The NURBS Book (Monographs in Visual Communication)

Book Description

The second, revised edition of this book covers all aspects of non-uniform rational B-splines necessary to design geometry in a computer-aided environment. Basic B-spline features, curve and surface algorithms, and state-of-the-art geometry tools are all discussed. Detailed code for design algorithms and computational tricks are covered, too, in a lucid, easy-to-understand style, with a minimum of mathematics and using numerous worked examples. The book is a must for students, researchers, and implementors whose work involves the use of splines.

Customer Reviews:

Good reference for implementers who are familiar with NURBS.......2003-07-24

This book is best for those who have at least become familiar with Bezier and NURBS curves and surfaces and want to start implementing some programs.

The illustrations are not as clear as they could be so it may make it a little difficult for first-timers to understand. If you're unfamiliar with Bezier and NURBS curves then "Curves and Surfaces for CAGD" by Farin is probably a better place to start. But if you get Farin's book make sure to get the 5th edition since earlier editions aren't as clear.

With that said there is a wealth of information about creating and manipulating NURBS geometry in this book. All explanations are followed by code implementation. The code is a little difficult to understand at first, but if you stick with it you'll understand their coding style.

4 stars since thier layout and illustrations could be a lot clearer.

An Essential Foundation.......2002-08-07

I own many books on the subject of NURBS. I always come back to this one while programming NURBS and reading research papers. It provides a fantastic foundation. It is an older book, so don't expect recent research to be included. For those that also want to know how to do ray tracing with NURBS surfaces look here:

...

Good luck!

This is a definitely a math book, not a programming book !.......2000-05-23

This book is complete, but there is too many math formula. The composition is appr. 80% formula explanation, 10% sample and 10% algorithm. So if you are a programmer you are wasting 3/4 pages of the book. But, since there's no other book about NURBS, as complete as this, you may want to buy this one or else you can take a look "Mathematical Element for Computer Graphics". It also contains 300 pages of NURBS.

Excellent introduction to splines for the non-mathematician.......2000-02-12

One of the greates assets of this book is that it is fairly comprehensive while still using a minimum amount of mathematics. The style is lucid, easy to follow; the numerous C-like algorithms can be adapted to one's own use, and deal with the most important aspect of NURBS. This is easily the best introductory NURBS text. The only problem I see is the lack of discussion for ray-surface intersection tests, which are necessary if NURBS are to be rendered by raytracing. I recommend "The Nurbs Book" to any engineers and graphics professionals interested in curved surfaces.

Start Point.......1999-12-29

Before owning this book i cassified NURBS as kind of mathematical definitions of curves and surfaces. I was wrong, now it opened my mind so i develop new NURBS surfaces based on well described primitives. Twisting, blending, extruding is good starting point to develop surface definitions you exactly need. How about lofting shapes along branch like path curves?

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Great book, would recommend
Challenging practice, really helpful!
Network+ All-in-One Lab Manual
With 40 plus hands-on exercises
Good for the classroom or self study.

Network+ All-in-One Lab Manual
Catherine Creary
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0072195223

Book Description

Get hands-on practice for the Network+ exam with this lab manual, designed to complement the Network+ All-in-One Exam Guide. Inside, you'll find more than 50 hands-on exercises, step-by-step instructions, helpful photographs and illustrations, and study questions that reinforce key concepts.

Customer Reviews:

Great book, would recommend.......2005-09-13

I am the network admin for a company based in austin, tx and this book has been very good in helping teach our students material in the network field.

Great excercises and it'a written out very well so anyone with minimum experience could understand

Challenging practice, really helpful!.......2003-09-21

There are a lot of lab manuals out there and I am sure this is a best I've used. As a student, I wanted labs that would challenge me with problems just like those I'd find on the job. That's what I found here. It's a great book!

