Customer Reviews (3)

Advanced enough to be a textbook, basic enough to be a primer
The field of cellular automata (CA) is one that appears to be finite, yet unlimited, although it is a point of major debate. Where the ultimate conclusion lands depends on the fundamental origin of complexity, in particular that of intelligence. Some very sound thinkers argue that the universe itself is a complex CA, all of the phenomena we see are fundamentally explainable by a set of simple rules whereby actions are a consequence of state changes based on those rules. The apparent complexity that we perceive is due to the enormous number of objects that are involved and the number of different interactions that take place between them.
Cellular automata became an area of mainstream study when the Game of Life was developed. The fascinating feature of the game is that a small set of such simple rules can lead to what appear to be complex individual and collective behaviors. Schiff begins with the definitions of basic cellular automata, steps through the appearance of complexity and closes with some of the major arguments in favor of the literally universal applicability of CA.
The level of mathematics is fairly low; the most complex areas are the recurrence equations that define the next state and a few partial derivatives. With some additional explanation, the material is within the grasp of the second year math major. Most of the more complex mathematics can be skipped and the reader will still be able to understand and appreciate what CA are and some of the ways they can be used to model complex activities. This is the text I would use if I were to ever teach a special topics class in CA.

Outstanding overview of the field
This book provides an excellent overview of the field of cellular automata. It brings together a broad range of concepts and ideas which have been percolating over the past 70 years.In many ways the field of cellular automata and its offshoots remind me of the principles and ideas expounded on in Thomas Kuhn's book `The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'.For this field is truly revolutionary in its ability to easily show the power of emergent properties from simple rules.

The flow of the book is easy to understand and the documentation and references are excellent. The prose is well written and the author's ability to clarify basic ideas is exceptional.

I highly recommend this book. The first chapter `Preliminaries' clearly shows the author has brought a rich scope to the presentation of the material.

Highly Recommended
Although I have been nebulously aware of the term "Cellular Automata" for about 25 years, it was not until I read the book Cellular Automata that I really understood what it entails.As a result, I have become enamored with the field and its mathematical elegance. It is unfortunate for this fascinating field of study, that it is called Cellular Automata -- a marketing disaster if you ask me.

Though Cellular Automata probably has a strict definition, you can think of it as how simple rules governing a cell (or a neuron or an ant or whatever) through time can give rise to complex ordered systems.People often think that there's some intelligent design behind the complexity we see in nature, but as this book demonstrates, all it takes is a few simple rules about what happens in a local neighborhood to give rise to systems that order themselves into amazing complexity.

The book is a comprehensive survey of the history and current state of Cellular Automata.I wish I had the time to follow through on the amazing panoply of interesting paths, papers, web sites and ideas presented to the reader, but this could easily require a lifetime of study (and computer time).

In spite of having no background in Cellular Automata, I found this book to be extremely accessible and clearly written with many illustrative examples.I read the book cover-to-cover and understood it all, which for a textbook is really saying something.For the layman, it helps to have a strong mathematical background as well as a keen interest in number theory, but none of this is necessary.One of the nice things about this book is that if for some reason you don't understand a topic such as say, the Sierpinski Triangle, the rest of the book is not predicated upon it, even if it is called back on occasion.

The only possible issue I had with the text is that complex theoretical concepts were on rare occasion difficult to follow.Such concepts were introduced in order to give readers a complete primer on the current state of CA research, but the reader has to trust that the results are as stated in the book, and that an army of Grad Students carried out all the dirty work.Step-by-step implementation is (and should be) beyond the scope of the text, although for math weenies like myself, it may have clarified certain concepts.

Highly recommended.
... Read more

Product Description
This book not only discusses cellular automata (CA) as accouterment for simulation, but also the actual building of devices within cellular automata. CA are widely used tools for simulation in physics, ecology, mathematics, and other fields. But they are also digital "toy universes" worthy of study in their own right, with their own laws of physics and behavior. In studying CA for their own sake, we must look at constructive methods, that is the practice of actually building devices in a given CA that store and process in formation, replicate, and propagate themselves, and interact with other devices in complex ways. By building such machines, we learn what the CA's dynamics are capable of, and build an intuition about how to "engineer" the machine we want. We can also address fundamental questions, such as whether universal computation or even "living" things that reproduce and evolve can exist in the CA's digital world, and perhaps, how these things came to be in out own universe. ... Read more

Product Description
Artificial life has been a favorite topic for programmers since the late 1960s, when they first simulated organisms with simple programs like the famous "Game of Life." Ladd explores the contemporary descendants of these experiments, showing programmers how to take advantage of genetic algorithms and software robots to create usable projects. Disk includes working automata and simulation programs described in the text. ... Read more

