I am taking a Computational Complexity course this semester, taught by Prof Daniel Leivant. The course had not been going too well for me - I felt that though I understood many of the details, I didn't really learn anything since my intuitions drew a blank.

Towards the end of the semester (actually in the very last week), I got my hands on Dr Christos Papadimitriou's text on Computational Complexity. This was such a nicely done book. What also struck me was the subtle elegance of many things. In class, Dr Leivant had mentioned that Papadimitriou was a man of much good taste and style, and this does seem to reflect in his text.

For example the books cover is a the painting of Venus by Botticelli. The front cover looks complex and confusing. It is not immediately apparent what the picture is, much like the subject of computational complexity.

But if you were able to look behind complexity, if you turned the book over, you would see the beautiful face of Venus.