Computers, Pattern, Chaos and Beauty
by Clifford A. Pickover · first published 1990
14mentions
3recommended by
4HN commenters
2013–2022first – last mentioned
75% recommend25% neutral
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…books that I think are good (but which are for general audiences) are AK Dewdney's Magic Machine which has a chapter about L Systems: https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Machine-Handbook-Computer-Sorce... And Computers, Pattern, Chaos, and Beauty by Clifford Pickover: https://www.amazon.com/Computers-Pattern-Beauty-Clifford-Pic...
on “The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants (1990)” ↗There's an ancient book that is handy - 'Computers, Pattern, Chaos & Beauty'. It has pseudo code and a bunch of illustrations. (http://www.amazon.com/Computers-Pattern-Beauty-Clifford-Pick...)
on “Programmatic Art” ↗The book Computers, Pattern, Chaos, and Beauty has some nice examples of Chernoff faces used to represent DNA sequences or characteristics of sound. It's still available, and there are pirate versions if you want to try it before buying it. It's…
on “Chernoff face” ↗There's an old book with a bunch of pseudocode that might be interesting, especially if you're interested in the early examples provided in the article. Computers, Pattern, Chaos, and Beauty by Clifford Pickover. https://www.amazon.com/Computers-pattern-chaos-beauty-Graphi...
on “Why Love Generative Art?” ↗These are very pretty visualisations. I agree with others here that the page is "interesting" and seems to lack detail about the process. The visualisations reminded me of the book "Computers, Pattern, Chaos, and Beauty" by Clifford Pickover. http://www.amazon.com/Computers-Pattern-Chaos-Beauty-Graphic...
on “12 Piano notes made visible for the first time ” ↗If you want books you can try these old books: Dynamical Systems and Fractals (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dynamical-Systems-Fractals-Computer-...) Mathographics (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathographics-Robert-Dixon/dp/048626...) Computers Pattern Chaos & Beauty (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Computers-Pattern-Beauty-Clifford-Pi...) Fractals Images of Chaos (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fractals-Images-Chaos-P
on “MathGifs” ↗…skills. People discriminate against age (both too young and too old). They shouldn't, but this portfolio might help. 3) Get hold of any of these books, and implement the examples in a modern language. Computers, Pattern, Chaos, and Beauty by Clifford Pickover (anything in this would be a good ShowHN, especially if you put it on a website with interactive sliders) (it's available as a download somewhere) Any of the A K Dewdney books eg…
on “Ask HN: What is the best way to spend my time as a 17-year-old who can code?” ↗These are beautiful. If you're interested in these you might also be interested in the book "Computers, Pattern, Chaos, and Beauty": http://www.worldcat.org/title/computers-pattern-chaos-and-be...
on “Shepherding Random Numbers” ↗I really enjoyed Clifford Pickovers' Computers, Pattern, Chaos and Beauty. I read it in highschool and experimented with all the strange attractor techniques given in the book to render cool images on my old 486. Great fun, and the math (and implications) of SA systems stuck…
on “Chaos Theory and generative art” ↗I loved Clifford pick over's books as a teenager. Implemented a lot of his ideas as graphics effects on a 486. They're still fresh. Computers, Pattern, Chaos and Beauty in particular was good, and cover attractors quite a bit. His website is a monster of 1990's kitsch - Over 50 books. http://www.pickover.com
on “Clifford Attractors” ↗I always loved Computers, Pattern, Chaos, and Beauty. He's also keeping the 90s style alive with his whimsical Reality Carnival. http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/pickover/pc/realitycarnival.h...
on “Famous Transcendental Numbers” ↗Here's a few in a bad Imgur gallery. This is taken from Computers, Pattern, Chaos, and Beauty (Clifford Pickover. Published in 1990.) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16667787
on “Chernoff face” ↗…by Brian Davies * Chaos: From Theory to Applications by A.A. Tsonis * Chaos and Fractals: An Elementary Introduction by David Feldman * Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos by Tufillaro, Abbott, Reilly * Computers, pattern, chaos, and beauty: Graphics from an unseen world by Clifford Pickover * A First Course In Chaotic Dynamical Systems by Robert Devaney Just some references from my "to read" collection.
on “Strange Attractors” ↗…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?
on “The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants (1990)” ↗