Product Description
Cellular automata, dynamic systems in which space and time are discrete, are yielding interesting applications in both the physical and natural sciences. The thirty four contributions in this book cover many aspects of contemporary studies on cellular automata and include reviews, research reports, and guides to recent literature and available software. Chapters cover mathematical analysis, the structure of the space of cellular automata, learning rules with specified properties: cellular automata in biology, physics, chemistry, and computation theory; and generalizations of cellular automata in neural nets, Boolean nets, and coupled map lattices.Current work on cellular automata may be viewed as revolving around two central and closely related problems: the forward problem and the inverse problem. The forward problem concerns the description of properties of given cellular automata. Properties considered include reversibility, invariants, criticality, fractal dimension, and computational power. The role of cellular automata in computation theory is seen as a particularly exciting venue for exploring parallel computers as theoretical and practical tools in mathematical physics.The inverse problem, an area of study gaining prominence particularly in the natural sciences, involves designing rules that possess specified properties or perform specified task. A long-term goal is to develop a set of techniques that can find a rule or set of rules that can reproduce quantitative observations of a physical system. Studies of the inverse problem take up the organization and structure of the set of automata, in particular the parameterization of the space of cellular automata. Optimization and learning techniques, like the genetic algorithm and adaptive stochastic cellular automata are applied to find cellular automaton rules that model such physical phenomena as crystal growth or perform such adaptive-learning tasks as balancing an inverted pole.Howard Gutowitz is Collaborateur in the Service de Physique du Solide et Résonance Magnetique, Commissariat a I'Energie Atomique, Saclay, France. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

comment by the editor of the book
This book is 10 years old, but in this
slow-moving field where results are hard won,
most of it is still worthwhile. Just the
fact that you are contemplating buying this
book puts you in a very rare class IV of
individuals. Confirm your status and buy
a copy! 2000 were printed, looks like a few
still left. get 'em while they're hot. ... Read more

Product Description
As urban planning moves from a centralized, top-down approach to a decentralized, bottom-up perspective, our conception of urban systems is changing. In Cities and Complexity, Michael Batty offers a comprehensive view of urban dynamics in the context of complexity theory, presenting models that demonstrate how complexity theory can embrace a myriad of processes and elements that combine into organic wholes. He argues that bottom-up processes—in which the outcomes are always uncertain—can combine with new forms of geometry associated with fractal patterns and chaotic dynamics to provide theories that are applicable to highly complex systems such as cities.

Batty begins with models based on cellular automata (CA), simulating urban dynamics through the local actions of automata. He then introduces agent-based models (ABM), in which agents are mobile and move between locations. These models relate to many scales, from the scale of the street to patterns and structure at the scale of the urban region. Finally, Batty develops applications of all these models to specific urban situations, discussing concepts of criticality, threshold, surprise, novelty, and phase transition in the context of spatial developments. Every theory and model presented in the book is developed through examples that range from the simplified and hypothetical to the actual. Deploying extensive visual, mathematical, and textual material, Cities and Complexity will be read both by urban researchers and by complexity theorists with an interest in new kinds of computational models.

Sample chapters and examples from the book, and other related material, can be found at http://www.complexcity.info. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Cities unwrapped
Great as starting point for urban develop.
This book is like "Every thing you want to know about cities growth and you, probably wouldn't think of...."

Professor Batty should be consider to urban modeling as Mandelbrot is to fractals.

Exhaustive and Complex
Prior to buying this book there were no reviews which mentioned that this was more a textbook than an in-depth but casual read.

This book is an exhaustive look at urban planning and an understanding of cities and the patterns of growth and population.While this is exactly what I was looking for, it is extremely dense and full of charts and graphs of advanced mathematical equations.I have no problem with this, however this is much more a textbook than a casual read with some interesting equations to backup the argument proposed.

Tremendous resource
This book is an immense collection of research on the application of complex systems to urban spatial analysis. While this book is not extensive and is probably not meant as a textbook on complex systems in its entirety, I highly recommend it for those interested in urban spatial analysis. The applications of the techniques go beyond geography and are useful in sociology, economics, or urban planning. A caveat that I should add is that the book is quite dense with methods and formulas and is probably not best to approach this book without some knowledge of advanced statistics. However, the theoretical overviews provided more than allow for those without this background to get something out of it. In short, if you are a graduate student, professor, or researcher I'd recommend this book for an insightful and important take on the nature of cities and urban analysis. ... Read more

Product Description
The Quantum Cellular Automaton (QCA) concept represents an attempt to break away from the traditional three-terminal device paradigm that has dominated digital computation. Since its early formulation in 1993 at Notre Dame University, the QCA idea has received significant attention and several physical implementations have been proposed.This book provides a comprehensive discussion of the simulation approaches and the experimental work that have been undertaken on the fabrication of devices capable of demonstrating the fundamentals of QCA action. Complementary views of future perspectives for QCA technology are presented, highlighting a process of realistic simulation and of targeted experiments that can be assumed as a model for the evaluation of future device proposals. ... Read more

