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

Flake, Gary William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262561271 ISBN 13: 9780262561273

Publisher: MIT Press, 2000

Synopsis

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 that it is the computational properties of interactions that account for much of what we think of as "beautiful" and "interesting." From this basic thesis, Flake explores what he considers to be today's four most interesting computational topics: fractals, chaos, complex systems, and adaptation.

Each of the book's parts can be read independently, enabling even the casual reader to understand and work with the basic equations and programs. Yet the parts are bound together by the theme of the computer as a laboratory and a metaphor for understanding the universe. The inspired reader will experiment further with the ideas presented to create fractal landscapes, chaotic systems, artificial life forms, genetic algorithms, and artificial neural networks.

About this title

About the Author

Gary William Flake is a research scientist in the Adaptive Information and Signal Processing Department of Siemens Corporate Research, Princeton, New Jersey.

Edition details

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262561271
• ISBN 13: 9780262561273
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 514