Editorial Reviews
Jason R. Taylor, SB&F, May/June 1999
"This is a wonderful book. The author lucidly describes the computational beauty of nature from four different perspectives: `Computer Explorations,' `Chaos,'‘Complex Systems,' and `Adaptation,'... Using all four approaches, Flake not only clearly describes nature, but also presents the same phenomena with each approach. This strategy gives the reader a very broad-based educational experience and promotes critical thinking. Without such a presentation, explaining models that purport to describe `nature' can be quite intimidating. Flexibility is another major plus of this publication: Readers may skip a portion of any section or even an entire section without loss of continuity... reading this awe-inspiring book will be a colorful experience for the mind."
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Book Description
In this book Gary William Flake develops in depth the simple idea that recurrent rules can produce rich and complicated behaviors. Distinguishing "agents" (e.g., molecules, cells, animals, and species) from their interactions (e.g., chemical reactions, immune system responses, sexual reproduction, and evolution), Flake argues that it is the computational properties of interactions that account for much of what we think of as "beautiful" and "interesting." From this basic thesis, Flake explores what he considers to be today's four most interesting computational topics: fractals, chaos, complex systems, and adaptation.
Each of the book's parts can be read independently, enabling even the casual reader to understand and work with the basic equations and programs. Yet the parts are bound together by the theme of the computer as a laboratory and a metaphor for understanding the universe. The inspired reader will experiment further with the ideas presented to create fractal landscapes, chaotic systems, artificial life forms, genetic algorithms, and artificial neural networks.
The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation
The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation,Gary William Flake,The MIT Press,0262561271,Computer Bks - General Information,Computer Books: General,Computer Science,Computer Simulation,Computers,Programming - General,Computers / Computer Science
Hot Books:
Recommended Books