Product Description
This book provides a self-contained introduction to cellular automata and lattice Boltzmann techniques. Beginning with a chapter introducing the basic concepts of this developing field, a second chapter describes methods used in cellular automata modeling. Following chapters discuss the statistical mechanics of lattice gases, diffusion phenomena, reaction-diffusion processes and non-equilibrium phase transitions. A final chapter looks at other models and applications, such as wave propagation and multiparticle fluids. With a pedagogic approach, the volume focuses on the use of cellular automata in the framework of equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical physics. It also emphasises application-oriented problems such as fluid dynamics and pattern formation. The book contains many examples and problems. A glossary and a detailed bibliography are also included. This will be a valuable book for graduate students and researchers working in statistical physics, solid state physics, chemical physics and computer science. ... Read more

Product Description
Recently, cellular automata machines with the size, speed, and flexibility for general experimentation at a moderate cost have become available to the scientific community. These machines provide a laboratory in which the ideas presented in this book can be tested and applied to the synthesis of a great variety of systems. Computer scientists and researchers interested in modeling and simulation as well as other scientists who do mathematical modeling will find this introduction to cellular automata and cellular automata machines (CAM) both useful and timely.Cellular automata are the computer scientist's counterpart to the physicist's concept of 'field' They provide natural models for many investigations in physics, combinatorial mathematics, and computer science that deal with systems extended in space and evolving in time according to local laws. A cellular automata machine is a computer optimized for the simulation of cellular automata. Its dedicated architecture allows it to run thousands of times faster than a general-purpose computer of comparable cost programmed to do the same task. In practical terms this permits intensive interactive experimentation and opens up new fields of research in distributed dynamics, including practical applications involving parallel computation and image processing.Contents: Introduction. Cellular Automata. The CAM Environment. A Live Demo. The Rules of the Game. Our First rules. Second-order Dynamics. The Laboratory. Neighbors and Neighborhood. Running. Particle Motion. The Margolus Neighborhood. Noisy Neighbors. Display and Analysis. Physical Modeling. Reversibility. Computing Machinery. Hydrodynamics. Statistical Mechanics. Other Applications. Imaging Processing. Rotations. Pattern Recognition. Multiple CAMS. Perspectives and Conclusions.Tommaso Toffoli and Norman Margolus are researchers at the Laboratory for Computer Science at MIT. Cellular Automata Machines is included in the Scientific Computation Series, edited by Dennis Cannon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The best I've found on the subject - with a few caveats
Of all of the books that delve into the details of cellular automata, the algorithms, and the kinds of problems you can solve with them, this is probably the best I've found. However, there are two major problems you will have to work around. First, there is the specialized and long defunct CAM computing environment. You simply have to not read the portions of the book that talk about it to get around this, and I found this a minor problem. A more major problem is that this old 1987 book is using Forth as a programming language for the algorithms. Outside of the boot proms on Sun computers and vintage early 80's home-brew computing magazines, I haven't seen this language used. However, C had not yet come to the forefront in 1987, so it's a forgivable, if annoying problem to have to learn enough about the language to truly "get" what the algorithms are doing. All in all, reading this book is like attending a fascinating and close sporting event with two guys - CAM and Forth - continually walking in front of you carrying a long pane of glass between them. The payoff is worthwhile, you just have to put up with something that the authors thought was a plus when they wrote the book that has now become an annoyance.

If you're brand new to cellular automata, I recommend "A New Kind of Science" by Wolfram. Although that book seems to have disappointed many of its readers, I think it does a good job of discussing cellular automata at a high level and discussing the kinds of problems that can be solved using it. Then come back to this book for details and algorithms.

How to reuse some older ideas
Acquired this book many years ago (early 199x). It was inspiring to read about efforts to produce dedicated hardware for cellular automata. Recently Stephen Wolfram's a new kind of science made me read this older book again. Then it was interesting to write a cellular automata program in C++ and afterwards in a mixed Python/C version. The rules to use were taken from this particular book. The general hardware nowadays has enough power to even program in a higher level language and still show adequate performance. In short: the book is inspiring and the presented rules can be used to investigate cellular automata.

