- "Maybe it was fated that Pickover, a polymathic researcher and professional observer of the weird, would eventually write about the mysteries of divination; his 20-some popular books cover subjects as diverse as aliens, fractals, and the nature of time. In this hefty but fast-paced work, Pickover's infectious enthusiasm spins unstoppably.... True believers and skeptics alike cannot fail to be won over by Pickover's disarming affection for his subjects even at their most ridiculous. The human need for belief being perhaps the future's only certainty, this book should delight anyone who suspects truth is stranger than fiction, and everyone who has ever wished the implausible were true. - Publisher's Weekly
- "Clifford Pickover has written another marvelous book. Through conversations between whimsical Dr. Googol and his pupil Monica, you can test your wits on an incredible variety of unusual mathematical puzzles and games. Along the way there are fascinating historical facts and math gossip to enjoy. You can't help absorbing a great deal of important math as you pick your way through Pickover's delightful pick of fresh, little-known gems of recreational mathematics." - Martin Gardner
- "I'm a big fan of serious books on medical oddities. And right next to my copies of certified classics will go Cliff Pickover's The Girl Who Gave Birth to Rabbits. The bizarre tale of Mary Toft will simultaneously fascinate and horrify. That's an unbeatable combination, and it gets my three thumbs up!" -- Professor Paul J. Nahin, author of Time Machines,
- "This book strains, stretches, and then crushes the brain without the slightest apology from its author. Clifford Pickover, the ultimate mental trainer, offers the secrets of life as they have been explored in literature, anthropology, philosophy, religion, history, science, and mysticism -- all in a code that is as beautiful to the eye as it is baffling to the cortex." - Odyssey
Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-513006-5. Amazon.Com
- I know of no subject in mathematics that has intrigued both children and adults as much as the idea of a fourth dimension -- a spatial direction different from all the directions of our normal three-dimensional space. Philosophers and parapsychologists have meditated upon this dimension that no one can point to but may be all around us. Theologians have speculated that the afterlife, heaven, hell, angels, and our souls could reside in a fourth dimension -- that God and Satan could literally be lumps of hypermatter in a four-dimensional space inches away from our ordinary three-dimensional world.
- "I can't imagine anybody whose mind won't be stretched by this book -- but I only hope it isn't responsible for an outbreak of mysterious disappearances." - ARTHUR C. CLARKE
- "Drawing on an arsenal of recent discoveries about our own evolution and the life forms present in every crevice of Earth, Pickover surmises about extraterrestrial creatures. If we are to believe that our first contact may be through radio signals a la the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program, then aliens are likely to size us up according to the heavily transmitted Super Bowl or episodes of Baywatch." - Science News
- "Only Clifford Pickover would think of mixing time travel and music. Gripping, clear -- this book could well be his best yet! A must buy for all wannabe time travelers." - Ian Stewart, Scientific American
- "Who else but the maestro of mathematical creativity, Clifford Pickover, to curate a museum of Strange Brains and write biographies of the scientific geniuses who formerly owned them? I'll never look at a pidgeon, a pearl, or a Wheatstone bridge the same way again." - Mark Frauenfelder, Associate Editor, Wired
- "Fascinating... Pickover argues persuasively for the importance of fractals and chaos.... Both fractal artists and scientists will find inspiration in this excellent showcase of the relevance of chaos to the broader field of science." - Scientific Computing World
The Loom of God bridges the gulf that has so long divided mathematics and religion. In a blend of science, science fiction, history, and dazzling computer imagery, I help the reader understand mystical relationships between numbers, God, and the mathematical fabric of our universe. From the mysterious cult of Pythagoras, to the awesome mechanics of Stonehenge, to the fearsome gargoyles and glorious fractals created on the computer screens of today, I explain the power of numbers and their connection with the search for the ultimate meaning and Apocalypse of the universe.
- "As far as I know, Clifford Pickover is the first mathematician
to write a book about areas where math and theology overlap. Are there
mathematical proofs of God? Who are the great mathematicians who believed
in a deity? Does numerology lead anywhere when applied to sacred literature?
Pickover covers these and many other off-trail topics with his usual verve,
humor, and clarity. And along the way the reader will learn a great deal
of serious mathematics." - Martin Gardner
"Pickover's lively, provocative travel guide takes readers into the fascinating realm of mystic math, from perfectly strange numbers to fractured geometries and other curious nooks and crannies of ancient worlds and modern times." - Ivars Peterson, Science News, Author of "The Mathematical Tourist: Snapshots of Modern Mathematics"
"Chock-full of mathematical treats, The Loom of God takes you on a trip which explores ideas in a totally non-threatening, enjoyable format. Entertaining and informative adventure of Pickover's fictional characters -- Theano and Mr. Plex -- bring to life such things as: the golden mean, spirals in hyperspace, the Inca quipus, string theory, the wild and diverse world of numbers. A must for the I-hate-math person as well as the mathematical explorer." - Theoni Pappas, author of The Joy of Mathematics
"Pickover has done it again, with a marvelously entertaining, historical romp through the unexpected connections between mathematics and mysticism." - Paul Hoffman, President/Editer-in-Chief, Discover magazine
"Without peer as an idea machine, Cliff Pickover proves equally adept at writing, The Loom of God is a well-crafted piece of mathematical science fiction." - Charles Aschbacher, Book Review Editor, Journal of Recreational Mathematics
"If you ever doubted that science and religion have commonality, this is the book for you. In The Loom of God, Cliff Pickover, in his irrepressible style, frolics through a forest of mathematical curiosities and historical tidbits, all skillfully woven into a futuristic fantasy, leaving you to wonder where he learned all that." - Julien C. Sprott, Professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Here is the book's Table of Contents:
1 Are Numbers Gods?
2 The End of The World
3 Pentagonal Numbers
4 Doomsday: Friday 13, November, A.D. 2026
5 666,666, Gnomons, and Oblong Numbers
6 St. Augustine Numbers
7 Perfection
8 Turks and Christians
9 The Ars Magna of Ramon Lull
10 Death Stars, a Prelude to August 21, 2126
11 Stonehenge
12 Urantia and 5,342,482,337,666
13 Fractals and God
14 Behold the Fractal Quipu
15 The Eye of God
16 Number Caves
17 Numerical Gargoyles
18 Astronomical Computers in Canchal de Mahoma
19 Kabala
20 Mathematical Proofs of God's Existence
21 Eschaton Now
22 Epilogue
Postscript 1. Goedel's Mathematical Proof of God's Existence
Postscript 2. Mathematicians Who Were Religious
Postscript 3. Author's Musings
Smorgasbord for Computer Junkies
Notes
References
About the Author
The Alien IQ Test is an irresistibly addictive book for anyone whose juices flow when presented with baffling puzzles, and dizzying array of graphic brainteasers, all devised (if you dare to believe) by aliens who have arrived to assess our intelligence in such far-flung areas of the human mind as abstract reasoning, mathematics, religion, morality, and humanity's concept of beauty.
