Volume 1 of 4 · PDF and notebooks
Foundations, Control, and Representations
Build a first working model, then study the state estimation, control, and representation choices that make its predictions useful for decisions.
18 chapters · 608 pages · Perpetual updates
What you will learn
- Separate predictive accuracy from decision usefulness.
- Track hidden state with beliefs, filters, and sufficient representations.
- Connect system identification and control to learned world models.
Before you start
Basic Python, probability, linear algebra, and calculus. The examples start with small systems before introducing learned models.
Own Volume 1
$29 once. The PDF and companion notebook ZIP are yours to download, with every future update to this volume included.
Prefer all four volumes? Library access is $79. Owned volumes receive full upgrade credit; three distinct volumes unlock the library automatically. No combined PDF is delivered.
Included chapters
All chapters remain free to read online.
Part I: The World-Model Idea
Part II: Inference, Decisions, and Control
Version history
Kept current, not frozen in time
Library access includes every future volume and update. When a volume changes, its updated PDF appears in My books at no extra cost.
Current release
Edition 2026.10.0
First edition: 72 chapters across four standalone volume PDFs, with executable companion notebooks and perpetual updates.
Author and edition details
About the author and this edition
Michael Brenndoerfer
Michael has spent more than a decade working across software engineering, data, AI, and business. He writes to understand difficult ideas more deeply and to share what he learns in a clear, practical way.
- Edition
- First edition
- Published
- Last reviewed