The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation

by Gary William Flake

Book Overview

Gary William Flake develops in depth the simple idea that recurrent rules can produce rich and complicated behaviors.

In this book Gary William Flake develops in depth the simple idea that recurrent rules can produce rich and complicated behaviors. Distinguishing "agents" (e.g., molecules, cells, animals, and species) from their interactions (e.g., chemical reactions, immune system responses, sexual reproduction, and evolution), Flake argues...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262561271
• ISBN13: 9780262561273
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Length: 520 Pages
• Weight: 2.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Real "How Nature Works". Already is "Legend in the Making."

I recently became interested a lot in Nature. Especially, being someone in the field of Computer Science, the computational aspect. And this book is by far one of my favourite among all the "How Nature Works" kind of books I've read.This Computational Beauty of Nature (CBofN) covered a lot of topics. Ranged from brief introduction to Computation Theory, Fractals, Chaos, Complexity, Adaptation. (See the Table of Content for more details). All topics are written in surprisingly clear and very understandable manner. With as little Math as possible. (From my opinion, these topics cannot be completely understood without Mathematics -- The Language of Nature). Therefore, it is also accessible to layperson. This book does not, however, go so deep into each subject. (You won't expect it to do that with its less-than 500 pages, don't you? :-) Instead, it does give nice backgrounds, fundamental knowledge, and important ideas for each. So, if you are interesting in any of the subjects presented here, you can go on to the more specialized books on your own.One of the nicest feature of this book, which can hardly be found in other text, is that the it does show how things work together, where and why. For example, natural phenomena like adaptation, evolution, computation, and some other things else related to each other. How can one view this from that perspective, and vice versa. etc.One other nice feature of this book is, you can really play with almost all concepts using a number of computer programs. All the programs are downloadable (with source code, under GNU license) from the book's homepage. So, you can reproduce almost all the figures from the book. However, for one thing, the homepage address given in the book, in the edition/printing I have is incorrect. Maybe MIT Press had changed the structure of their website or something......you can still search for it using your favourite web-search engine.About the website, all the good things are there as well, including errata. (Of course, Perfect things are very rare in Nature... So, books with some errors are ok. The thing that matter is the authors know it/admit it and tell the readers or not).Conclusion: If you want to understand "How Nature Works" from the computational point of view. If you interested in Chaos theory, Fractals and Complexity. Then, make no mistake, you can't go wrong with this one. (And, get the hardcover edition, because you will read it, read it, read it again, and keep refering to it. So the paperback edition probably can't endure that :-)I want to give it more stars if I only could. This book will always get the highest rating possible from me wherever and whenever I review it.Nature herself is so beautiful. So, it's time to get to know her, to learn about her and to understand her! And this book just did it, in such a way that can hardly be better!

Every page will make you think...

I have to strongly disagree with the previous reviewer ("A reader from USA"). While this book covers a tremendous amount of material (over 500 pages, I think), the author manages to give you the intuitive explanation, the meaty equations underneath, figures and text to explain every part of the equations, and source code for simulations. I know of no other book that explains things so thoroughly.To be honest, this is a book that will make you think at every page. But you can't read this book without thinking. If you are a good match for this book, you will use it for years. It is complex, subtle, beautiful, and intricate.If you really need more information, type in the author's name or the book title into yahoo. That will take you to the web page. There, you can read book excerpts, reviews, and the glossary. Then make your own decision.

Bring out the fun and enthusiasm of computing

Computing books are divided into immediate needs for professional life and spiritual food for enriching computing life. This book is the second type. Just by reading the preface, you get the sense of pure fun side of computing and the author's noble goal to bring this book to you. Some book's info will only last for a few months but this book will last for a long time in your computing life.Every chapter is filled with inspiration. The author has carefully crafted a program for every chapter for you to enjoy. This reading and playing style fits the topic greatly. Although you will still see some math notations (some are hard to follow), I tried hard to follow and enjoy the beauty in the notation and mathematical side of the story.If you go to the book's website, you can download the source code (including someone port the software to Java source code). I find the Java demo is better to run.

The Most Influential Book I've Ever Read

I am 16 years old and after reading this book, I know that I want to be a scientist. This is a great book that explains concepts that I've always wanted to understand. Even though the book covers some complicated topics, it is written in a style that is fun to read. The author seems to be really enthusiastic about science and his enthusiasm comes through in the book. I even emailed the author a question and he was kind enough to respond to me. I recommend this book to every teenager who thinks that they might be interested in pursuing science or math.

An instant classic

Over the years I have read many books on artificial life, complex systems, and computer science. Quite simply, this book is best that I have ever seen. It is easy and fun to read because Flake has a casual and pleasant writing style. Yet it still manages to be true to all of the topics covered. In fact, all of the equations that are required to understand the topics are given, but Flake gives you the intuition that you need to understand them by giving many figures, metaphors, and analogies.Plus, the source code and images are just spectacular.I consider this book to be as important as Hofstaders "Goedel, Escher, Bach." So if you buy just one science book this year, this should be it.