- "If pop culture (the Hollywood blockbuster Independence
Day, hit TV shows like the X-Files and Third Rock from the Sun) is a prophet
to be trusted, aliens may soon outnumber humans on this planet. Fortunately...
a manual will ease the strain of forced introductions. The strange, symbolic
transmissions we've received from outer space (haven't we?) are collected
by Clifford Pickover in THE ALIEN IQ TEST: ARE WE UP TO THE CHALLENGE?
The problems, puzzles, and questions in this Basic Books title are intended
to assess human intelligence -- making this a quiz we simply mustn't fail."
-- Publisher's Weekly, January 20, 1997, p. 346
"Clifford Pickover is many things -- scientist, scholar, author, editor, and visionary -- and so it may surprise some that he seems to be embracing the shadowy world of alien visitation and abduction. Yet the man OMNI magazine recently described as "Van Leeuwenhoek's 20th century equivalent" has just written a book titled THE ALIEN IQ TEST that is filled, in his own words, with "strange looking puzzles... from another world -- a world where small gray beings visit us only at night." Perhaps in subtle jest, perhaps in utter seriousness, Pickover would have us believe that this illustrated collection of mindbenders came to him in a dream (or was it a dream?), and is a "universal standard" by which some extraterrestrial civilization is judging our basic intelligence and capacity for logic. GAMES is pleased to provide an advance sample (direct from a secret government installation, under the tightest security) of the puzzles contained therein, to allow you to test your cosmic awareness." - Games magazine, April, 1997, pg 48.
Book's Table of Contents:
Preface
Chapter 1. Who This Book is For
Chapter 2. Symbols and Difficulty Levels
Chapter 3. Alien Tiles
Chapter 4. Alien Sperm
Chapter 5. Alien Ellipses
Chapter 6. Alien Repeats
Chapter 7. Alien Matrix
Chapter 8. Internal Organs
Chapter 9. Alien Dissection
Chapter 10. Alien Addition
Chapter 11. Hyperdimensional Sz'kwa
Chapter 12. Alien Spiral
Chapter 13. Survival on Arcturus
Chapter 14. Alien Medallion with Lights
Chapter 15. The Omega Prism
Chapter 16. Alien Worm
Chapter 17. Alien Homoptera
Chapter 18. Star Chart
Chapter 19. Alien Spores 1
Chapter 20. Alien Spores 2
Chapter 21. Alien Spores 3
Chapter 22. Alien Spores 4
Chapter 23. Alien Spores 5
Chapter 24. Rubik's Tesseract
Chapter 25. Animal Eye
Chapter 26. Cosmic Rosetta Stone
Chapter 27. Alien Ants in Hyperspace
Chapter 28. A Severed Human Finger
Chapter 29. The Antikythera Mechanism
Chapter 30. Alien Scrambling
Chapter 31. Alien Aesthetics
Chapter 32. Alien Knowledge and Talent
Chapter 33. The Sagittarius Maneuver
Chapter 34. Siriusian Geometry
Chapter 35. Human Brains in a Jar
Chapter 36. Human Belief Structure
Chapter 37. Contact from the Pleiades
Chapter 38. The Elk Hunter's Abduction
Chapter 39. Loss of Scientific Knowledge
Chapter 40. Aliens and Sprinklers
Chapter 41. Unanswered Questions
Chapter 42. Moral and Emotional Choices of Humans
Chapter 43. Coded Transmission
Solutions
For Further Reading
About the Author
"That he gets his ideas from aliens while sleeping is the most plausible explanation I've heard of how Cliff Pickover keeps coming up with these thought-provoking questions and engaging riddles." - Julien C. Sprott, Professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison
"The most original -- and challenging -- puzzle book for years. Clifford Pickover just seems to exist in more dimensions than the rest of us." - Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics, University of Warwick, and author of Nature's Numbers
"If earthly problems and puzzles have become too mundane for you -- match wits with those in Pickover's new and literally far out The Alien IQ Test. Another ingenious twist by a master of puzzles and brainteasers." - Theoni Pappas, author of The Joy of Mathematics and The Mathematics Calendar
Fractal horizons is a practical guide to exploring the inexhaustible reservoir of magnificent shapes, images, and ideas associated with fractals. From art poster designs to educational tools, computer-generated fractals patterns' usage is booming. Fractal Horizons gives an account of the state of the art and speculates on advances in the future. Contributors explore the challenges of using fractals in education, art, music, fashion, chess, medicine, and more. Filled with beautiful images, an intriguing array of artistic and scientific topics, and computer/mathematical recipes, the book will appeal to anyone fascinated by unusual ideas and optically provocative art. Six broad sections: Fractals in Education, Fractals in Art, Fractal Models and Metaphors, Fractals in Music and Sound, Fractals in Medicine, and Fractals and Mathematics. Topics include: challenges of using fractals in the classroom, new ways of generating art and music, the use of fractals in clothing fashions of the future, fractal holograms, fractals in medicine, fractals in boardrooms of the future, fractals in chess.
- Book Table of Contents:
Preface
PART I. FRACTALS IN EDUCATION
Chapter 1. Conquering the Math Bogeyman - William Beaumont
Chapter 2. The Fractal Curriculum - David Fowler
Chapter 3. Fractals and Education: Helping Arts Students
to See Science - Michael Frame
PART II. FRACTALS IN ART
Chapter 4. The Computer Artist and Art Critic - J. Clint
Sprott
Chapter 5. The Future of Fractals in Fashion - Danielle
Gaines
Chapter 6. Knight Life - Ronald Brown
PART III. FRACTAL MODELS AND METAPHORS
Chapter 7. One Metaphor Fits All: A Fractal Voyage with
Conway's Audioactive Decay - Mario Hilgemeier
Chapter 8. Sponges, Cities, Anthills, and Economies -
Tim Greer
Chapter 9. Fractal Holograms - Douglas Winsand
Chapter 10. Boardrooms of the Future: The Fractal Nature
of Organizations - Glenda Eoyang and Kevin Dooley
PART IV. FRACTALS IN MUSIC AND SOUND
Chapter 11. Fractal Music - Manfred Schroeder
Chapter 12. Using Strange Attractors to Model Sound -
Jonathan Mackenzie
PART V. FRACTALS IN MEDICINE
Chapter 13. Pathology in Geometry and Geometry in Pathology
- Gabriel Landini
Chapter 14. Fractal Statistics: Toward a Theory of Medicine
- Bruce West
Part VI. FRACTALS AND MATHEMATICS
Chapter 15. Fractals and the Grand Internet Parallel
Processing Project - Jay R. Hill
Chapter 16. Self-Similarity in Quasi-Symmetrical Structures
- Arthur Loeb
Chapter 17. Fat Fractals in Lyapunov Space - Mario Markus
and Javier Tamames
Glossary
What if you could actually travel to the very edge of a black hole? What would it look like? How close could you get before you were "sucked in"? If you were, could you ever get back out? In Black Holes, A Traveler's Guide, you take off on a mind-boggling journey to the ultimate frontier of fact-based scientific speculation. The book's premise finds you the captain of a spaceship who, along with your first mate, probes the mysteries of the most interesting and elusive objects in the universe.
