Cliff Pickover Book Sampler


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The following list does not include newer pickover books. Click here for a more complete list.
  1. Dreaming the Future: The Fantastic Story of Prediction, Prometheus Books, 2001. Amazon.Com

  2. Wonders of Numbers: Adventures in Math, Mind, and Meaning, Oxford University Press, 2000. Amazon.Com

  3. The Girl Who Gave Birth to Rabbits: A True Medical Mystery, Prometheus, 2000. Amazon.Com

  4. Cryptorunes: Codes and Secret Writing, Pomegranate, 2000. Amazon.Com

  5. Surfing Through Hyperspace: Understanding Higher Universes in Six Easy Lessons

  6. Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-513006-5. Amazon.Com
  7. The Science of Aliens. Basic Books, ISBN. 046507314X Amazon.Com

  8. TIME, A Traveler's Guide Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-512042-6. (On the physics of time travel, with practical applications.) Amazon.Com

  9. Strange Brains and Genius: The Secret Lives of Eccentric Scientists and Madmen Plenum, 1998. ISBN 0-306-45784-9. Amazon.Com

  10. Chaos and Fractals: A Computer Graphical Journey. Ten Year Compilation of Advanced Research. Elsevier: New York. ISBN 0-444-50002-2 Amazon.Com

  11. THE LOOM OF GOD: Mathematical Tapestries at the Edge of Time, Plenum, April, 1997. ISBN 0-306-45411-4. Hundreds of illustrations. Amazon.Com
  12. The Loom of God bridges the gulf that has so long divided mathematics and religion. In a blend of science, science fiction, history, and dazzling computer imagery, I help the reader understand mystical relationships between numbers, God, and the mathematical fabric of our universe. From the mysterious cult of Pythagoras, to the awesome mechanics of Stonehenge, to the fearsome gargoyles and glorious fractals created on the computer screens of today, I explain the power of numbers and their connection with the search for the ultimate meaning and Apocalypse of the universe.


  13. THE ALIEN IQ TEST, Basic Books, 1997. ISBN 0-465-00110-6. Amazon.Com
  14. The Alien IQ Test is an irresistibly addictive book for anyone whose juices flow when presented with baffling puzzles, and dizzying array of graphic brainteasers, all devised (if you dare to believe) by aliens who have arrived to assess our intelligence in such far-flung areas of the human mind as abstract reasoning, mathematics, religion, morality, and humanity's concept of beauty.


  15. FRACTAL HORIZONS: The Future Use of Fractals.St. Martin's Press, 1996. ISBN: 0-312-12599-2. Amazon.Com
  16. Fractal horizons is a practical guide to exploring the inexhaustible reservoir of magnificent shapes, images, and ideas associated with fractals. From art poster designs to educational tools, computer-generated fractals patterns' usage is booming. Fractal Horizons gives an account of the state of the art and speculates on advances in the future. Contributors explore the challenges of using fractals in education, art, music, fashion, chess, medicine, and more. Filled with beautiful images, an intriguing array of artistic and scientific topics, and computer/mathematical recipes, the book will appeal to anyone fascinated by unusual ideas and optically provocative art. Six broad sections: Fractals in Education, Fractals in Art, Fractal Models and Metaphors, Fractals in Music and Sound, Fractals in Medicine, and Fractals and Mathematics. Topics include: challenges of using fractals in the classroom, new ways of generating art and music, the use of fractals in clothing fashions of the future, fractal holograms, fractals in medicine, fractals in boardrooms of the future, fractals in chess.


  17. BLACK HOLES, A TRAVELER'S GUIDE, John Wiley, 1996. ISBN: 0-471-12580-6 Amazon.Com
  18. What if you could actually travel to the very edge of a black hole? What would it look like? How close could you get before you were "sucked in"? If you were, could you ever get back out? In Black Holes, A Traveler's Guide, you take off on a mind-boggling journey to the ultimate frontier of fact-based scientific speculation. The book's premise finds you the captain of a spaceship who, along with your first mate, probes the mysteries of the most interesting and elusive objects in the universe.


  19. KEYS TO INFINITY, John Wiley, (October, 1995) ISBN 0-471-11857-5, $24.95. Order from your local bookstore. Japanese translation by Morikita Shuppan. Chinese translation by Triumph Publishing, Republic of China. Amazon.Com
  20. What can we know about numbers too large to compute and even imagine? Do the tiny bubbles in the froth of a milkshake actually form an infinite fractal pattern? What are apocalyptic numbers and recursive worlds? These and dozens of equally beguiling mathematical mysteries, problems and paradoxes fill this mind-bending book.