Avoid
I came to this book after having seen it referenced in a number of more general books with chapters on cellular automata. The book describes numerous experiments in varying levels of detail that are suitable for running on cellular automata. The example experiments are both abstract (`Life' or `Parity' rules) and concrete (simulation of physical systems). Little attention is paid to simulating either social or biological processes. There is a lot here but the level of detail is poor. Many explanations of the simulations assume considerable knowledge of the physical systems being simulated or the weaknesses of other approaches that may used. The greatest weakness of this book is that it relies on a specific hardware implementation of a CA machine. All examples require this machine (a PC card) to be installed in your PC in order to run. This card appears to no longer be available (no supplier details are given in the book). The use of Forth (a language using reverse polish notation) to describe rules and the reliance on specific hardware makes the rules discussed difficult to implement on a software CA. The rules presented in the second half of the book are so tied to the hardware implementation of the unavailable PC card as to be impossible to translate directly into English-like rules. This is a definite dud.

buy for the ideas, not the implementation
This is a terrific book that takes a step-by-step approach to cellular automata, especially for modelling. Within the first two chapters I had already found several interesting ideas for improving my own general-purpose automata program.

The part of the book that is most dated is the discussion of a specific hardware card and software designed for IBM PCs and ATs, and a specific dialect of Forth that can be used to program automata that will run on this card. Obviously this is no longer the mainstream approach to programming automata - even massively parallel systems programming has moved away from Forth. For me, I think of it as pseudo-code instead of a program example, and the book is still very very useful.

So on the whole, I would say this is a valuable addition to the bookshelf of any automata enthusiast.

Oh my god, what a book!
This book is absolutely stunning. It's a little dated, but the classes of problems that Toffoli and Margolus attack with dirt-simple machines is completely astonishing.I guarantee that you will not be able to put itdown -- which is odd to say about a computer book.Read it! ... Read more

Product Description
In the late 1960s British mathematician John Conway invented a virtual mathematical machine that operates on a two-dimensional array of square cell. Each cell takes two states, live and dead. The cells’ states are updated simultaneously and in discrete time. A dead cell comes to life if it has exactly three live neighbours. A live cell remains alive if two or three of its neighbours are alive, otherwise the cell dies. Conway’s Game of Life became the most programmed solitary game and the most known cellular automaton. The book brings together results of forty years of study into computational, mathematical, physical and engineering aspects of The Game of Life cellular automata. Selected topics include phenomenology and statistical behaviour; space-time dynamics on Penrose tilling and hyperbolic spaces; generation of music; algebraic properties; modelling of financial markets; semi-quantum extensions; predicting emergence; dual-graph based analysis; fuzzy, limit behaviour and threshold scaling; evolving cell-state transition rules; localization dynamics in quasi-chemical analogues of GoL; self-organisation towards criticality; asynochrous implementations.The volume is unique because it gives a comprehensive presentation of the theoretical and experimental foundations, cutting-edge computation techniques and mathematical analysis of the fabulously complex, self-organized and emergent phenomena defined by incredibly simple rules. ... Read more

Product Description
The study of nonlinear dynamical systems has advanced tremendously in the last 20 years, making a big impact on science and technology. This book provides all the techniques and methods used in nonlinear dynamics. The concepts and underlying mathematics are discussed in detail.

The numerical and symbolic methods are implemented in C++, SymbolicC++ and Java. Object-oriented techniques are also applied. The book contains more than 150 ready-to-run programs.

The text has also been designed for a one-year course at both the junior and senior levels in nonlinear dynamics. The topics discussed in the book are part of e-learning and distance learning courses conducted by the International School for Scientific Computing, University of Johannesburg.

Contents: Nonlinear and Chaotic Maps; Time Series Analysis; Autonomous Systems in the Plane; Nonlinear Hamilton Systems; Nonlinear Dissipative Systems; Nonlinear Driven Systems; Controlling of Chaos; Synchronization of Chaos; Fractals; Cellular Automata; Solving Differential Equations; Neural Networks; Genetic Algorithms; Gene Expression Programming; Optimization; Discrete Wavelets; Discrete Hidden Markov Processes; Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Exact same content as the cheaper and sturdy paperback version
Overall, this is a good book on the various subjects it covers, but I have to wonder - why would you buy this expensive hardcover version when the paperback version costs a little more than half what this hardcover costs? The contents are the same, the publication date is the same, and having had my softcover copy for two years and made heavy use of it, it seems to be standing up to the wear and tear just fine.

This book is an overview of all of the components of nonlinear dynamics. Nonlinear dynamics is a field of study that enables well-constructed predictive modeling of systems that might be difficult to solve otherwise. Such continuous systems were first widely modeled by ordinary and differential equations, but with the passage of time there are now tools and mathematical models at our disposal that make for a much more concise model of many systems. This workbook tries to touch on all of those mathematical tools.