- The book has an appendix with computer recipes in C and
BASIC so you can become your own Black Hole explorer.
-
"Clifford Pickover, an extraordinarily prolific and polymathic research scientist at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, has consistently been one of the most creative writers about computer graphics, scientific visualization, and mathematical models of natural and physical systems. This latest offering is classic Pickover in its wealth of information, ideas, bold speculations and and propositions -- including proposed "hands-on" experiments with black holes -- which just may turn out to be plausible. Recommended."
- "Although the Hubble Space Telescope has recently confirmed the existence of black holes, very little is known about them -- keeping speculation about time travel, wormholes, and the like alive. Pickover provides an amusing tour of the known and unknown regions of black holes by exploring their composition and the possibilities of parallel universes. Indicative of his background in computer science, this is almost an interactive read as Pickover provides a wealth of experiments and computer applications that further the understanding of event horizons, tidal forces, warps, etc."
- "Pickover explores the mathematics of the commotion that a black hole creates, from spacewarps to gravitational waves. Simple equations illustrate everything from the mass of a black hole to the curvature of space nearby. Pickover definitely succeeds in giving a feel for the gigantic forces at work. His traveller's guide has interactive, puzzle- book appeal. Anyone remotely interested in numbers will find it hard to resist testing the equations out... No other book has a storyline as bonkers as this one. It's a winner."
- "Bucky Fuller thought big, Arthur C. Clarke thinks big, but Cliff Pickover outdoes them both. In BLACK HOLES - A TRAVELER'S GUIDE (John Wiley, 1996), he proposes to ring a halo around a black hole to show what it would look like..."
- "Dr. Pickover, with his usual enthusiasm, wit, and knowledge, accompanied by his familiar superb computer graphics, has turned his attention toward black holes and their bizarre properties. Many books have been written about black holes, but none that surpass this one in arousing emotions of awe and wonder toward the mysterious structure of our universe."
- "As one of the thousands who contracted incurable fractaphilia by exposure to the Mandelbrot set, I've much enjoyed Cliff Pickover's earlier books on this infectious disease. Now he has ventured into an even more dangerous territory -- the exploration of Black Holes. All before they set out. However, like Cliff's earlier books, this should carry the warning: 'Reading may be dangerous to your wealth.' It may create an overwhelming impulse to buy a more powerful computer."
- "For years writers, artists, and scientists have complained about the division between the sciences and the arts. Some have tried to build bridges across the line, but Clifford Pickover is one of the *very* few who successfully erases the line itself. In *Black Holes: A Traveler's Guide*, Pickover provides a wonderfully illustrated explanation of some of the strangest objects in the universe. While aimed at the beginning black hole explorer, there are marvelous discoveries waiting here for both the novice and the expert."
- "A fascinating computer-assisted 'science faction' [sic] tour of the physics and mathematics of black holes, presented in Clifford Pickover's inimitable offbeat and always readable style. Isaac Asimov, in devil's advocate mode, once asked whether these 'invisible nothings' are worthy of serious consideration. They are!"
- "Solid science illuminated by vivid images and amusing dialogs, Cliff Pickover's latest computer-aided adventure takes readers on an entertaining, edifying trek to the brink of a black hole."
Table of Contents:
Preface
Chapter 1. How to Calculate a Black Hole's Mass
Chapter 2. The Black Hole's Event Horizon Circumference
Chapter 3. Black Hole Tidal Forces
Chapter 4. A Black Hole's Gravitational Lens
Chapter 5. A Black Hole's Gravitational Blueshift
Chapter 6. Gravitational Time Dilation
Chapter 7. Anatomical Dissection of Black Holes
Chapter 8. Embedding Diagrams for Warped Spacetime
Chapter 9. Gravitational Wave Recoil
Chapter 10. Optical Appearance of a Collapsing Star
Chapter 11. Gravitational Distension Near a Black Hole's Heart
Chapter 12. Quantum Foam
Chapter 13. Black Hole Recreations
Chapter 14. Mathematical Black Holes
Chapter 15. Black Holes Evaporate
Chapter 16. Wormholes, Cosmological Doughnuts, and Parallel Universes
Postscript 1. Could We be Living in a Black Hole?
Postscript 2. The Grand Internet Black Hole Survey
Author's Musings
Smorgasbord for Computer Junkies
- The Editors of Amazon.Com
- Science News, May 25, 1996 149(21): 322.
- "Space, sex, and sums", by Hazel Muir, New Scientist, May 25, 1996
- P. Patton, "Curved Light", WIRED magazine, June 1996, 4.06 page 130-131.
- Martin Gardner
- Arthur C. Clarke
- Marc Hairston, Hanson Center for Space Sciences
- Ian Stewart, Author of "Does God Play Dice?"
- Ivars Peterson, Math/Physics Editor, Science News Author of Newton's Clock: Chaos in the Solar System
What can we know about numbers too large to compute and even imagine? Do the tiny bubbles in the froth of a milkshake actually form an infinite fractal pattern? What are apocalyptic numbers and recursive worlds? These and dozens of equally beguiling mathematical mysteries, problems and paradoxes fill this mind-bending book.
- Here is the book's Table of Contents
-
"...An enchanting journey, revealing the beauty of patterns and numbers for artists and scientists alike. This is mathematical tourism at its very best, a fine reminder that our universe is infinitely stranger than we could ever, ever imagine. For Pickover, PCs are the sketch pads and laboratories of our age, microscopes and spaceships for professionals and amateurs alike to explore the infinitely large and infinitely small. His universe is populated by strange frogs, wriggling worms with weird allergies, and infinite chessboards. This is a wonderland which recalls Borges and Carroll, or Martin Gardner and Douglas Hofstadter's sublime columns in Scientific American. There are mind-blowing moments when infinity becomes a slippery monster with countless guises. An inventive book..."
- "Inventive, quirky, fun! Pickover presents an engaging, inspiring romp in the realm of number and mathematical thought."
- "Keys to Infinity contains a near infinity of absorbing themes: from step ladders to the moon and spiral earths, to worm worlds, random chords, and self-similar curlicues. Fascinating!" - Manfred Schroeder, University of Goettingen, and AT&T Bell Labs, Author of Fractals, Chaos, Power Laws
- "What could be more appropriate to the subject of infinity than a book like this one, so dense with wonderful puzzles, anecdotes, images, and computer programs that you could pore over it forever? In Key to Infinity, Pickover has once again assembled a mathematical feast."
- "Join Pickover on his wonderful merry-go-round of ideas, and reach for the infinite. Keys to Infinity is an engaging book presenting a diverse spectrum of concepts relating to infinity. Climb the Ladders to Heaven, play Infinite Chess, be perplexed by Cyclotron Puzzles. A must for those wishing to explore the infinite in all its manifestations.
