資訊科學 (Information Science)：從五個面向來看

這是作者 David G. Luenberger 在 Stanford University 教課所開發的教科書 (註 1)，Luenberger 教授寫了幾本經典之作，例如 Linear and Nonlinear Programming、Optimization by Vector Space Methods、Investment Science。維持其一貫的風格，這本書清楚地使用五個角度 (Entropy, Economics, Encryption, Extraction, and Emission) 來分析與了解資訊科學，四個主題 (average performance, optimality, complexity, structure) 則貫穿其中。 

書商的介紹詞如下

"From cell phones to Web portals, advances in information and communications technology have thrust society into an information age that is far-reaching, fast-moving, increasingly complex, and yet essential to modern life. Now, renowned scholar and author David Luenberger has produced Information Science, a text that distills and explains the most important concepts and insights at the core of this ongoing revolution. The book represents the material used in a widely acclaimed course offered at Stanford University.

Drawing concepts from each of the constituent subfields that collectively comprise information science, Luenberger builds his book around the five "E's" of information: Entropy, Economics, Encryption, Extraction, and Emission. Each area directly impacts modern information products, services, and technology--everything from word processors to digital cash, database systems to decision making, marketing strategy to spread spectrum communication.

To study these principles is to learn how English text, music, and pictures can be compressed, how it is possible to construct a digital signature that cannot simply be copied, how beautiful photographs can be sent from distant planets with a tiny battery, how communication networks expand, and how producers of information products can make a profit under difficult market conditions."

(註 1) David G. Luenberger, Information Science, Princeton University Press, 2006. 完成時作者已經 69 歲，在美國很常見。參考先前 blog 的 Dr. Tapley。