The first six chapters of the book has to do with modeling such complex systems in general, and the rest of the book is a survey of the tools needed to perform complex modeling. The book's format is that of briefly explaining a concept in a few pages, and then presenting a computer program that demonstrates the concept just explained. The explanations are very clear and concise, there are plenty of equations shown, and the accompanying code is well commented. If you want to really drill deeply into any of the concepts then you are going to need some other books. I suggest that for further reading for the mathematically inclined that you pick up "Chaos: An Introduction to Dynamical Systems" by Kathleen Alligood. For scientists that want to see specific problems that can be solved by dynamical systems I suggest the excellent "Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos: With Applications in Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Engineering" by Strogatz. The only real complaint I have against this book is that there is uneven coverage of different tools. For example, the author has a great deal to say about neural networks and fuzzy logic, but has very short chapters covering discrete wavelets and cellular automata. More material would have been great, since it is hard to find good books on discrete wavelets and cellular automata in particular. Some readers may also be annoyed that much of the book are code listings of the various demonstration programs.

Overall, I would highly recommend this as one of several books that anyone interested in dynamical systems should definitely own. In particular, those individuals interested in the techniques of algorithmic composition of music might find this book a good jumping off point for studying the tools and techniques that make such compositions possible.

explains many key ideas
Here is a text of advanced nonlinear dynamics. Geared towards the intensive use of computers to perform the necessary grungework. Steeb hits on many important ideas that have emerged in recent decades. He shows the interrelation between chaotic phenomena and fractals, and how fractals can be used to describe the onset to chaos.

The Hidden Markov Models have proved to be the key idea in current Automatic Speech Recognisers. A tribute to the practical nature of this idea.

Steeb's discussion of neural networks and genetic algorithms is enough to get you started in this field. Ideas like forward and back propagation for feedback are clearly explained.

The sample code should be welcomed. It lets you see for yourself on your own computer, and to tinker with the various parameters. Though I am unsure about the choice of code in Symbolic C++. Unlike C++ or Java, this is a rarely used language.

Good overview of nonlinear dynamics
This book is an overview of all of the components of nonlinear dynamics. Nonlinear dynamics is a field of study that enables well-constructed predictive modeling of systems that might be difficult to solve otherwise. Such continuous systems were first widely modeled by ordinary and differential equations, but with the passage of time there are now tools and mathematical models at our disposal that make for a much more concise model of many systems. This workbook tries to touch on all of those mathematical tools. The first six chapters of the book has to do with modeling such complex systems in general, and the rest of the book is a survey of the tools needed to perform complex modeling. The book's format is that of briefly explaining a concept in a few pages, and then presenting a computer program that demonstrates the concept just explained. The explanations are very clear and concise, there are plenty of equations shown, and the accompanying code is well commented.If you want to really drill deeply into any of the concepts then you are going to need some other books. I suggest that for further reading for the mathematically inclined that you pick up "Chaos: An Introduction to Dynamical Systems" by Kathleen Alligood. For scientists that want to see specific problems that can be solved by dynamical systems I suggest the excellent "Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos: With Applications in Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Engineering" by Strogatz. The only real complaint I have against this book is that there is uneven coverage of different tools. For example, the author has a great deal to say about neural networks and fuzzy logic, but has very short chapters covering discrete wavelets and cellular automata. More material would have been great, since it is hard to find good books on discrete wavelets and cellular automata in particular. Some readers may also be annoyed that much of the book are code listings of the various demonstration programs. Overall, I would highly recommend it as one of several books that anyone interested in dynamical systems should definitely own. In particular, those individuals interested in the techniques of algorithmic composition of music might find this book a good jumping off point for studying the tools and techniques that make such compositions possible.

Helpful in some sections
The topics covered in this book are all important from the standpoint of applications in physics, engineering, computer science, financial engineering, and computational biology. It is written for the person just getting started in these topics, and the author does a fairly good job of discussing them. Readers should not expect, and they will not get, in-depth discussions on these topics, as this would swell the book to 10 times the size. They will however get preparation for moving on to more advanced and complete treatments.

Nonlinear and chaotic maps are considered in chapter 1, with elementary definitions given and six different examples of maps discussed. In discussing the calculation of numerical trajectories of maps, the author deals with the problem of large initial values for the maps and how to implement these in SymbolicC++ and Java. He also shows how to write/read data to a file using C, C++, and JAVA. The exception handling capability of JAVA comes out nicely, but no performance comparison between the three languages for simulating the maps is given by the author. The language REDUCE is used to discuss the stability of the fixed points of the logistic equation, but the code would be useless to the reader who did not have REDUCE since some of the function calls are hidden from the reader. Useful programs are given for calculating the Lyapunov and autocorrelation functions. In addition, C++ programs are given for evaluating the correlation integral for the Henon map. The programs he develops in this chapter can serve as a quick benchmark for one's own programs that calculate the same quantities.

