Machine Learning Survey Paper

The paper "A few useful things to know about machine learning" by Pedro Domingos is in my opinion the single best introduction to the field of machine learning. In just nine pages the author is able to explain the issues at the heart of machine learning & data science. Most textbooks read like a dictionary of models and algorithms, but this paper does a fantastic job of tying them together into a cohesive whole. Strongly recommend.

https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~pedrod/papers/cacm12.pdf