- "Cliff Pickover has produced yet another book of mathematical puzzles, weird facts, computer art, and simple programs to challenge our minds and enthrall us with the beauty of the infinite mathematical world in which we live."
- "In this the latest of Dr. Pickover's marvelous books, he breaks all finite chains to soar into the transcendental, mind-boggling regions of mathematical infinity." - Martin Gardner
- "Keys to Infinity is an original and exciting exploration of how utterly weird, and utterly beautiful, the infinite can be."
Chapter 1. Too Many Threes
Chapter 2. Ladders to Heaven
Chapter 3. Infinity Machines
Chapter 4. Infinity World
Chapter 5. Grid of the Gods
Chapter 6. To the Valley of the Sea Horses
Chapter 7. The Million-Dollar, Trillion-Digit Pi Sequencing
Initiative
Chapter 8. Infinite Chess
Chapter 9. The Loom of Creation
Chapter 10. Slides in Hell
Chapter 11. Alien Abduction Algebra
Chapter 12. The Leviathan Number
Chapter 13. Welcome to Worm World
Chapter 14. Fractal Milkshakes and Infinite Archery
Chapter 15. Creating Life Using The Cancer Game
Chapter 16. No Zeros Allowed
Chapter 17. Infinite Star Chambers
Chapter 18. Infinitely Exploding Circles
Chapter 19. The Infinity Worms of Callisto
Chapter 20. The Undulation of the Monks
Chapter 21. The Fractal Golden Curlicue is Cool
Chapter 22. The Loneliness of the Factorions
Chapter 23. Escape from Fractalia
Chapter 24. Are Infinite Carotid-Kundalini Functions
Fractal?
Chapter 25. The Crying of Fractal Batrachion 1,489
Chapter 26. Ramanujan, Infinity, and The Majesty of the
Quattuordecillion
Chapter 27. Recursive Worlds
Chapter 28. Chaos in Ontario
Chapter 29. Cyclotron Puzzles
Chapter 30. Vampire Numbers
Chapter 31. Computers, Randomness, Mind, and Infinity
Appendix - Longer Computer Programs
Color Plates
- The Irish Times, 1996
- Ivars Peterson, author of The Mathematical Tourist, Math/physics editor, Science News
- Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine
- Theoni Pappas, author of The Joy of Mathematics
- Dr. Julien C. Sprott, author of Strange Attractors: Creating Patterns in Chaos
- Ian Stewart
Japanese translation by Morikita Shuppan. Chinese translation by Triumph Publishing, Republic of China.
Chaos in Wonderland presents a creative blend of science fiction, mathematics, astronomy, and computer graphics to introduce you to chaos science -- the science behind many intricate and unpredictable patterns in mathematics and nature. To make your journey more interesting, the storyline describes the biology, sociology, and technology of creatures living on the moon of Jupiter. Their heads are composed of semiconductor materials that enable them to spend their days in contemplation of beautiful mathematical patterns created by chaos. Status in their society is determined by the beauty of their fractal dreams.
- "Stir together a mixture of fractals, chaos, computer graphics, and science fiction. What do you get? You get a dazzling introduction to chaos science by Clifford Pickover, the indefatigable computer scientist. Dr. Pickover alleges that his gorgeous swirling art, generated by the strange attractors of two simple formulas are the dreams of limbless, brainy creatures living below the icy surface of Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon." - Martin Gardner
- "Pickover's work is a courageous experiment in imaginative mathematical exposition... It has the potential to attract a new audience into mathematics... considerable enlightenment." - New Scientist
- "A dazzling survey of chaos theory embedded in a marvelous mix of fractals, computer graphics and amusing science fiction." - Washington Post
- "Take an amount of mathematics, science fiction, and computer graphics -- add chemistry and classical literature, a little at a time, stirring well after each addition until the mixture reaches a well- defined consistency, and yet another beautiful Pickover book is ready to be served. This book can be enjoyed at several levels... The surprises it contains and the ease of communication give us assurance that there may be many more Pickover books to come, and we can hardly wait for them." - Leonardo
- "A fascinating project, a worthy addition to _Flatland_ and _The Planiverse_!" - Arthur C. Clarke
- "Pickover weaves a fascinating and entertaining tale of fact and fiction in _Chaos in Wonderland_. While learning of the intricacies of the world of the Latoocarfians, we are skillfully introduced to the mathematics of chaos. His mixture of fantasy and mathematics creates an eeriness of reality that is both informative and thought provoking." - Theoni Pappas, author of _The Joy of Mathematics_
- "A leading expert in computer visualization, Pickover now enthralls us with his art, mathematical games, and science fiction. This latter- day Lewis Carroll introduces us to alien creatures with computer brains and mathematical souls. Their social status is based on the beauty of geometrical patterns communicated to one another with infrared beams. You will be delighted at the mathematical wonderland Pickover provides using media more suited to us humans." - Prof. J. C. Sprott, author of _Strange Attractors_
- "To sum it up: it's all fun with fractals." - Los Angles Times
- "Pickover skillfully introduces some of the important concepts of chaos theory (attractor, fractal, Lyapunov exponent).... All is intriguing.... Ingenious... Extraordinary." - Choice Magazine, 1995
- "Clifford Pickover does a wonderful job of presenting the very complicated topic of fractals. The images are gorgeous." - American Scientist
- "Pickover has published nearly a book a year in which he stretches the limits of computers, art, and thought." - Los Angeles Times, 1995
- "Pickover's book does for the theory of chaos and fractals what Abbott's Flatland did for higher-dimensional geometry." - Mathematical Reviews, 1995
- "A courageous experiment in imaginative mathematical exposition. Intriguing. Radical." - New Scientist, 1995
Mazes for the Mind takes you on a roller-coaster ride through the unpredictable and exciting universe of computers, games, puzzles, mazes and computer art. In chapters such as "My Computer Esophagus," "The Cro-Magnon Conquest Game," "Feminism and Fractals," and "Lava Lamps in the 21st Century," I cover topics dealing with strange music, the fourth dimension, time travel, strange technologies, and weird numbers.
- "There seems to be no end to the mathematical and mental riches Clifford Pickover keeps giving us. In this, his latest book, the central theme is exploration, with emphasis on the computer as a recreational tool. The book is a feast of puzzles, science fiction, weird numbers, curious sequences, strange mazes and games, hyperdimensional structures, fractals, chaos, unorthodox chess and music, computer lava lamps, pi curios, games, and a thousand other points of mathematical light -- all interlaced with dazzling illustrations."
- "A delightful trip along the fractal frontier between art and mathematics. Once again, it raises the old problem: does mathematics really exist, or do we make it all up? If so, there are some pretty weird minds out there -- and good luck to them!"