Network+ All-in-One Lab Manual.......2003-05-26

This lab manual is bad. Because the the person who wrote the lab manual I don't think has a clue what level of difficulty on the questions and situations ina real network should be. A lot of the questions where too advanced for the scope of the textbook was trying to get across. The textbook was great. Mike Meyers should have wrote the lab book like he did when he wrote the A+ Textbook and Lab Manual, those were great tools.

With 40 plus hands-on exercises.......2002-10-08

Catherine Creary's Network+ All-In-One Lab Manual is packed from cover to cover with 40 plus hands-on exercises focusing on networking concepts, along with step-by-step instructions. Inside, readers will find practical advice and detailed guidelines for working with major networking components, protocols, and connections.

Good for the classroom or self study........2002-03-19

Every so often certification exams are updated to meet the challenge of new and emerging technologies. Network+ is certainly no exception to this rule. Having taken the newest exam is it apparent that more than just reading the books you must also practice the concepts and this lab manual will help in that endeavor.

As a prefect companion to the All-In-One Network+ exam guide book, you have over 50 hands-on labs to help make the understanding of the exam objectives easier and more comprehensible.

Each lab has the exam objectives listed and are setup in a step by step format, along with the materials you'll need in order to complete the labs. Once completed there is a lesson wrap up to go over the major points in a review fashion.

Book Description

Written by a computer scientist for computer scientists, this book teaches topology from a computational point of view, and shows how to solve real problems that have topological aspects involving computers. Such problems arise in many areas, such as computer graphics, robotics, structural biology, and chemistry. The author starts from the basics of topology, assuming no prior exposure to the subject, and moves rapidly up to recent advances in the area, including topological persistence and hierarchical Morse complexes. Algorithms and data structures are presented when appropriate.

Download Description

The emerging field of computational topology utilizes theory from topology and the power of computing to solve problems in diverse fields. Recent applications include computer graphics, computer-aided design (CAD), and structural biology, all of which involve understanding the intrinsic shape of some real or abstract space. A primary goal of this book is to present basic concepts from topology and Morse theory to enable a non-specialist to grasp and participate in current research in computational topology. The author gives a self-contained presentation of the mathematical concepts from a computer scientist's point of view, combining point set topology, algebraic topology, group theory, differential manifolds, and Morse theory. He also presents some recent advances in the area, including topological persistence and hierarchical Morse complexes. Throughout, the focus is on computational challenges and on presenting algorithms and data structures when appropriate.

African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design

Average customer rating:

Connecting Africans ancient and modern
This book helps to render obsolete long-held myths.
An ingenious first, recognition of 'African' Maths.
An ingenious first, recognition of 'African' Maths.

African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design
Ron Eglash
Manufacturer: Rutgers University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0813526140

Product Description

African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design

Customer Reviews:

Connecting Africans ancient and modern.......2004-06-21

This is an amazing book! It clearly shows how many of the common things that people of African descent do have may scientific connections. Hair styles that are worn today by people of African descent, have been worn as far back to the ancient indigenous Africans known as the ancient Egyptians. So it really no surprise that there is mathematical and scientific knowledge being found today by scientist and scholars.

This book should be in every school and home in this country. I take that back, this book should be in every school globally.

Another scientific book that would make a great set for any school or home is, The African Unconscious. Written by Edward Bruce Bynum. You can find it here on Amazon.com.

This book helps to render obsolete long-held myths........1999-06-20

Ron Eglash's brilliant work on Afrikan fractals helps to shatter long-held myths and misconceptions about Afrikans, the most pervasive and pernicious of which is the notion of Afrikans (both on the Motherland and in the Diaspora) as inactive agents in history. This work motivated me to complete mine on chaos theory and Afrikan fractals. My longer reviews of Eglash's book appear in the Nexus Network Journal (vol. 2, 2000:165-168) and the Journal of Third World Studies (vol. xviii, no. 1, 2001:237-239), each reflecting the publication's genre and disciplinary focus. Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura is a researcher-in-residence at the Center for Global Peace and a professor of International Relations in the School of International Service at American University, and the director of The African Institution in Washington, DC. He is the author of 21 books and more than 200 scholarly articles.

