Re:The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants (1990)
by breck on Saturday December 19, 2020 @12:07PM
(#25478881)
Thanks! I just ordered "The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants" after reading the OP then saw your comments. Would you recommend one of these more than the others?
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Re:The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants (1990)
by DanBC on Saturday December 19, 2020 @01:48PM
(#25479963)
It's worth looking at ahem unauthorised versions before buying, just to check what they're like.
The Beauty of Fractals contains a lot of colour plates with images that were remarkable for 1986. There's plenty of math on every page. (It really crams a lot of math in).
The Science of Fractal Images is a bit longer. It has fewer colour plates. There's a bit less math (or maybe it's just spread out a bit more?) and there are some pseudo-code descriptions of algorithms.
The other two are much lighter. AK Dewdney's books were aimed at general readers of Scientific American who had access to a home computer. Computers, Pattern Chaos, and Beauty is eclectic. There's some math, and plenty of pseudocode examples.
Being honest: I don't know how well they've aged. Other people might have better descriptions, or alternative suggestions?