python Tuning Hyperparameters of XGBoost in Python Implement XGBM in R/H2O Adaptive Boosting Implementing Adaptive Boosing LightGBM Implementing LightGBM in Python Catboost Implementing Catboost in Python
Different Hyperparameter Tuning methods Implementing Different Hyperparameter Tuning methods GridsearchCV RandomizedsearchCV Bayesian Optimization for Hyperparameter Tuning Hyperopt
Understanding SVM Algorithm SVM Kernels In-depth Intuition and Practical Implementation SVM Kernel Tricks Kernels and Hyperparameters in SVM Implementing SVM from Scratch in Python and R
Introduction to Principal Component Analysis Steps to Perform Principal Compound Analysis Computation of Covariance Matrix Finding Eigenvectors and Eigenvalues Implementing PCA in python Visualizing PCA A Brief Introduction to Linear Discriminant Analysis Introduction to Factor Analysis
Introduction to Clustering Applications of Clustering Evaluation Metrics for Clustering Understanding K-Means Implementation of K-Means in Python Implementation of K-Means in R Choosing Right Value for K Profiling Market Segments using K-Means Clustering Hierarchical Clustering Implementation of Hierarchial Clustering DBSCAN Defining Similarity between clusters Build Better and Accurate Clusters with Gaussian Mixture Models
Understand Basics of Recommendation Engine with Case Study
8 Ways to Improve Accuracy of Machine Learning Models
Introduction to Dask Working with CuML
Introduction to Machine Learning Interpretability Framework and Interpretable Models model Agnostic Methods for Interpretability Implementing Interpretable Model Understanding SHAP Out-of-Core ML Introduction to Interpretable Machine Learning Models Model Agnostic Methods for Interpretability Game Theory & Shapley Values
Introduction to Machine Learning Interpretability Framework and Interpretable Models model Agnostic Methods for Interpretability Implementing Interpretable Model Understanding SHAP Out-of-Core ML Introduction to Interpretable Machine Learning Models Model Agnostic Methods for Interpretability Game Theory & Shapley Values
Introduction to AutoML Implementation of MLBox Introduction to PyCaret TPOT Auto-Sklearn EvalML
Pickle and Joblib Introduction to Model Deployment
Deploying Machine Learning Model using Streamlit Deploying ML Models in Docker Deploy Using Streamlit Deploy on Heroku Deploy Using Netlify Introduction to Amazon Sagemaker Setting up Amazon SageMaker Using SageMaker Endpoint to Generate Inference Deploy on Microsoft Azure Cloud Introduction to Flask for Model Deploying ML model using Flask
Model Deployment in Android Model Deployment in Iphone

Top 12 Books For Data Science to Read in 2024

A
Analytics Vidhya Last Updated : 13 Sep, 2024
7 min read

Introduction

The selection process for data scientists at Google places a higher priority on candidates with a robust background in statistics and mathematics. This emphasis on fundamental skills extends beyond Google; other leading companies worldwide, such as Amazon, Airbnb, and Uber, also favor candidates who possess a solid foundation in data science rather than just a surface-level knowledge. Building a strong foundation in statistics and mathematics is akin to laying the groundwork for a successful career in data science, and this is reflected in the preferences of these esteemed organizations. Whether aspiring to work at Google or other top companies, individuals looking to thrive in the field of data science would be well-served by focusing on these fundamental aspects, perhaps by exploring relevant books for data science to deepen their understanding and expertise.

More than just deriving accuracy, understanding & interpreting every metric, calculation behind that accuracy is important. Remember, every single ‘variable’ has a story to tell. So, if not anything else, try to become a great story explorer!

In this article, I’ve compiled a list of books for data science. These books mainly focus on statistics and math, which are important for understanding data science. I chose books that make it easy for you to connect with the world of data science. The idea is to help you grasp the basics and get comfortable with how math fits into the whole data science picture. Whether you’re just starting out or already know a bit, these books should make learning about data science more natural and enjoyable.

Note: Books which are made free to access by the registered authorities have been mentioned in this article. If not, a link to amazon bookstore is provided.

books for data science, best book for statistics for data science

Table of contents

Books For Data Science

21Introduction to Statistical Learning

This is a highly recommended book for practicing data scientists. The focus of this books is kept on connecting statistics concept with machine learning. Hence, you’ll learn about all popular supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms. R users will get an advantage, since the practical aspects of algorithms have been demonstrated using R. In addition to theory, this book also lay emphasis on using ML algorithms in real life setting.

Available: Free Download

22Elements of Statistical Learning

This book is an advanced level of previous book. It is written by Trevor Hastie and Rob Tibshirani, Professors at Stanford University. Their first book ‘Introduction to Statistical Learning’ uncover the basics of statistics and machine learning. This book, will introduce you to higher level algorithms such as Neural Networks, Bagging & Boosting, Kernel methods etc. The algorithms have been implemented in R programming.

Available: Free Download

23Think Stats

The author of this book is Alien B Downey. It is based on perform statistical analysis practically in Python. Hence, make sure you’ve got some basic knowledge of Python before buying this book. It focuses entirely on understanding real life influence of statistics using popular case studies. Since, stats and math are closely connected, it also has dedicated chapters on topic like bayesian estimation.

Available: Buy from Amazon

24From Algorithms to Z Scores

Did you know the about crucial role of statistics in programming ? The author of this book is Norm Matloff, Professor, University of California. This book explains using probabilistic concepts and statistical measures in R. Again, a good practice source for R users. It teaches the art of dealing with probabilistic models and choosing the best one for final evaluation. It is a highly recommended book (specially for R users).

