''An invaluable companion for anyone who wants a deep understanding of what’s under the hood of often inscrutable machines'' Melanie Mitchell A rich, narrative explanation of the mathematics that has brought us machine learning and the ongoing explosion of artificial intelligenceMachine-learning systems are making life-altering decisions for us: approving mortgage loans, determining whether a tumour is cancerous, or deciding whether someone gets bailThey now influence discoveries in chemistry, biology and physics - the study of genomes, extra-solar planets, even the intricacies of quantum systems.We are living through a revolution in artificial intelligence that is not slowing down. This major shift is based on simple mathematics, some of which goes back centuries: linear algebra and calculus, the stuff of eighteenth-century mathematicsIndeed by the mid-1850s, a lot of the groundwork was all done. It took the development of computer science and the kindling of 1990s computer chips desi