- "Buckle your mental seatbelts, and keep your eyes open: it's a whole new ride on Pickover's visual express." - A. K. Dewdney, Scientific American
- "Join this marvelous computer safari -- experience the kingdom of the slugs and fractal ants, learn of extraterrestrial messages in our genes and of music machines, discover fascinating new computer worlds in art, music, mathematics, and science." - Theoni Pappas, author of The Joy of Mathematics
- "Clifford Pickover is the best new math writer in years. His work corsucates with wit and energy. Buy this book and feed your head!" -
- "Want to exapand or possibly explode your mind?" - Leonardo
- "Run, leap, rush, scurry and scoot to your nearest bookstore and get this book. Every now and then, a book comes along that reminds us what computers are all about -- not spreadsheets and databases, but expansion of the mind and soul." - BYTE
- Sample chapter titles: "Fractals and Feminism", "My Computer Esophagus", "The Cro-Magnon Conquest Game", "Electronic Ant Farms", "Fantastic Feather Fractals", "Music beyond Imagination", "Strange Technology", "Weird Numbers", "Fractal Spiders", "Computers and Near-Death Experiences", etc.
- Martin Gardner, Scientific American
- Arthur C. Clarke
- Rudy Rucker, author of The Fourth Dimension and Infinity and The Mind
"Pickover's dazzling array of tortuous mind-benders and
arcane minutiae delights and surprises. It's easy to get trapped in his
enticing labyrinth of seductive mental games."
- Ivars Peterson, Science News, author of The Mathematical
Tourist
"The ultimate crustacean encounter. Strange things are born in the ocean's depths."
"Pickover has collaborated on a novel with the prolific Piers Anthony, and the combination of Pickover's theory and Anthony's fantasy should yield an intellectual tour de force without precedent." - West Coast Review of Books
"...Provocative scientific speculation and detail." - Publisher's Weekly.
"Return with us now to the Sci-Fi days of yesteryear; with monsters from the deep, vacationing professors from prestigious institutions, damsels in distress, and science gone mad in an orgy of bloodshed terrorizing a Newfoundland fishing village! ...You'll definitely get a kick out of this." - SFRevu
"Shades of Peter Benchley! Spectacular..." - BookPage Fiction Review Amazon.Com
In this book, I examine the manifold ways in which computers transform how we both perceive and understand the world around us. Computers and the Imagination includes a range of topics from artificial spider webs, to pain-inducing patterns, to comptuer- generated poetry. Along the way, I use the computer to gain new insights into the very origins of human creativity. The book includes: computer graphics, strange problems, and startling applications of computer science to art, music, poetry, science, and technology.
- "Vast regions of mathematical structure and pattern, the very existence of which had been unsuspected, are rapidly opening to exploration by computers. No book in recent decades conveys more forcefully and beautifully the excitement of this exploration than Dr. Pickover's latest work. It is a treasure trove of breath-taking computer graphics, strange problems, and startling applications of computer science to art, music, poetry, science, technology, and the mystery of creativity. At times technical, at times popular, it is a book that no scientist or artist, whether amateur or professional, should pass up." - Martin Gardner, Scientific American.
- "A dramatic celebration of the creative collision of mind and machine." - Ian Stewart, editor, Mathematics Review
- "Pickover sweeps the reader along on an exhilarating, wide-ranging rummage through a mathematical curiosity shop filled with novel ideas and vivid graphic images." - Ivars Peterson, Science News
- "Computers and the Imagination transcends the computer community, long endeared to Dr. Pickover's eclectic style and wonderful graphics, and should inspire those in virtually all areas of art and science to explore using computers as an aid to creative thinking." -Phil LoPiccolo, Editor, Computer Graphics World
- "An incredible synergy of elements from widely diverse realms. It is sure to fire up your imagination." - Peter Sorensen, Computer Graphics World
- "The remarkable illustrations are so numerous and fantastic that the book seems to transcend the limits of print media. Pickover's book is a new and exciting synthesis of art, science, literature, speculation, and history." - Chris Severud, President, Bourbaki Software
- "A mind-boggling gateway to a sparkling new universe of Pickoverian research, recreations, creations, and dreams." - A. K. Dewdney, Scientific American
- "In chapter after chapter you are enticed, drawn, compelled to experiment, hands-on, with its fascinating images and ideas. Pickover's book has the power to turn its readers from tourists into discovers." -Dawn Friedman, Harvard University
- "Pickover uses the computer to travel to the beautiful and secret places deep within the mind's eye." - Jay Kappraff, author of Connections
- "Computers and the Imagination inspires a new generation of da Vincis to build unknown flying machines and create new Mona Lisas." - Christian Science Monitor
- Also published in Germany as Mit den Augen des Computers. Published in the UK by Alan Sutton Pub.
Loaded with stunning computer-generated images, I attempt to reveal an entirely new way of seeing. Topics include: computers and creativity; lateral thinking; hidden patterns in nature, music, genetics and sounds; musical snowflakes, fractal speech, the Shroud of Turin, genesis fractals, biomorphs, chaos, synthesizing nature, cellular automata, ornamental patterns, symmetry, mathematics and beauty, and much more.
- "Chaos and fractals are revolutionary topics these days
as they find increasing applications in science, pure mathematics, and
computer graphics. Dr. Clifford Pickover, long at the center of this cyclone,
has produced a truly stunning survey of its manifold consequences. No informed
layperson, artist, scientist, or mathematician should pass up the experience
of stepping through the portals of this beautiful book into the fantastic
new worlds that computers are now exploring in the way a telescope or microscope
explores the awesome wonders of nature." - Martin Gardner, Scientific American
- "Pickover takes the reader on a stimulating odyssey through the world of computer graphics, a world that surprisingly involves the Shroud of Turin, snowflakes, and the genes that cause cancer." - Paul Hoffman, Editor-In-Chief, Discover Magazine
- "A spectacular encounter between the art of the mathematician and the mathematics of art." - Ian Stewart, European editor of The Mathematical Intelligencer
- "Fascinating and completely new..." -Isaac Asimov
- "A cornucopia of visual ideas, Pickover's book unveils one eye-catching vista after another at the frontiers of scientific and mathematical visualization." - Ivars Peterson Science News
- "It is unfortunate that modern Western man has come to perceive the arts and the sciences as separate, conflicting lines of human endeavor. Pickover's book reunites these disciplines with a marriage of substantive technical content and expertly crafted prose." -Ben Bacon, Computers in Physics
- This book can be orderd from The Great Media Company.
From the tiny twisted DNA molecules in all living cells to gargantuan curling arms of many galaxies, the physical world contains a startling repetition of spiral patterns. This book presents aesthetically appealing and scientifically interesting patterns from a range of scientific, historical, and artistic realms. Topics include: spirals in nature, mythology, mathematics, art, history, literature, biology, physics, chemistry, botany, crystallography, astronomy, and fractal geometry.
- "This diverse collection of essays encompasses aesthetic, graphic, literary, scientific, mathematical, and computer-related exploration of the spiral--ubiquitous in nature and in civilization, and profound in both its physical manifestations and philosophical dimensions."
- TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Book News
"The Form, Function, and Synthesis of Seashells", Mike Cortie, Raad vir Mineraal Tegnologie, South Africa.
"Spiral Galaxies", Bruce Elmegreen, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, USA.