Available: Free Download

25Introduction to Bayesian Statistics

This is a highly recommended book for freshers in data science. The author of this book is William M Bolstad. It’s a must read for people who find mathematics boring. Having been written in a conversational style (rare to find math this way), this book is a great introductory resource on statistics. It begins with scientific methods of data gathering and end up delivering dedicated chapters on bayesian statistics.

Available: Free Download

26Discovering Statistics using R

This book is written by Andy Field, Jeremy Miles and Zoe Field. I would highly recommend this book to newbies in data science. To start with statistics, this book has a great content which goes in depth detail of its topics. Along with, the statistical concept are explained in conjunction with R which makes it even more useful. It offers a step by step understanding, with a parallel support of interesting practice examples.

Available: Buy on Amazon

27Introduction to Linear Algebra

This is one of the most recommended book on Linear Algebra. The author of this book is Gilbert Strang, Professor, MIT. Gilbert unique way of delivering knowledge would give you the intuition and excitement to move forward after every chapter. This book will help you to build a strong mathematical foundation for machine learning. It enlists all the necessary chapters such as vectors, linear equations, determinants, eigenvalues, matrix factorization etc in great depth.

Available: Buy on Amazon

28Matrix Computation

Matrix and Data frames are essential components of machine learning. The author of this book is Gene H Golub and Charles F Van Loan. This book provides a nice head start to students with concepts of matrix computations. The author covers most of the important topics such as gaussian elimination, matrix factorization, lancoz method, error analysis etc. Every chapter is supported by intuitive practice problems. The pseudo codes are available in Matlab.

Available: Free Download

29A Probabilistic Theory of Pattern Recognition

This is a complete resource to learn application of mathematics. This is a must read book for intermediate and advanced practitioners in machine learning. This book is written by Luc Devroye, Laszlo Gyorfi and Gabor Lugosi. It covers a wide range of topics varying from bayes error, linear discrimination to epsilon entropy & neural networks. It provides a convincing explanation to complex theorems with section wise practice problems.

Available: Free Download

30Introduction of Math of Neural Networks

If you have innate interest in learning about neural network, this should be your place to start. The author of this book is Jeff Heaton. The author has beautifully simplified the difficult concepts of neural networks. This book introduces you to basics of underlying maths in neural networks. It assumes reader has prior knowledge of algebra, calculus and programming. It demonstrates various mathematical tools which can be applied to neural networks.

Available: Buy on Amazon

31Advanced Engineering Mathematics

This is probably the most comprehensive book available on mathematics for machine learning users. The author of this book is Erwin Kreyszig. As a matter of fact, this book is highly recommended to college students as well. If you haven’t been good at maths till now, follow this book religiously and you should surely see significant improvements in your math understanding. Along with derivations & practice example, this book has dedicated sections of calculus, algebra, probability etc. Definitely, a must read book for all levels of practitioners in data science.

Available: Free Download

Cookbook on Probability and Statistics

This cookbook is must have in your digital bookshelf. This isn’t exactly a text book you’d discover, but a quick digital guide on mathematical equations. The author of this book is Matthias Vallentin. After you finish with essentials of mathematics, this book will help you connect various theorem and algorithm quickly with their formulae. It’s difficult to derive equations instantly, this book will help you to quickly navigate to your desired problem and solve.

Available: Free Download

Additional Resources

Bored of reading too much ? Here are is a list of highly recommended tutorials (video) / resources on mathematics and statistics. They are FREE to access.

  1. Complete Course on Linear Algebra by MIT
  2. Complete Course on Multivariable Calculus by MIT
  3. Statistical Learning by Stanford University
  4. Mathematics at Khan Academy
  5. Full Cheatsheet on Probability

Conclusion

The books listed in this article are selected on the basis of their reviews and depth of topics covered. This is not an exhaustive list of books. But, I found it’s almost too easy to get confused while deciding ‘from where to begin?’ In such situations, it is advisable to start with this list.

In this article, I’ve put together a list of really helpful books for data science about numbers and computer learning stuff. People often need to remember these things to be successful quickly. But there are better ways to do it. If you want to be good at data science for a long time, read books that help you understand and tell stories with numbers and math.

Have you read any of these books ? Which book on mathematics and statistics has helped you the most ? Please share your suggestions / reviews in the comments section below.

You want to apply your analytical skills and test your potential? Then participate in our Hackathons and compete with Top Data Scientists from all over the world.

best book for statistics for data sciencebest statistics book for data sciencebooks on calculusbooks on linear algebrabooks on mathematicsbooks on probabilitybooks on statisticsmaths for machine learningtutorials on maths with data science
A
Analytics Vidhya

Analytics Vidhya Content team

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Responses From Readers

Clear

Kamal
Kamal

Wow! That's a long list of books. Hoping to thoroughly read one of these.

123

Analytics Vidhya Content Team
Analytics Vidhya Content Team

All the Best !

123
Dr.D.K.Samuel
Dr.D.K.Samuel

Dear Manish Saraswat, thanks for a nice list. i have downloaded all, now I have to learn, understand and do (my progress is one cm a day!)

123

Analytics Vidhya Content Team
Analytics Vidhya Content Team

If you really plan at completing this list, great! I'd suggest you to start with easy ones like linear algebra and introduction to statistical learning. These will ignite your appetite to learn more and take up more complex concepts. Wish you luck!

123
Sanjay
Sanjay

Hello. Have you downloaded all these books? Can you send it to me at [email protected]. Kindly revert back to me. Thanks

123
Koushik
Koushik

Is there any ebook in the internet ?

123

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19 MOOCs on Mathematics & Statistics for Data Science & Machine Learning
19 MOOCs on Mathematics & Statistics for Data Science & Machine Learning
Top 7 Data Science Books To Transform: Novice to Intermediate
Top 7 Data Science Books To Transform: Novice to Intermediate

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