Customer Reviews

Fractal Creations

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A fascinating book that comes with a full-color poster, 3-D glasses, and a 5.25-inch diskette. Runs on any PC with at least 512KB memory and a floppy diskette drive. Over 70 fractal types in full color. Programming details in C. Also includes the FRACTINT factal processor that allows you to generate fractals, as well as manipulate, edit, and store them. You can even store your own fractal formulas. Lots of fun!

I initially saw this book at a thrift store, and reading through it found it to be really intriguing. I noticed in the back cover that it originally included a disk, so when I got home I ordered the book complete with disk from Amazon (for a lower price than the thrift store copy I might add!). Only after I received my order did I realize I'd been had (sort of) - the "disk" was there, but it is a 1980s-style FLOPPY disk! Personally, I haven't seen a computer you could use those type of disks in since about 1990, so I won't be getting much use out of it...Oh well.

Still the text is interesting, and it does offer some insights into what fractals are, but to be honest since 3/4 of the book is about using the FRACTINT program on the disk, it is pretty much useless. Unless you have a very old computer or an external 5.25 inch floppy drive (would one work with Windows XP or a MAC??). Something to keep in mind.

Fractint concept group is based on:
"The fable of the stone soup is about co-operation amid scarcity.
According to the story, some travellers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty pot. The travellers fill the pot with water and a large stone, and place it over a fire in the village square. Asked what they're doing, they reply that they are making "stone soup", and request a bit of garnish to improve the flavor. Additional villagers come by, each adding more ingredients. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all. "
The real problem here is that making it easy and fast and popular
may have seemed like a good idea,
but it has actually in the long run
driven people away from fractals?
It has acted to give credit and reputation to people who are less than
what one might call the fractal faithful or those who
love the mathematics and the meaning of it.
This one person who uses Fractint and a later program
much like it, who is really mathematically ignorant,
but who claims to be a "fractal artist" on the basis of the pictures.
So the pot of stone soup sold by this book has in the end
stolen from the real fractal science and given to
those with no love or respect for the mathematics or science?
And the book with a cover price of $34.95 is,
now, going used for less than 10 cents.
To be honest Fractint is a good program
and has gotten better with a 20th version,
and the book is pretty well written.