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The Algorithmic Beauty Of Plants by Prusinkiewicz & Recommended

ISBN: 0-387-97297-8 & 3-540-97297-81       Publisher: Springer-Verlag       Pages: 230pp       Price: £25

Categories:   artificial life or intelligence     algorithms     graphics

Reviewed by Alex Fiennes in C Vu 3-4 (May 1991)

The book is not written for use with any single language or compiler but instead refers to Lindenmayer systems (L-systems), a method of concisely specifying rewriting rules that enables very complex ideas to be set down in a very concise and simple way. Although there is no information on specific language implementation, the L-system specification is given in precise detail and an implementation of a basic bare-bones L-system compiler should not be out of reach of a competent programmer. All the graphics are handled using two or three dimensional turtle commands which are also easily adapted to fit into whatever compiler is being used. However, efficient compiler and display routines would take a bit more work and as most of the algorithms described produce very large amounts of data, speed is very important for all shapes apart from the most basic structures. Perhaps someone could write an optimised public domain compiler and graphical interpreter ?

So what sort of thing can be achieved using an L-system? The answer to this has to be almost anything. The book contains many photographs of computer generated trees which are almost indistinguishable from their natural counterparts, although obviously this sort of realism does depend on the amount of processing power available and quite a bit more than just L- systems. It is possible to come up with reasonable results running on a VGA which can give you a taste of what is possible but some prior knowledge of 3d graphics processing techniques is recommended.

The book is excellently written, with lots of examples and over 150 illustrations (including 48 colour plates). It starts off as quite easy reading but by the time it reaches sections on the simulation of internal balancing of cellular structures, the maths gets quite hairy in places, so I am unsure as exactly who the book is aimed at. However I think that this book is essential reading for anybody interested in computer graphics, fractals and "artificial life".