  21. CHAOS IN WONDERLAND: Visual Adventures in a Fractal World ISBN 0-312-10743-9. (1994) Amazon.Com
  22. Chaos in Wonderland presents a creative blend of science fiction, mathematics, astronomy, and computer graphics to introduce you to chaos science -- the science behind many intricate and unpredictable patterns in mathematics and nature. To make your journey more interesting, the storyline describes the biology, sociology, and technology of creatures living on the moon of Jupiter. Their heads are composed of semiconductor materials that enable them to spend their days in contemplation of beautiful mathematical patterns created by chaos. Status in their society is determined by the beauty of their fractal dreams.


  23. MAZES FOR THE MIND: Computers and the Unexpected, Hardcover, color. 470 illustrations. $32.95 (1992). ISBN 0-312-08165-0. Paperback ISBN 0-312-10353-0, $19.95. Amazon.Com
  24. Mazes for the Mind takes you on a roller-coaster ride through the unpredictable and exciting universe of computers, games, puzzles, mazes and computer art. In chapters such as "My Computer Esophagus," "The Cro-Magnon Conquest Game," "Feminism and Fractals," and "Lava Lamps in the 21st Century," I cover topics dealing with strange music, the fourth dimension, time travel, strange technologies, and weird numbers.


  25. SPIDER LEGS (Blockbuster science-fiction novel with Piers Anthony) TOR, 1998. ISBN 0-312-86465.

  26. "The ultimate crustacean encounter. Strange things are born in the ocean's depths."
    "Pickover has collaborated on a novel with the prolific Piers Anthony, and the combination of Pickover's theory and Anthony's fantasy should yield an intellectual tour de force without precedent." - West Coast Review of Books
    "...Provocative scientific speculation and detail." - Publisher's Weekly.
    "Return with us now to the Sci-Fi days of yesteryear; with monsters from the deep, vacationing professors from prestigious institutions, damsels in distress, and science gone mad in an orgy of bloodshed terrorizing a Newfoundland fishing village! ...You'll definitely get a kick out of this." - SFRevu
    "Shades of Peter Benchley! Spectacular..." - BookPage Fiction Review Amazon.Com
  27. COMPUTERS AND THE IMAGINATION (Subtitled: Visual Adventures from Beyond the Edge) St. Martin's Press, 400 illus., color. 1991. ISBN 0-312-06131-5. Softcover, $19.95. Also published in Germany as Mit den Augen des Computers. ISBN 3-87791-323-7. 1992. Markt&Technik: Hans-Pinsel Strasse 2, D-8013 Haar bei Munchen, Germany. Published in the UK by Alan Sutton Pub. Amazon.Com
  28. In this book, I examine the manifold ways in which computers transform how we both perceive and understand the world around us. Computers and the Imagination includes a range of topics from artificial spider webs, to pain-inducing patterns, to comptuer- generated poetry. Along the way, I use the computer to gain new insights into the very origins of human creativity. The book includes: computer graphics, strange problems, and startling applications of computer science to art, music, poetry, science, and technology.


  29. COMPUTERS, PATTERN, CHAOS, AND BEAUTY (Subtitled: Graphics from an Unseen World) St. Martin's Press: NY. 1990. Softcover, $19.95. ISBN 0-312-06179-X. Hardcover, $29.95. ISBN 0-312-04123-3. Selected as "one of the best science books of 1990" by Library Journal. The book may be out-of-print in the U.S. soon, but Alan Sutton Publishing in the UK still distributes it. Address: Alan Sutton Pub., Phoenix Mill, Far Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK GL5 2BU. Tel (01453) 731114, FAX (01453) 731117. Japanese publisher: Hakuyo-Sha, 3 Niban-Cho, Chiyodo-ku, Tokyo 102, Japan. Amazon.Com
  30. Loaded with stunning computer-generated images, I attempt to reveal an entirely new way of seeing. Topics include: computers and creativity; lateral thinking; hidden patterns in nature, music, genetics and sounds; musical snowflakes, fractal speech, the Shroud of Turin, genesis fractals, biomorphs, chaos, synthesizing nature, cellular automata, ornamental patterns, symmetry, mathematics and beauty, and much more.


