Reddit reviews The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation
We found 6 Reddit comments about The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
MIT Press MA
is "the computational beauty of nature" http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/flaoh/cbnhtml/ still in press?
yup - http://www.amazon.com/Computational-Beauty-Nature-Explorations-Adaptation/dp/0262561271
i have no idea why this book isn't more widely known, but i would strongly recommend it. i always describe it as a "labour of love" because it's clear the author finds the subject awesome and wrote the book purely to share his enjoyment.
it doesn't cover crypto, but does have automata, genetic algorithms, fractals, and complexity theory. it includes code you can play around with, neat pictures, and lots of interesting ideas... if that's a bit fluffy/hands-on (it's more serious than you might think at first glance, so don't dismiss it too easily), gregory chaitin has written a lot on complexity - theoretical and meaty, but also quite readable - and i suspect you'll find that interesting.
crypto tends to be more mathematical once you start getting anywhere. the standard intro/practical references are by bruce schneier - he's got various books out and none of them are hard to read, but nor do they really get deep into anything. i also have koblitz's course on crypto and number theory. it's pretty readable, but also requires a lot of hard work (and may be out of date by now).
[edit: you know, i'm not 100% sure he has genetic algorithms in there and i can't find my copy to check. i'm pretty sure he does, but if that's critical, you might want to check. i would recommend the book anyway...]
I'm not a computer scientist but I play one on TV. My favorite book in this area is Gary Flake's, "The Computational Beauty of Nature". I've bought it as a gift for several people - it's that good.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Computational-Beauty-Nature-Explorations/dp/0262561271
Most artificial tree/plant evolution uses something like L-systems. L-systems are relatively easy to evolve. Here's a paper that does it, but it uses Mathematica, which isn't particularly popular. If you're looking for a book that touches on this subject, The Computational Beauty of Nature might interest you. Sean Luke's book Essentials of Metaheuristics touches on L-systems, and you can peruse it free.
/u/green_meklar is right. You can do it however you like, but if you're interested in how others have done it before, check out some of the links I pointed you to. Have fun!
This is based in large part on earlier, albeit more complex mathematical look at it, work from Gary Flake, i.e. "The Computational Beauty of Nature: Computer Explorations of Fractals, Chaos, Complex Systems, and Adaptation" https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262561271/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_W89hDbENNDT86
The Little Schemer series certainly stands out, as dos SICP.
The Computational Beauty of Nature has some of the best graphics I've seen in a computer book.
I like the clear use of graphics in Sedgewick's algorithm books, too.
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