New Perspectives on Microsoft Office Word 2007 Comprehensive or The Computational Beauty of Nature

New Perspectives on Microsoft Office Word 2007, Comprehensive

Author: S Scott Zimmerman

Following the critical thinking, problem-solving approach of the New Perspectives Series learners will gain a comprehensive understanding of Microsoft Word 2007, including the new features of the software. The case-based tutorials challenge learners to apply what they are learning to real-life tasks, preparing them to easily transfer skills to new situations. With the New Perspectives Series approach, learners understand why they're learning what they're learning, and are better situated to retain skills.

Book about: Photoshop Elements 5 or The Incredible Hulk Official Strategy Guide

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

Author: Gary William Flak

Honorable Mention, 1998, category of Computer Science, Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc.

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.

Table of Contents:

	Preface
1	Introduction	1
I	Computation	9
2	Number Systems and Infinity	11
3	Computability and Incomputability	23
4	Postscript: Computation	51
II	Fractals	59
5	Self-Similarity and Fractal Geometry	61
6	L-Systems and Fractal Growth	77
7	Affine Transformation Fractals	93
8	The Mandelbrot Set and Julia Sets	111
9	Postscript: Fractals	129
III	Chaos	137
10	Nonlinear Dynamics in Simple Maps	139
11	Strange Attractors	159
12	Producer-Consumer Dynamics	181
13	Controlling Chaos	203
14	Postscript: Chaos	221
IV	Complex Systems	229
15	Cellular Automata	231
16	Autonomous Agents and Self-Organization	261
17	Competition and Cooperation	281
18	Natural and Analog Computation	307
19	Postscript: Complex Systems	327
V	Adaptation	337
20	Genetics and Evolution	339
21	Classifier Systems	361
22	Neural Networks and Learning	383
23	Postscript: Adaptation	415
	Epilogue	425
24	Duality and Dichotomy	427
	Source Code Notes	435
	Glossary	443
	Bibliography	469
	Index	483