The Virtual Laboratory: The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants read ebook DOC, DJV
9780387972978 0387972978 Now available in an affordable softcover edition, this classic in Springer's acclaimed Virtual Laboratory series is the first comprehensive account of the computer simulation of plant development. 150 illustrations, one third of them in colour, vividly demonstrate the spectacular results of the algorithms used to model plant shapes and developmental processes. The latest in computer-generated images allow us to look at plants growing, self-replicating, responding to external factors and even mutating, without becoming entangled in the underlying mathematical formulae involved. The authors place particular emphasis on Lindenmayer systems - a notion conceived by one of the authors, Aristid Lindenmayer, and internationally recognised for its exceptional elegance in modelling biological phenomena. Nonetheless, the two authors take great care to present a survey of alternative methods for plant modelling., The Algorithmic Beauty of Plantsexplores mathematical models of developmental processes and structures of plants, and illustrates them using state-of-the-art computer-generated images. Plant models which grow, interact with the environment, produce flowers and fruits, and finally die, have an immense intuitive appeal of "bringing life into a computer." In front of a graphics monitor it is easy to forget the underlying mathematical formulae and simply look at plants growing, self-replicating, responding to external factors, even mutating. Without compromising the mathematical rigor of presentation the authors have tried to preserve this "touch of magic" accompanying in their research. The following areas receive particular attention: methods for the modeling and rendering of plants which are suitable for realistic image synthesis; the scientific potential of computer graphics in the visualization of biological structures and processes; the relationship between control mechanisms employed by li- ing plants and the resulting complex developmental sequences and structures; and the relationship between developmental processes, self-similarity and fractals. The formalism of L-systems are adopted as the primary mathematical vehicle used to express developmental processes. The notion of L-systems was conceived in 1968 by Aristid Lindenmayer as a formal model of plant development. Its exceptional elegance was promptly recognized by mathematicians, who soon developed a comprehensive theory of L-systems. However, only recently has computer graphics revealed the full potential of L-systems applied to plant modeling. Although the focus is on the original results of joint research led by the authors, a survey of alternative methods for plant modeling is also included., The beauty of plants has attracted the attention of mathematicians for Mathematics centuries. Conspicuous geometric features such as the bilateral sym and beauty metry of leaves, the rotational symmetry of flowers, and the helical arrangements of scales in pine cones have been studied most exten sively. This focus is reflected in a quotation from Weyl 159, page 3], "Beauty is bound up with symmetry. " This book explores two other factors that organize plant structures and therefore contribute to their beauty. The first is the elegance and relative simplicity of developmental algorithms, that is, the rules which describe plant development in time. The second is self-similarity, char acterized by Mandelbrot 95, page 34] as follows: When each piece of a shape is geometrically similar to the whole, both the shape and the cascade that generate it are called self-similar. This corresponds with the biological phenomenon described by Herman, Lindenmayer and Rozenberg 61]: In many growth processes of living organisms, especially of plants, regularly repeated appearances of certain multicel lular structures are readily noticeable. . . . In the case of a compound leaf, for instance, some of the lobes (or leaflets), which are parts of a leaf at an advanced stage, have the same shape as the whole leaf has at an earlier stage. Thus, self-similarity in plants is a result of developmental processes. Growth and By emphasizing the relationship between growth and form, this book form follows a long tradition in biology."
9780387972978 0387972978 Now available in an affordable softcover edition, this classic in Springer's acclaimed Virtual Laboratory series is the first comprehensive account of the computer simulation of plant development. 150 illustrations, one third of them in colour, vividly demonstrate the spectacular results of the algorithms used to model plant shapes and developmental processes. The latest in computer-generated images allow us to look at plants growing, self-replicating, responding to external factors and even mutating, without becoming entangled in the underlying mathematical formulae involved. The authors place particular emphasis on Lindenmayer systems - a notion conceived by one of the authors, Aristid Lindenmayer, and internationally recognised for its exceptional elegance in modelling biological phenomena. Nonetheless, the two authors take great care to present a survey of alternative methods for plant modelling., The Algorithmic Beauty of Plantsexplores mathematical models of developmental processes and structures of plants, and illustrates them using state-of-the-art computer-generated images. Plant models which grow, interact with the environment, produce flowers and fruits, and finally die, have an immense intuitive appeal of "bringing life into a computer." In front of a graphics monitor it is easy to forget the underlying mathematical formulae and simply look at plants growing, self-replicating, responding to external factors, even mutating. Without compromising the mathematical rigor of presentation the authors have tried to preserve this "touch of magic" accompanying in their research. The following areas receive particular attention: methods for the modeling and rendering of plants which are suitable for realistic image synthesis; the scientific potential of computer graphics in the visualization of biological structures and processes; the relationship between control mechanisms employed by li- ing plants and the resulting complex developmental sequences and structures; and the relationship between developmental processes, self-similarity and fractals. The formalism of L-systems are adopted as the primary mathematical vehicle used to express developmental processes. The notion of L-systems was conceived in 1968 by Aristid Lindenmayer as a formal model of plant development. Its exceptional elegance was promptly recognized by mathematicians, who soon developed a comprehensive theory of L-systems. However, only recently has computer graphics revealed the full potential of L-systems applied to plant modeling. Although the focus is on the original results of joint research led by the authors, a survey of alternative methods for plant modeling is also included., The beauty of plants has attracted the attention of mathematicians for Mathematics centuries. Conspicuous geometric features such as the bilateral sym and beauty metry of leaves, the rotational symmetry of flowers, and the helical arrangements of scales in pine cones have been studied most exten sively. This focus is reflected in a quotation from Weyl 159, page 3], "Beauty is bound up with symmetry. " This book explores two other factors that organize plant structures and therefore contribute to their beauty. The first is the elegance and relative simplicity of developmental algorithms, that is, the rules which describe plant development in time. The second is self-similarity, char acterized by Mandelbrot 95, page 34] as follows: When each piece of a shape is geometrically similar to the whole, both the shape and the cascade that generate it are called self-similar. This corresponds with the biological phenomenon described by Herman, Lindenmayer and Rozenberg 61]: In many growth processes of living organisms, especially of plants, regularly repeated appearances of certain multicel lular structures are readily noticeable. . . . In the case of a compound leaf, for instance, some of the lobes (or leaflets), which are parts of a leaf at an advanced stage, have the same shape as the whole leaf has at an earlier stage. Thus, self-similarity in plants is a result of developmental processes. Growth and By emphasizing the relationship between growth and form, this book form follows a long tradition in biology."