In chapter 2, the author discusses methods for studying time series, including the Lyapunov and Hurst exponents. These two quantities are of enormous importance in the study of dynamical systems, financial data, and network performance. The C++ program that the author gives for calculating the Hurst exponent will not work for arbitrary time intervals. This is followed in the next chapter by a consideration of autonomous systems of ordinary differential equations. The classification of fixed points is considered, and the important concept of a homoclinic orbit. The author gives a nice JAVA program that finds the homoclinic orbit of an anharmonic differential equation using the Lie series technique. The phase portrait of the Van der Pol oscillator is calculated using the Runge-Kutta technique in a C++ program, along with the Lotka-Volterra system from mathematical biology.

Hamiltonian mechanics is discussed in chapter 4, with the important Henon-Heiles model from astrophysics is discussed and JAVA programs given for studying its behavior using the Poincare section technique. Newcomers to this technique will appreciate seeing it done here explicitly.Integrability of Hamiltonian systems using the Lax representation and Floquet theory are also treated, but only at a very rudimentary level. Dissipation is included in the next chapter, and the author discusses the classification of fixed points according to their stability. Lyapunov exponents are again brought into the picture, and the phenomenon of hyperchaos is discussed. Some bifurcation theory is introduced with an example of the Hopf bifurcation. Chapter 6 studies nonlinear driven systems, with the Duffing oscillator treated, and the author gives a useful program for calculating the autocorrelation function of this system. The controlling of chaos with feedback and non-feedback controls is the subject of the next chapter, mostly in the context of difference maps. Fractals finally get introduced in chapter 8, with iterated function systems defined but proofs of their properties omitted. The author gives programs for calculating various popular fractals, such as the dragon, Sierpinski gasket, Koch curve, the Mandelbrot set, and the Julia set. The main disappointment in this chapter is that the author does not give programs for calculating the Hausdorff dimension or capacity, quantities that are notoriously difficult to get a meaningful computational handle on.

The author switches gears in the next chapter and discusses cellular automata, which have recently made a comeback, especially in research on quantum computation. The discussion is too brief however, and does not allow the reader to gain an appreciation of the properties of these important objects. Chapter 10 gives a brief overview of some techniques for solving differential equations, such as the Euler method and the Lie series technique. The latter is not commonly treated in beginning books so its inclusion here is helpful. Symplectic integration is also discussed briefly, but the author does not discuss how to check the integrators using backward integration, which is commonly used in conservative systems modeled by symplectic maps.

Chapter 11, covering neural networks, is the most well-written in the book, and the newcomer to the field will get a fairly decent introduction to the subject. The supplied programs serve to illustrate some of the important concepts in neural networks, such as the Hopfield model, the Kohonen network, the perceptron learning algorithm, and the back-propagation algorithm.

Chapter 12 is an introduction to genetic algorithms, and I find this one particularly nice also, as it does give a rudimentary introduction to what evolutionary algorithms are all about, and gives some elementary genetic programs that find the maximum of one- and two-dimensional maps. He also discusses simulated annealing, and gives a useful program that allows the reader to see clearly how this technique works.

The last chapter covers fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic, which has also taken on importance in recent years, especially in data mining and financial engineering. The programs given to illustrate the concepts are particularly interesting from the standpoint of coding in C++, as the author uses friend functions and operating overloading in some of them. The reader gets a good overview of fuzzy reasoning and fuzzy rule-based systems.

Useful information, poor presentation
The information was useful & approprate to the topic.I'd rank it as an average quality refence but a very poor text book.

The text is poorly written.The code is simple and easy to understand, but not very objectoriented.There is not enough explanation of the code.The code is notelectronically available.

The treatment was very mathematical but lackingin explanation & application examples.There were plenty ofdeffinitions, but not enough examples. ... Read more

Product Description
Cellular automata are a class of spatially and temporally discrete mathematical systems characterized by local interaction and synchronous dynamical evolution. Introduced by the mathematician John von Neumann in the 1950s as simple models of biological self-reproduction, they are prototypical models for complex systems and processes consisting of a large number of simple, homogeneous, locally interacting components. Cellular automata have been the focus of great attention over the years because of their ability to generate a rich spectrum of very complex patterns of behavior out of sets of relatively simple underlying rules. Moreover, they appear to capture many essential features of complex self-organizing cooperative behavior observed in real systems. This book provides a summary of the basic properties of cellular automata, and explores in depth many important cellular-automata-related research areas, including artificial life, chaos, emergence, fractals, nonlinear dynamics, and self-organization.It also presents a broad review of the speculative proposition that cellular automata may eventually prove to be theoretical harbingers of a fundamentally new information-based, discrete physics. Designed to be accessible at the junior/senior undergraduate level and above, the book will be of interest to all students, researchers, and professionals wanting to learn about order, chaos, and the emergence of complexity. It contains an extensive bibliography and provides a listing of cellular automata resources available on the World Wide Web. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A well-written, comprehensive introduction to the field
Cellular Automata: A Discrete Universe is a fascinating overview of the wide variety of discrete systems researchers have developed in the past quarter-century, and how these might be used to model a range of natural phenomena, including (in the book's most speculative section) the universe itself.Illustrations are supplied in all the right places--serving to enlighten, rather than overwhelm, the reader.The list of references is superb, making the book not only a great introduction and an important reference, but also a valuable guide to the field of complexity.

