Recent books by James Gleick, Martin Gardner, and Benoit Mandelbrot
have made the topics of Chaos theory and fractals
an integral part of the terrain for the computer literate.
They have shown the revolutionizing role of
the visualization of complex mathematical data.
Computers and the Imagination pushes the adventure one step further.
Pickover, a renowned science writer whose work has been featured
in such diverse publications as Artforum, OMNI,
Scientific American, and Computers in Physics,
examines the manifold ways in which visualization transforms
how we both perceive and understand the world around us.
Computers and the Imagination includes a range of topics
from the how-to construction of artificial spider webs
to pain-inducing pattens to computer-generated poetry.
Along the way, Pickover paradoxically uses the computer—a machine—to
gain new insights into the very origins of human creativity.
This book is an unfortunate mishmash of underdeveloped ideas. Each
‘chapter’, a reprint from a column, is a mere three or four pages long,
barely space to describe the theme, sketch some simple developments, then
list a few references.
The themes range broadly: fractals
and chaos, number theory, computer developments, with observations
ranging from deep puzzles to trivial surface patterns (for example, I fail
to have any deep interest in properties of numbers that hold only in base
10).
Some topics can be done justice in this limited space – I liked the use
of Moiré patterns to detect loose screws, for example. But most of
the topics would benefit from more background, and deeper exploration.
A disappointing sequel.