An ingenious first, recognition of 'African' Maths........1999-06-07

This is a brilliant book. As an Architect, I was truly enlightened by the idea of the 'other' culture(s), having a valid scientific basis in fact. I was always told in Architectural school that the 'Africans',(including those in the diaspora) were a peoples without and writing systems, technological background and no culture. I'm glad to see evidence that this is not the truth. I thank the author for his contribution.

An ingenious first, recognition of 'African' Maths........1999-06-07

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Piecewise Linear Control Systems
Mikael K.-J. Johansson
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 3540441247

Book Description

This book presents a computational approach to the analysis of nonlinear and uncertain systems. The main focus is systems with piecewise linear dynamics. The class of piecewise linear systems examined has nonlinear, possibly discontinuous dynamics, and allows switching rules that incorporate memory and logic. These systems may exhibit astonishingly complex behaviors. Some aspects of the successful theory of linear systems and quadratic criteria are extended here to piecewise linear systems and piecewise quadratic criteria. The book also describes numerical procedures for assessing stability, computing induced gains, and solving optimal control problems for piecewise linear systems. These developments enable researchers to analyze a large and practically important class of control systems that are not easily dealt with when using other techniques.

Computational Geometry and Computer Graphics in C++

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A good start
Author's response
Embarassingly bad
clear book but you'll have to type the code.

Computational Geometry and Computer Graphics in C++
Michael J. Laszlo
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0132908425

Book Description

This book provides an accessible introduction to methods in computational geometry and computer graphics. It emphasizes the efficient object-oriented implemenation of geometric methods with useable C++ code for all methods discussed.

Customer Reviews:

A good start.......2001-08-04

This book is a short introduction of how the programming language C++ can be used to solve various problems in computational geometry. It is modest in its goals, and concentrates mostly on typical "bread-and-butter" topics that would be encountered by someone first encountering the field of computational and discrete geometry. Specialized topics in computational geometry and more modern techniques can then be found in the literature for interested readers who need a more comprehensive treatment.

The first three chapters introduce the reader to the notion of algorithms and data structures. The author uses the boundary-intersection problem to illustrate the main points of the chapter, such as algorithmic paradigms and abstract data types. Complexity measures for algorithms are discussed briefly, along with mathematical induction. The linked list data structures he discusses are very important in computational geometry, especially the pointer-based implementation.

In chapter 4, the author discusses the data structures that are needed for dealing with geometric structures in dimension 2 and 3. After a review of vector algebra he defines the point class and then the vertex class. The latter, along with the polygon class, is used to define polygons as a cycle of vertices which are stored in a circular doubly linked list. These are generalized to 3 dimensions where classes are given for points, triangles, and edges. The author then gives an algorithm for finding the intersection of a line and a triangle, which uses projection, and tests for degeneracy before projecting.

The next part of the book deals with applications of the algorithms, such as finding a star-shaped polygon in a finite set of points, finding the convex hull of a set of points, the decision problem for points inside polygons, the Cyrus-Beck and Sutherland-Hodgman algorithms for clipping geometric objects to convex polygons, and an O(nlogn) algorithm for triangulating a monotone polygon. The treatment is very understandable and should prepare the reader for more advanced reading (especially in computer graphics). The famous gift wrapping algorithm for finding the convex hull is given, along with the Graham scan algorithm. Issues more pertinent to computer graphics, such as rendering are discussed also. The hidden surface removal problem is solved via depth sorting. An algorithm is also given for finding the Delaunay triangulation. In addition, the author does a nice job of showing how to use plane-sweep algorithms for computational geometry problems in the plane. An interesting O((r + n)logn) time algorithm for finding the number r of pairs of n line segments in the plane that intersect. Voronoi diagrams are discussed also, which are extensively used in applications. The latter few chapters are more specialized than the rest of the book, and concentrate on divide and conquer algorithms and binary search trees.