disappointing
This book is clearly a labor of love and contains a great wealth of material. However, it sorely lacks focus, the presentation is unclear and the results are often out of date. Here is a selection of more particular criticisms. Many rules remain undefined and the reader has to guess their details. The writer seems to be unfamiliar with the last five years worth of research, so particularly the chapter on probabilistic CA is not worth much. Far too many parts of the book are outlines of original papers (or books) with details omitted. Many claims in the said papers are accepted without scrutiny. (Two examples: (1) There is absolutely no evidence that any cellular automaton studied by Packard and Wolfram has a shape that is close to circular. (2) It has been discovered as far back as 1989 that the famous FHP lattice gas does NOT approach the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equation, due to the fact that viscosity increases to infinity with increasing size of a finite system.) World Scientific editors need to do a much better job. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes the philosophy behind cellular automata modeling and the use for Mathematica in cellular automata modeling. The cellular models in this text are implemented in the Mathematica programming language. Paper. 3 1/2 inch disk included. DLC: Cellular automata. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting, useful, concise
I have got several ideas from this book. I have never used Mathematica, but one of the most important features of the book, is the fact that is enough clear, and its code can be translated to oher languages veary easy.I recomend this book for every person interested in cellular automataapplications and implementations rather that pure theory. ... Read more

Product Description
Deeply rooted in fundamental research in Mathematics and Computer Science, Cellular Automata (CA) are recognized as an intuitive modeling paradigm for Complex Systems. Already very basic CA, with extremely simple micro dynamics such as the Game of Life, show an almost endless display of complex emergent behavior.Conversely, CA can also be designed to produce a desired emergent behavior, using either theoretical methodologies orevolutionary techniques. Meanwhile, beyond the original realm of applications - Physics, Computer Science, and Mathematics – CAhave also become work horses in very different disciplines such as epidemiology, immunology, sociology, and finance. In this context of fast and impressive progress, spurred further by the enormous attraction these topics have on students,this book emerges as a welcome overview of the field for its practitioners, as well as a good starting point for detailed study on the graduate and post-graduate level. The book contains three parts, two major parts on theory and applications, and a smaller part on software. The theory part contains fundamental chapters on how to design and/or apply CA for many different areas. In the applications part a number of representative examples of really using CA in a broad range of disciplines is provided - this part will give the reader a good idea of the real strength of this kind of modeling as well as the incentive to apply CA in their own field of study. Finally, we included a smaller section on software, to highlight the important work that has been done to create high quality problem solving environments that allow to quickly and relatively easily implement a CA model and run simulations, both on the desktop and if needed, on High Performance Computing infrastructures. ... Read more

Product Description
Cellular Automata Transforms describes a new approach tousing the dynamical system, popularly known as cellular automata (CA),as a tool for conducting transforms on data. Cellular automata havegenerated a great deal of interest since the early 1960s when JohnConway created the `Game of Life'. This book takes a more serious lookat CA by describing methods by which information building blocks,called basis functions (or bases), can be generated from the evolvingstates. These information blocks can then be used to construct anydata. A typical dynamical system such as CA tend to involve aninfinite possibilities of rules that define the inherent elements,neighborhood size, shape, number of states, and modes of association,etc. To be able to build these building blocks an elegant method hadto be developed to address a large subset of these rules. A newformula, which allows for the definition a large subset of possiblerules, is described in the book. The robustness of this formula allowssearching of the CA rule space in order to develop applications formultimedia compression, data encryption and process modeling. Cellular Automata Transforms is divided into two parts. In PartI the fundamentals of cellular automata, including the history andtraditional applications are outlined. The challenges faced in usingCA to solve practical problems are described. The basic theory behindCellular Automata Transforms (CAT) is developed in this part of thebook. Techniques by which the evolving states of a cellular automatoncan be converted into information building blocks are taught. Themethods (including fast convolutions) by which forward and inversetransforms of any data can be achieved are also presented. Part II contains a description of applications of CAT. Chapter 4describes digital image compression, audio compression and syntheticaudio generation, three approaches for compressing video data. Chapter5 contains both symmetric and public-key implementation of CATencryption. Possible methods of attack are also outlined. Chapter 6looks at process modeling by solving differential and integralequations. Examples are drawn from physics and fluid dynamics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

If you really want to read it,try to find it at the library.
I'm a computer science student working on a masters degree and looking for a thesis topic.CA are an interest of mine and I thought this book might give me some ideas.My first complaint is that there was obviously no quality control.The last paragraph on page 6 is mistakenly reprinted on page 7, and the same thing happens again on pages 8 & 9.Ok, not a huge problem, but it does lead me to question the validity the rest of the book, and when one pays close to $$$$ for a book, it's a slap in the face when such a simple error is not caught before mass publication.I don't know if there is more than one edition, but my copy has a 2000 copyright.