"Does the Golden Spiral Exist?", Arthur Loeb, Harvard University, USA.
"On the Origins of Spiral Symmetry in Botany", Roger Jean, University of Quebec, Canada.
"Sunflower Quasicrystallography", L. Bursill, University of Melborune, Australia.
"Broken Symmetry and the Formation of Spiral Patterns in Fluids", Ian Stewart, University of Warwick, UK.
"Spiral Helmet", Eleanor Kent (high-tech artist), USA
"Spinning Descartes into Blake: Spirals, Vortices, and the Dynamics of Deviation", Kevin Cope, Louisiana State University, USA
"Dynamic Spirals", Arun Hoden, The University, Leeds, UK.
"Spiral Map Projections", Agnes Denes (artist), USA.
"Spirals in Nature and Myth", Jay Kapraff, N.J. Institute of Technology
"Pythagorean Spirals", E. J. Eckert
"Spiral-Based Self-Similar Sets", K. Wicks
"Symmetry and Spirals in Art", R. Newman
"Spiral Structures in Julia Sets and Related Sets", M. Michelitsch and O. E. Roessler
The Evolution of a Three-armed Spiral in the Julia Set, and Higher Order Spirals", A. G. Davis Philip
"Autonomous Organization of a Chaotic Medium into Spirals: Simulations and Experiments", M. Markus
"Oscillations, Waves, and Spirals in Chemical Systems", E. Koros
Determination of Spiral Symmetery in Plants and Polymers", D. Friedman
Electromagnetic Theory for Chirla Media", A. Lakhtakia
"Green Spirals", R. Dixon
This book will allow you to travel through time and space. To facilitate your journey, I've scoured the four corners of the earth in a quest for unusual people and their fascinating patterns. From Mozambique, to Asia, to many European countries, the contributors to The Pattern Book include world-famous cancer researchers, little- known artists, and eclectic computer programmers. Some of the patterns are ultramodern, while others are centuries old. Many of the patterns are drawn from the universe of mathematics. Computer recipes are scattered throughout.
- "Fractals can be found everywhere, and Clifford Pickover has done a good job in selecting some of the best... One more in the collection of works devoted to fractals, this book ranks among the easiest to understand. A natural first for those interested in fractals as objects of mathematical study or art." - Charles Ashbacher, Journal of Recreational Mathematics
- "An interesting introduction to the world of patterns. In three parts: representing nature; mathematics and symmetry; human art. More than 150 patterns from science, art and mathematics, many with computation hints and recipes for their creation. Includes glossary of technical terms." - American Mathematical Monthly, June 1996
- From the book jacket: This book will allow you to travel through time and space. To facilitate your journey, I've scoured the four corners of the earth in a quest for unusual people and their fascinating patterns. From Mozambique, to Asia, to many European countries, the contributors to The Pattern Book include world-famous cancer researchers, little-known artists, and eclectic computer programmers. Some of the patterns are ultramodern, while others are centuries old. Many of the patterns are drawn from the universe of mathematics.
- "Artists, scientists, and computer enthusiasts will be delighted by this inspiring collection of visually striking patters with accompanying explanations and references." - Julien C. Sprott, Author of Strange Attractors: Creating Patterns in Chaos
- "The Pattern Book: Fractals, Art and Nature -- fascinating! A feast for both the eyes and the mind!... This book helps us gain insights on how patterns are created and their scientific connections, while letting us enjoy the impact of their visual beauty. A must for those interested in science, nature or art." - Theoni Pappas, Author of The Joy of Mathematics
- "There is not an ugly page in Pickover's marvelous anthology. It is impossible to turn them without being overwhelmed by the mysterious order embedded both in the uniniverse and pure mathematics." - Martin Gardner
- "In this collection of contributions on pattern creation in science, art, and nature, Part 1, "Representing Nature," has photos and sketches as well as computer-generated patterns associated with diverse natural phenomena: solar and planetary vortices, wood patterns, DNA nucleotide sequences, sea lilies, etc. Part 2, "Mathematics and Symmetry," the major part of the book, offers computer-generated patterns originating from a broad spectrum of mathematics, e.g. number theory, geometry, trigonometry, tesselation and tiling, dynamical system, cellular automata, and fractals. Many of the patterns are associated with Mandelbrot and Julia sets. Part 3, "Human Art", contains Escher-like tesselations; Tamil, Persian, Japanese, and Celtic designs; ornamental alphabets, cubist art, and Art Deco patterns. Emphasis is "on the fun that the true pattern lover finds in doing, rather than in reading about the doing." The patterns, many in black and white, some in color, are generally intricate and beautiful. Pseudocode and code are provided for many of the patterns. The book stimulates experiment. An excellent resource for entry into the world of patterns. Recommended for artists, scientists, and computer enthusiasts, undergraduates through professionals." - G. Junevicus, CHOICE, Oct 96
The book is is organized into three main parts: "Representing Nature" (for those patterns which describe or show real physical phenomena, e.g., visualizations of protein motion, sea lilies, etc.), "Mathematics and Symmetry" (for those patterns which describe or show mathematical behavior, e.g. fractals), and "Human Art" (for those patterns which are artistic works of humans and made without the aid of a computer, e.g. Moslem tiling patterns).
Computers shape the way we think, imagine and remember. They expand our imagination, allow us to create amazing new art forms, and to dream of scientific problems never before thought possible. Visions of the Future suggests how twenty-first century computers and computer art will provide humankind with an unlimited landscape for exploration and unparalleled aid for the imagination. From weather prediction, to fractal mathematical art, to simulated golf, Visions of the Future shows how the line between art and science in the computer age is often indistinct. Other topics: science museums of the future, classrooms of the future, the future of computer art, fractals and genetics, and much more.
- "The computer revolution is moving so fast that even science fiction finds it hard to keep up. What mind-boggling developments in technology, art, music, mathematics -- even in such games as golf and baseball -- are about to transform our culture in irreversible ways? Hold fast to your seat when you read what this exciting volume has to reveal!" - Martin Gardner, Scientific American
- BOOK'S TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Virtual Science Center: "A Museum of Everything that Could be Imagined", Dawn Friedman
The Future of Student Computer Use, William J. Joel
Forging a Career as a Sculptor from a Career as a Computer Programmer, Stewart Dickson
The Future of Weather and Climate Prediction, Thomas T. Warner and Bill Buzbee
Computers and Human Communication, Davis Albert Foulger
The Universal Robot, Hans Moravec
Materials Science: One Morning in the Year 2079, B. David Silverman
Current Techniques and Development of Computer Art, Franz G. Szabo
Computer War Games in the 21st Century, James J. Perry
Will Computers Really Think in the 21st Century?, Ira Glickstein
Fractals and Genetics in the Future, H. Joel Jeffrey
Electronic Storytelling in the 21st Century, Judy Malloy
Using Artificial Intelligence to Control Traffic, Carlos David Nassi
Molecular Biology and Futuristic Problem Solving, Mels Sluyser and Erik Sonnhammer
Studying Prehistory with Tomorrow's Computers, D. G. East
Computers and Future Golf, Anthony S. Akins
Artificial Life: Answering the Question of Emergence, William R. Buckley
The Future of Ambiguous Art, Peter Hettich
Beyond Art, Paul Brown
Explore the art and science of making the unseen workings of nature visible. Fluid flow, fractals, plant growth, genetic sequencing, the configuration of distant galaxies, virtual reality, artistic inspiration... these are a few of the many unseen phenomena that can be made visible through the power of personal computers. This book explores the many ways in which computers are now used as tools for simulation, art and discovery.
