#What is Chaos?
2 messages in this thread
I'll admit right at the outset, that I've seen -but not read- Gleick's
book. And that frames my question fairly well….
My first exposure to "Chaos, the Software" was an ad in "Discover"
magazine. The illustration accompanying the ad appeared to be a group of
ray-traced orbs circling a larger orb, all with mandelbrot set fractal
surface mapping. I'm a ray-tracer, and a fractal-landscaper, and this
looked pretty nifty.
My second exposure came in CIS' monthly magazine, and led to my third:
downloading the .GIFs mentioned there.
Now I'm confused. The .GIF's I got look like FRACTINT output. So, is
Chaos just another fractal-painter (with maybe a better frontend)? Or is
it more? How much more? (Yeah, I know, 60 bux more.) I snagged a copy of
CRATERS (the code that didn't make the cut), and found that intriguing for
about 15 minutes or so — is Chaos better than this? How much better?
I'll make a deal: give me an honest answer to what Chaos is/does, and I'll
buy/read the book. Fair?
Is a Persistance of Vision/Vivid RayTracer, and FractInt Dabbler going to
find value in Chaos?
Thanks, Tom.
Tom:
CHAOS: The Software comprises six modules for exploring some of the examples
of chaos theory which James Gleick described in his book. The modules cover
Mandelbrot (and related) sets, magnets and pendula, strange attractors like
the butterfly-shaped Lorenz attractor, IFS fractals that generate ferns and
other interesting shapes, "fractal forgeries" of landscapes and planets,
and cellular automata.
All the modules share a VGA-mode graphical interface which is most
conveniently navigated with a mouse. They're fairly easy to play around
with, yet quite "tweakable" for those who want to explore more deeply.
I've used both CHAOS and FRACTINT a bit, and I like 'em both.
I've also read CHAOS: The Book twice, and enjoyed it immensely both times.
Haven't seen CHAOS: The Movie yet, though <g>.
– Mark M.