My second complaint is, like another reviewer stated, the reader is often left scratching his/her head trying to understand the rationale/logic of statements as often little or no explaination.I haven't been able to figure out Table 2.1 which is an example of mapping Wolfram Rules (a widely accepted and understood rule numbering scheme) to the author's (I presume) invented "w-set".I tried using his explaination: W7 = x0; W6 = x1 - W7; etc... to make sense of the table but I couldn't get the results in the table using his algorithm.I'm not saying he's wrong, though my faith in the correctness of the book is shaky, but he doesn't clearly explain himself.

Excellent Resource
I thought this was an excellent book. I'd been briefed on cellular automata before reading this book, so I did not find the read difficult. This is not a book for beginners; I feel it is more geared towards those who have a basic understanding of cellular automata and want to go deeper and learn more. This book discussed inventive uses for the cellular automata rule (particularly data encryption, which I found to be an exceptional use of the rule). If the author writes another version...I will be one of the first in line to purchase it.

Good ideas but few explanations
This book is definitely not for beginners. It has a lot of ideas inside but a only a few of them are explained. Moreover, C-Code doesn't seem to work. I can't wait for the (un-bugged) second version. Good try though. ... Read more

Product Description
Cellular Automata with Memory, by Ramon Ionso-Sanz (Polytechnic University of Madrid), demonstrates that cellular automata with memory are not only priceless tools for modeling of natural phenomena but unique mathematical and aesthetic objects. Cellular Automata with Memoryrevolutionizes the conventional view on cellular automaton evolution by allowing cells to update their states by looking at past states of their neighbors and analyzes the effect of memory on a wide range of spatialized discrete dynamical systems scenarios. ... Read more

Product Description
Cellular automata were introduced in the first half of the last century by John von Neumann who used them as theoretical models for self-reproducing machines. The authors present a self-contained exposition of the theory of cellular automata on groups and explore its deep connections with recent developments in geometric group theory, symbolic dynamics, and other branches of mathematics and theoretical computer science. The topics treated include in particular the Garden of Eden theorem for amenable groups, and the Gromov-Weiss surjunctivity theorem as well as the solution of the Kaplansky conjecture on the stable finiteness of group rings for sofic groups.The volume is entirely self-contained, with 10 appendices and more than 300 exercises, and appeals to a large audience including specialists as well as newcomers in the field. It provides a comprehensive account of recent progress in the theory of cellular automata based on the interplay between amenability, geometric and combinatorial group theory, symbolic dynamics and the algebraic theory of group rings which are treated here for the first time in book form. ... Read more

Product Description
These original papers on cellular automata and complexity, some of which are widely known in the scientific community, provide a highly readable account of what has become a major new field of science, with important implications for physics, biology, economics, computer science, and many other areas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nice coverage of Wolframs published work
This is a nice collection of wolframs work on cellular automata (whichfirst appeared as a number of papers in various physics journals).It is anice coverage of cellular automata, but it would have been nice to givemore credit to von Neuman for his pioneering work in cellular automatatheory.

There is also an annoying habit for all of his work toconcentrate on deterministic cellular automata, and the mathematics isconstrained to this.Recent work has indicated that the origin ofcomplexity in our universe is from random sources that are preserved.. notthat the complexity all came from the initial conditions.

It isespecially interesting to note in his book how the different rules ofcellular automata play out to create varying degrees of complexity.Ittakes a very specific rule set indeed to allow for interesting complexbehaviors to show up, as evinced by the long search Conway undertook todiscover "life".

Hopefully Wolfram will comment on the recentresearch that indicates that complexity is introduced into our universethrough nondeterministic phenomena.He also should have presented Fredkinsideas about reversible computation to more fully flush out the relationshipbetween cellular automata, computability and reversibility. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

It may be dated but it's still brilliant!
I read this book while doing a presentation on CA at university, having got interested through the Game of Life. It's a marvellous summary of the work of people like John Von Neumann and Stanislaw Ulam and although dated (I don't think it even had details of E F Codd's work) it must be an essential read for anyone interested in CA. ... Read more

Product Description
This textbook provides an introduction to the fundamental models of massively parallel computation, the most important technique for high-performance computing. It presents a coherent exposition of analytic methods and results for the exploration and understanding of cellular automata and discrete neural networks as computational and dynamical systems.
The book will be useful also as a reference manual to the scattered literature in the field. Each chapter includes a separate bibliography, as well as pointers to historically relevant papers, and gives exercise problems for the reader. ... Read more