  31. SPIRAL SYMMETRY I. Hargittai and C. Pickover. (1992) World Scientific Publishing, Suite 1B, 1060 Main St, River Edge, New Jersey 07661. FAX: 201 487-9656, Tel: 201 487-9655 Toll free: 800 227-7562. Hardcover, $48.00. ISBN 981-02-0615-1. Amazon.Com
  32. From the tiny twisted DNA molecules in all living cells to gargantuan curling arms of many galaxies, the physical world contains a startling repetition of spiral patterns. This book presents aesthetically appealing and scientifically interesting patterns from a range of scientific, historical, and artistic realms. Topics include: spirals in nature, mythology, mathematics, art, history, literature, biology, physics, chemistry, botany, crystallography, astronomy, and fractal geometry.


  33. THE PATTERN BOOK: FRACTALS, ART, AND NATURE C. Pickover. (Summer 1995) World Scientific. ISBN 981-02-1426-X Amazon.Com
  34.  

    This book will allow you to travel through time and space. To facilitate your journey, I've scoured the four corners of the earth in a quest for unusual people and their fascinating patterns. From Mozambique, to Asia, to many European countries, the contributors to The Pattern Book include world-famous cancer researchers, little- known artists, and eclectic computer programmers. Some of the patterns are ultramodern, while others are centuries old. Many of the patterns are drawn from the universe of mathematics. Computer recipes are scattered throughout.


  35. VISIONS OF THE FUTURE: ART, TECHNOLOGY, AND COMPUTING IN THE NEXT CENTURY C. Pickover. St. Martin's Press, 1994. ISBN 0-312-12212-8. $16.95 (Softcover, 2nd edition) ISBN 0-312-08481-1. $29.95. (Hardcover) Also published in the UK by Science Reviews. Amazon.Com
  36.  

    Computers shape the way we think, imagine and remember. They expand our imagination, allow us to create amazing new art forms, and to dream of scientific problems never before thought possible. Visions of the Future suggests how twenty-first century computers and computer art will provide humankind with an unlimited landscape for exploration and unparalleled aid for the imagination. From weather prediction, to fractal mathematical art, to simulated golf, Visions of the Future shows how the line between art and science in the computer age is often indistinct. Other topics: science museums of the future, classrooms of the future, the future of computer art, fractals and genetics, and much more.


  37. FRONTIERS OF SCIENTIFIC VISUALIZATION C. Pickover and S. Tewksbury, Wiley, March 1, 1994. Topics: computer graphics, computer art, virtual reality, fractals, unusual graphics of genetic sequences, etc. $34.95. ISBN 0-471-30972-9 Orders: 1-800-Call-Wiley. Fax: 908-302-2300. Amazon.Com
  38.  

    Explore the art and science of making the unseen workings of nature visible. Fluid flow, fractals, plant growth, genetic sequencing, the configuration of distant galaxies, virtual reality, artistic inspiration... these are a few of the many unseen phenomena that can be made visible through the power of personal computers. This book explores the many ways in which computers are now used as tools for simulation, art and discovery.


  39. VISUALIZING BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION Pickover, C. World Scientific. (Fall 1995) ISBN 981-02-1427-8. Amazon.Com
  40.  

    Biological data of all kinds is proliferating at an incredible rate. If humans attempt to read such data in the form of numbers and letters, they will take in the information at a snail's pace. If the information is rendered graphically, however, human analysts can assimilate it and gain insight much faster. The emphasis of this book is on the novel graphical and musical representation of information- containing sequences, such as DNA and amino acid sequences, to help us find hidden pattern and meaning.


  41. FUTURE HEALTH: Computers and Medicine in the 21st Century St. Martin's Press, Nov 1995. ISBN 0-312-12602-6, cloth $23.95 Amazon.Com
  42.  

    This book considers the tremendous effect that computers will have on medicine in the next century. Topics include: the challenges of future medical schools in preparing physicians in the 21st century, the use of new medical imaging technologies, the use of electronic gophers to obtain medical information, digital dentistry, the use of artificial intelligence in medical diagnoses, futuristic operating rooms, computer conferences for medical consulting, the future of computers in pathology, robot surgeons, and more....


  43. THE BEST OF THE JOURNAL OF CHAOS AND GRAPHICS This newsletter has since evolved into a regularly appearing color section in the international Pergamon Press journal Computers and Graphics. I edit this section. Please send me your submissions. 
  44. Judging from what I already know of your personal interests,
    I think several of the following books would fascinate you:


    Return to Cliff Pickover's home page which includes the Wishing Project, computer art, educational puzzles, fractals, virtual caverns, JAVA/VRML, alien creatures, black hole artwork, and animations.