- Contains contributions on scientific visualization of fluid flow, scroll waves, chemical gradients, biological information encoded in DNA, droplet coalescence phenomena, and architecture, as well as discussion of reconciling artists and scientists, and virtual worlds. Contains 16 pages of color plates, and numerous b&w illustrations. Of interest to the diverse professional and lay readers involved in computer graphics. - Book News
- "Frontiers of Scientific Visualization explores the many ways in which computers are now used as tools for simulation, art, and discovery. It presents the most important recent work of some of the best minds in computer-visualization research. It also puts forth a vision for the future in which current limitations on computer graphics dissolve, opening great new frontiers, vast new landscapes of knowledge, creativity, and even entertainment that, today, remain unseen." - from the book jacket
- "The art of making the unseen VISIBLE." -book jacket
- From the book jacket: "Explore the art and science of making the unseen workings of nature VISIBLE. Fluid flows, fractals, plant growth, genetic sequencing, the configuration of distant galaxies, virtual reality, artistic inspiration... these are a few of the many unseen phenomena, processes, events, and concepts that can be made visible through the power of modern computers -- including personal computers."
Here is the book's Table of Contents:
Scientific Visualization of Fluid Flow
- Hassan Aref, Richard Charles, and Todd Elvins
Visualization of Scroll Waves
- Mario Markus and Manfred Krafczky
Visualization of Chemical Gradients
- Theo Plesser, Wolfgang Kramarczk, and Sefan Muller
Visualization of Biological Information Encoded in DNA
- Eugene Hamori
Visualizing Droplet Coalescence Phenomena
- Paul Meakin, Cliff Pickover, and Fereydoon Family
Computer Simulation of Plant Growth
- Philippe de Reffye
Scientific Display: A Means of Reconciling Artists and
Scientists
- Jean-Francois Colonna
Architecture and Applications of the Pixel Machine
- Michael Potmesil and Eric Hoffert
Brave New Virtual Worlds
- David Weimer
Biological data of all kinds is proliferating at an incredible rate. If humans attempt to read such data in the form of numbers and letters, they will take in the information at a snail's pace. If the information is rendered graphically, however, human analysts can assimilate it and gain insight much faster. The emphasis of this book is on the novel graphical and musical representation of information- containing sequences, such as DNA and amino acid sequences, to help us find hidden pattern and meaning.
- "I must say that this is a fascinating book about a fascinating subject: new ways of representation of symbolic sequences of nucleic acids (DNA, RNA, gene mapping) and proteins. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the molecule that stores the information (called the genetic code) in organisms as a series (sequences) of 4 bases coded A,T,C and G. This information is written with these "characters" forming "words" of 3 letters. The words code for specific amino acids which are, in turn, the building parts of proteins. These information blocks are organised into larger functional units called "genes". Our genetic code consists of 50000 to 100000 genes of 2 to 2000000 bases each.
- "Biologists and computer scientists will find treasure in this serious exploration of visualization in molecular biology. Just as scientific computation produces enormous quantities of data that must somehow be grasped by human minds before it can yield fruit, evolution has created huge stores of biological information -- nucleic acid and protein sequences -- that we are just beginning to understand. This book presents many computer graphics tools to help in our search for meaning in the code of life. For the general reader interested in molecular biology, the editor's invaluable and extensive preface provides access not only to the scientific articles that follow but to the rapidly expanding world of biology on the Internet." - Dr. Dawn C. S. Friedman, Harvard University
- "With the ongoing improvements in computer visualization techniques, scientists have begun to appreciate the value of visually interpreting their data. Biologists are no exception, and have realized that visual patterns in large amounts of data, such as that generated by the human genome project, are recognized much more readily than numerical patterns. Visualizing Biological Information, edited by Clifford Pickover, is written specifically for biological scientists working with visualization techniques. It concentrates on protein, DNA, and gene and amino acid sequences, and demonstrates how complex data can be reduced to a manageable level. Fifteen bench-mark articles are included. They are written by leading international authorities in wide-ranging areas, and cover themes such as "graphical representations of amino sequences" which describes DNA geometry, and "fractal functions from nucleotide sequences" which identifies peculiarities in DNA base sequences. There are also articles on the straightforward use of statistics (pattern or cluster analysis, dendrograms, Fourier transforms, principal component analysis, etc) and graphics (ball and stick models) to reduce the detail in data. A memorable sections describes the statistical representation of DNA base sequences using facial symbols. An interesting, philosophical article introduces "gene music" -- in which musical notes are assigned to DNA bases to allow audio representation of genetic information. Scales are related to the chemical properties of amino acids, and melody sequences are then recorded in MIDI format. As an example, musical "scores" for the drosophila and neurospora gene products are given for the harp and clarinet. The book has a long preface containing extensive reference information. This includes a literature guide and list of organizations, journals, databases, networks, and newsgroups with interest in data visualization. A common theme throughout is the reference to World Wide Web pages, e-mail and server systems that help update scientists on the latest software and data and enable contact between research groups to be maintained. Good use is made of diagrams and figures to illustrate different visualization examples, but rather than being a reference text, the book provides a window on the direction in which work is progressing. The book can also be of some value to other scientists who acquire or access complex data, and wish to consider alternate ways of interpreting their results." -Mark Varney, Scientific Computing World, Oct 1996
- Table of Contents:
- From the jacket blurb: Biological data of all kinds are proliferating at an incredible rate. If humans attempt to read such data in the form of numbers and letters, they will take in the information at a snail's pace. If the information is rendered graphically, however, human analysts can assimilate it and gain insight at a much faster rate. The emphasis of this book is on the graphic representation of information-containing sequences such as DNA and amino acid sequences in order to help the human analyst find interesting and biologically relevant patterns. Pickover's goal is to make this voyage through molecular biology, genetics, and computer graphics as accessible to a broad audience as possible, with the inclusion of glossaries at the end of most chapters, and program outlines where applicable. The book will be of most interest to biologists and computer scientists, and the various large reference lists should be of interest to beginners and advanced students of biology, graphic art, and computer science. Contributors find pattern and meaning in the cacophony of sequence data using both computer graphics, fractals, and musical techniques.
Certainly many difficulties arise when all this massive information has to be understood or represented in some way. Visualization techniques originate to overcome these problems and to allow the disclosure and identification of interesting or useful "patterns" in the sequences.