Author's response.......2000-07-26

...The main objective of my book is to explore someideas that arebasic, interesting, and accessible, without attempting comprehensivetreatment. These objectives are stated clearly in the first paragraph of the book's preface. My intended audience are relative novices who need not have prior experience with algorithms, data structures, or linear algebra, and with only limited experience with C++. The book's intended audience is also clearly framed in my book's preface. Indeed, the objectives and target audience are also evident from the table of contents, which shows that the first half of the book is devoted to fundamentals (the design and analysis of algorithms, and basic data structures) that the typical graduate student, much less professional, would have mastered years earlier.

Are my references deficient because the papers it cites are no less than four years old (relative to the book's release date), and some even date to the 1970s? Most of the methods I present were devised years and even decades ago. I chose these methods to suit the book's purpose and audience; I chose methods that are basic, yet which a less sophisticated reader will find interesting and accessible. Similarly, I chose the book's references so they would be relevant to the book's content and useful to the reader.

The choice of what topics to present is always to some degree at the author's discretion, particularly in a book such as this which explores ideas without attempting comprehensive coverage. Critics can always be found who will take issue at the omission of this topic or the inclusion of that, or with how some topic is presented. But again, I chose the material with my book's objectives and audience in mind.

Relative to the expectations of a computational geometer or a graduate student, my book cannot compare to Preparata and Shamos', or to Mark deBerg's. Their audience doesn't require a book that spends half its time covering such fundamentals as algorithm analysis, lists and stacks, search trees, and elementary sorting and searching methods. Their audience would expect only the most limited coverage of these things, or no coverage at all. In contrast, given my book's target audience, to omit these topics would be to leave out the very background that the rest of the book not only requires, but that the intended reader likely lacks. Omitting such material would be a disservice to the intended reader. Likewise, to include certain more difficult topics which are the meat of these more advanced books would go well beyond the scope of my book, and to do this would also be a disservice to the intended reader. My book differs significantly from these other books in its objectives and its intended audience.

Embarassingly bad.......2000-07-14

Don't buy this book. It's a bad computer graphics book, a bad computational geometry book, and a bad C++ programming book.

Several fundamental concepts in computational geometry are screwed up or omitted entirely. For example, there is NO discussion of point-line duality, or of the duality between Delaunay triangulations and Voronoi diagrams, or of the simple connection between 2d Delaunay trianglations and 3d convex hulls. The simple primitive "Are these three points in clockwise order?" is explained using trig (compare angles) instead of linear algebra (compare slopes). [These may seem like technical trivia to novices, but that's why you buy books like this -- in the hopes that at least the technical trivia is done right!]

The book describes slow algorithms for problems such as Voronoi diagrams, when equally simple faster algortihms have been known for many years. Despite its 1996 publication date and the rapid development of the field, the book doesn't reference a single paper newer than 1990, and very few newer than 1980!

Inexcusably for a book with hunderds of lines of source code, the code isn't available online, on either the publisher's or the author's web site. For all we know, it doesn't even compile, much less work!

If you want to learn about computational geometry, this is NOT the book to buy. For programmers, Joe O'Rourke's "Computational Geometry in C" is much more readable, accurate, and up to date. For aspiring computational geometers, Mark de Berg et al's "Comptuational Geometry: Algorithms and Applications" is indispensible. Even the old standard by Preprata and Shamos, depite being 15 years out of date, is better than this one. Laszlo's book is just embarassing.

clear book but you'll have to type the code........1998-10-23

This is a clear book on an interesting subject. Computational geometry is a(nother) field where designing object oriented programs is so natural. Examples are clear, explanations also, with a good level of mathematical formalism.
I deplore however that source code is not provided with the book on disk or on the internet. You will have to type the code you want to test.
The paper of the cover is too thin to protect the book.

