Turtle geometry
the computer as a medium for exploring mathematics
by Harold Abelson, Andrea diSessa · first published 1980
56% recommend44% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Uses Logo-style turtle programs to explore serious math, from geometry up to curved space-time, by having readers write and run code and see results. Suits programmers who want hands-on math.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Turtle Geometry presents an innovative program of mathematical discovery that demonstrates how the effective use of personal computers can profoundly change the nature of a student's contact with mathematics. Using this book and a few simple computer programs, students can explore the properties of space by following an imaginary turtle across the screen. The concept of turtle geometry grew out of the Logo Group at MIT. Directed by Seymour Papert, author of Mindstorms, this group has done extensive work with preschool children, high school students and university undergraduates.
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Something more than a weekend splurge: Turtle Geometry: The Computer as a Medium for Exploring Mathematics http://www.amazon.com/Turtle-Geometry-Mathematics-Artificial... ...and I've not yet tried it, but netlogo sounds interesting. https://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/
on “30 years later, QBasic is still the best” ↗I recently picked up 'Turtle Geometry' from Abelson and diSessa. And it was a mind blowing experience. Really makes you think what kind of fun programming was about back then and its potential. Frankly speaking you begin to feel programming…
on “Lisping at JPL (2002)” ↗Reposting a dead post which should not have been dead, from abecedarius: These had high I-want-to-read-itosity, I thought: Abelson and diSessa, Turtle Geometry Abelson and Sussman, Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs Aho and Weinberger and Kernighan, The AWK Programming Language Andrew Appel, Compiling With Continuations Jon Bentley,…
on “Which programming book you just couldn’t stop reading from start to end?” ↗…topics in math, just to name a few examples; cf. http://www.amazon.com/Mindstorms-Children-Computers-Powerful... http://www.amazon.com/Structure-Interpretation-Classical-Mec... http://www.amazon.com/Turtle-Geometry-Mathematics-Artificial... This is not to mention that learning how to program a computer is just another tool to put in your bags of tricks for solving problems in any of the domains you mentioned (some…
on “Lessons Learned: Please teach kids programming, Mr. President” ↗I find Hal Abelson's book Turtle Geometry [1] fascinating. It describes a dialect of Logo (the graphical routines could probably be implemented relatively easily in Python/Tkinter or Tcl/Tk or something like Processing). Once the basics are…
on “Spirograph in HTML 5” ↗…it to be really quite the impressive work, and while I began my Logo investigations to teach my kids, I'm now also trying to track down some great looking Logo books from the long distant past, like "Turtle Geometry" by Harold Abelson for myself. Yes, that Abelson.
on “Obama Becomes First President to Write a Computer Program” ↗I'd suggest Turtle Geometry by Abelson and diSessa -- yes, same Abelson as SICP's. I only wish I'd had it as a teenager; it was still interesting when I got it in my 20s. Less advanced but also plausibly worthwhile: Brian Harvey's…
on “What Would You Recommend to a Bright 14 Year Old?” ↗…ageless. Similar remarks for P.J. Plauger. Norvig doesn't just write exquisite code, but good prose too. I always liked Abelson & Sussman's style, even though it's more textbookish. Abelson also co-wrote Turtle Geometry, which is almost unknown these days and still eye-opening. (It's more of a math book than a programming one, but its point is to be both.) Daniel Hillis: The Pattern on the Stone, The Connection Machine.…
on “Ask HN: What are some of the best written programming books?” ↗My favorite Logo-for-relative-grownups work is https://www.amazon.com/Turtle-Geometry-Mathematics-Artificia... -- yes, with the same coauthor as SICP. It's about math more than CS, and it's really good: by the last chapter you're figuring out motion in general relativity. It has a spirit…
on “Seymour Papert has died” ↗…Group Theory http://web.bentley.edu/empl/c/ncarter/vgt/ which looks to be gentle and illuminating. The style so far is quite different from a typical math textbook. Another book I've read more of was Turtle Geometry by Abelson and diSessa (the same Abelson who cowrote SICP). It can get difficult, but it's also very unusual: it's about exploring mathematical ideas for yourself by programming, and includes both hints…
on “If Susan Can Learn Physics, So Can You (2013)” ↗check out the book "turtle geometry: the computer as a medium for exploring mathematics" by abelson (of sicp fame) and diSessa. it's a wonderful book that shows a how a turtle language and the resulting geometry can be used to explore serious…
on “Clojure-turtle – Logo programming language in a Clojure context” ↗His SICP coauthor Hal Abelson also cowrote Turtle Geometry, which explores stuff like topology and the basics of general relativity in Logo. An underappreciated old book I'd like to see more like.
on “Translating math into code with examples in Java, Racket, Haskell, Python (2011)” ↗The book Turtle Geometry [1] by Harold Abelson of SICP fame is a pretty cool exploration of mathematics all the way up to non-euclidean geometry using turtle graphics. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Turtle-Geometry-Mathematics-Artificia...
on “What Is a Logo-Like Language?” ↗This takes me back to https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/turtle-geometry, a great book by Harold Abelson and Andrea DiSessa. It uses turtle geometry to explore college-level maths concepts and biological phenomena such as predator-prey relationships.
on “FD 100” ↗…Thinking as Computation: A First Course. Uses Prolog to solve problems of thinking. https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Computation-First-Course-Pre... https://www.cs.toronto.edu/~hector/PublicTCSlides.pdf * Turtle Geometry: The Computer as a Medium for Exploring Mathematics (shares an author with SICP). Uses Logo to explore turtle geometry/graphics. Can use any modern Logo implementation. https://www.amazon.com/Turtle-Geometry-Mathematics-Artificia...…
on “Ask HN: It's 2022. Where should I direct the youths to learn about programming?” ↗