The book consists of the editor's preface and a collection of 15 contributions written in scientific journal style by experts on the subject. There are two impressive colour plates and many black a nd white illustrations and diagrams and all the contributions include a "glossary" to clarify some of the scientific terms to the readers The preface is an introduction to visualization, its objectives and examples. It includes about 10 pages of literature references on computational biology, computers and DNA, genetics and music, genetics and fractals, and visualization. There is also a comprehensive list of genetic and biological data repositories with Internet addresses, a list of electronic newsgroups (BIOSCI), a list of USENET newsgroup s addresses, and other Internet resources of interest.
The chapters deal with a variety of problems such as graphical representations to disclose "patterns", whether a sequence is "random" or not, taxonomical classifications, how to represent the 3-dimensional structure of proteins in two dimensional space and how to quantify similarities between sequences. Some of the contributions go beyond the description of the algorithms and methods and include computer code. For example "A Transforming Function for Generation of Fractal Functions from Nucleotide Sequences by J. Campione-Piccardo has a Pascal implementation of his method of barograms. Gene Music: Tonal Assignments of Bases and Amino Acids by N. Mukata and K. Hayashi is a paper describing DNA to musical notes transform that may help to make sequences more comprehensible. Their chap er includes 3 music scores produced from DNA data and a script for "Hypercard" and "HyperMIDI 2.0" (Macintosh computer). Some of the algorithms to "visualise" the sequences are in principle simple and at the same time very powerful; with some computer skills one may be able to reproduce or implement the methods described.
Who is this book for? I think that it will be of interest
to a broad range of readers, from biochemists to molecular biologists,
computer and computer graphics scientists. It may also appeal to computer
enthusiasts as some of the algorithms described may also be applied to
other symbolic sequences such as texts or codes. The type of graphic representations
shown in the book may not be esthetically as eye catching as so me graphical
rendering in the previous titles by Pickover (The Pattern Book or Computers,
Pattern, Chaos and Beauty) but we must not forget that the main purpose
of the book is to present techniques to make sense out of biological data,
while beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
- Dr. Gabriel Landini, Fractal Report
Preface - Clifford A. Pickover
A Picture of the Genetic Code - Rosemarie Swanson and Stanley Swanson
Graphic Representations of Amino Acid Sequences - Ann Williams, Kelly D. Chenault, and Ulrich Melcher
Representing Protein Sequence and Three-Dimensional Structure in Two Dimensions - Rosemarie Swanson
Visual Display of Sequence Conservation as an Aid to Taxonomic Classification Using PCR Amplification - Peter K. Rogan, Joseph J. Salvo, R, Michael Stephens, and Thomas D. Schneider
Perceptible Features in Graphical Representation of Nucleic Acid Sequences - Jacques Ninio and Eduardo Mizraji
Representations of Protein Patterns From 2D Gel Electrophoresis Databases - Peter K. Lemkin
A Protein Visualization Program - D. A. Kuznetsov and H.A. Lim
Gene Music: Tonal Assignments of Bases and Amino Acids - Nobou Munakata and Kenshi Hayashi
Diagrammatic Representation of Base Composition in DNA Sequences - Chun-Ting Zhang
A Transforming Function for the Generation of Fractal Functions from Nucleotide Sequences - Jose Campione-Piccardo
Visualization of Open Reading Frames in mRNA Sequences - Perry B. Hackett, Mark W. Dalton, Darrin P. Johnson, and Melvin R. Duvall
Visualization of Protein Sequences using the 2D Hydrophobic Cluster Analysis Method (HCA) - Michel T. Semertzidis, Etienne Thoreau, Anne Tasso, Bernard Henrissat, Isabelle Callebaut, and Jean Paul Mornon
Diagnosis of Complex Patterns in Protein Sequences - T. K. Attwood and D. J. Parry-Smith
RNA Folding and Evolution - Kenji Yamamoto and Hiroshi Yoshikura
Representation of Biological Sequences Using Point Geometry Analysis - Y. K. Huen
Index
This book considers the tremendous effect that computers will have on medicine in the next century. Topics include: the challenges of future medical schools in preparing physicians in the 21st century, the use of new medical imaging technologies, the use of electronic gophers to obtain medical information, digital dentistry, the use of artificial intelligence in medical diagnoses, futuristic operating rooms, computer conferences for medical consulting, the future of computers in pathology, robot surgeons, and more....
- "In this excellent review of the present and future uses of computers in medicine, each chapter is written by experts. A very useful glossary... In the preface, the editor briefly overviews the present uses of computers in patient care and medical education and describes additional resources. Despite the book's primary medical focus, FUTURE HEALTH is useful to anyone interested in the Internet. Recent breakthroughs in the fields of pathology, surgery, and dentistry are detailed. This book should be ready by anyone interested in computers and/or medicine."
- H. W. Wallace, CHOICE, May 1996, 33(9).
Here is the book's Table of Contents
Preface
PART I. MANAGING INFORMATION AND SERVICE
Chapter 1. Preparing Future Physicians: How will Medical
Schools Meet the Challenge?
- David Kaufman, Ed.D., Director, Medical Education Unit
- Ms. Grace Paterson, M.Sc., Coordinator, Medical Informatics
Dalhousie University
Chapter 2. Just How Many Patients Can Fit in an Exam Room?
- Risa B. Bobroff
- Ronda H. Wang Baylor College of Medicine
Chapter 3. Computers and Medicine: Advancing the Field
- Christopher Galassi, MD, MS Methodist Hospital of Indiana
The Future of Computer Conferencing for Medical Consulting
- W. R. Klemm, DVM, Ph.D
- J. R. Snell, DVM, MS
Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Public Health Texas
A&M University
Chapter 5. The Impact of Gophers on Biomedical Science
- Tim Littlejohn, Ph.D.
Department de Biochimie
Universite de Montreal
PART II. TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
Chapter 6. The Future of Computers in Pathology
- Gabriel Landini, Dr. Odont, PhD
- John W. Rippin, PhD. FRC Path.
Oral Pathology Unit
The University of Birmingham
Chapter 7. Bloodless Robotic Surgery
- John R. Adler, M.D.
- Achim Schweikard, Ph.D.
Dept of Neurosurgery, Stanford University
Institut fur Informatik, Technische Universitat Munchen
Chapter 8. Medical Images Made Solid
- Peter J. de Jager and Johan W.H. Tangelder
Delft University of Technology
Chapter 9. Computer-Assisted Dental Care: Dentistry Goes
Digital
- Allan G. Farman, PhD (odont.), MBA
Professor, Radiology & Imaging Sciences Division
- William C. Scarfe, BDS, MS
School of Dentistry
University of Louisville
Chapter 10. Medical Imaging and the Futures of Computers
in Medicine
- Michael de la Maza, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Deniz Yuret, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
I think several of the following books would fascinate you:
Return to Cliff Pickover's home page which includes the Wishing Project, computer art, educational puzzles, fractals, virtual caverns, JAVA/VRML, alien creatures, black hole artwork, and animations.