Computational Geometry: An Introduction Through Randomized Algorithms

Average customer rating:

Poor Textbook
very good if a little specialized

Computational Geometry: An Introduction Through Randomized Algorithms
Ketan Mulmuley
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0133363635

Customer Reviews:

Poor Textbook.......2003-10-25

This book is not suitable for beginners.It doesn't explain some important theorems and rules clearly,especially for "history" data structues , my classmates also can't understand how to implement it in detail ! All materials of this book seems uilding on auther's personal imaging !

very good if a little specialized.......1998-10-22

An in-depth look at randomized incremental algorithms in computational geometry. Since this appears to be the most successful and practical approach for classic problems like convex hull, Voronoi diagram and polygon triangulation, this would be a good book to own if you own just one. Especially if you are interested in theory.

Statistics and Analysis of Shapes (Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology)

Average customer rating:

just a start on the subject

Statistics and Analysis of Shapes (Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology)

Manufacturer: Birkhäuser Boston
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0817643761

Book Description

The subject of pattern analysis and recognition pervades many aspects of our daily lives, including user authentication in banking, object retrieval from databases in the consumer sector, and the omnipresent surveillance and security measures around sensitive areas. Shape analysis, a fundamental building block in many approaches to these applications, is also used in statistics, biomedical applications (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), and many other related disciplines.

With contributions from some of the leading experts and pioneers in the field, this self-contained, unified volume is the first comprehensive treatment of theory, methods, and algorithms, available in a single resource, without the typical quagmire of vast information scattered over a wide body of literature. Developments are discussed from a rapidly increasing number of research papers in diverse fields, including the mathematical and physical sciences, engineering, and medicine.

The initial chapters explore the statistical modeling of landmarks while subsequent chapters address the probabilistic modeling of entire shapes. The latter part of the book, with the exception of the last two chapters, concentrates on case studies as well as implementational and practical challenges in real systems. Extensive illustrations throughout help readers overcome the sometimes terse technical details of the geometric and probabilistic formalism. Knowledge of advanced calculus and basic statistics and probability theory are the only prerequisites for the reader.

Statistics and Analysis of Shapes will be an essential learning kit for statistical researchers, engineers, scientists, medical researchers, and students seeking a rapid introduction to the field. It may be used as a textbook for a graduate-level special topics course in statistics and signal/image analysis, or for an intensive short course on shape analysis and modeling. The state-of-the-art techniques presented will also be useful for experienced researchers and practitioners in academia and industry.

Customer Reviews:

just a start on the subject.......2006-09-25

Automated shape analysis is a difficult task, with many practical applications. The text is a collection of papers tackling the problem. Several use level set methods while others perform analysis in an infinite dimensional space. Some chapters deal with extracting level lines from a two dimensional image, while one chapter discusses the use of integral invariants for shape matching.

The maths treatment throughout the book is advanced. Perhaps best for a graduate student or higher. What may be striking to the reader is that our wetware pattern recognition is still so much better than the algorithmic methods documented here. Much research remains to be done, and the book is only an early step.

Advances in Computing Research: Issues in Robotics and Nonlinear Geometry : 1992 (Advances in Computing Research)

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Advances in Computing Research: Issues in Robotics and Nonlinear Geometry : 1992 (Advances in Computing Research)

Manufacturer: JAI Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Axioms and Hulls (Lecture Notes in Computer Science)

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Axioms and Hulls (Lecture Notes in Computer Science)
D.E. Knuth
Manufacturer: Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K
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Book Description

One way to advance the science of computational geometry is to make a comprehensive study of fundamental operations that are used in many different algorithms. This monograph attempts such an investigation in the case of two basic predicates: the counterclockwise relation pqr, which states that the circle through points (p, q, r) is traversed counterclockwise when we encounter the points in cyclic order p, q, r, p,...; and the incircle relation pqrs, which states that s lies inside that circle if pqr is true, or outside that circle if pqr is false. The author, Donald Knuth, is one of the greatest computer scientists of our time. A few years ago, he and some of his students were looking at a map that pinpointed the locations of about 100 cities. They asked, "Which of these cities are neighbors of each other?" They knew intuitively that some pairs of cities were neighbors and some were not; they wanted to find a formal mathematical characterization that would match their intuition. This monograph is the result.

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