Product Profile
VISUALIZATION OF NATURAL PHENOMENA

Authors:   Robert  S. Wolff and Larry Yaeger
Title: Visualization of Natural Phenomena
Electronic Component:  CD-ROM disk on Macintosh platform
Estimated Price:   $49.95
ISBN:  0-387-97809-7
Projected Bound Book Date: December 1, 1992
Length:    320 pages
Trim Size: 8 1/2 x 11
 
Special Features:
 
o  Integrated book/CD-ROM package achieved through the use of icons and
cross-referencing
o  Approximately 150 full-color images in book, plus 50 black and white
illustrations
o  Use of a second color throughout the book for chapter openers, running heads
boxes and shadings
o  Macintosh CD-ROM prepared with Apple Computer's multimedia software,
Quicktime
o  Technical Notes, containing more technical and algorithmic discussions, are
included in a special section at the end of the book and on CD-ROM in the the
form of Mathematica Notebooks
o  Glossary of Terms
o  Very competitively priced
o  Author expertise and name recognition
o  Special Appendix describes how the manuscript and CD-ROM were produced by th
authors
 
Primary Market:
 
Broad range of computer professionals, scientists, researchers, teachers, and
students. Some adoption potential in computer science and other curricula where
graphics courses are taught.
 
Book Information:
 
The book segment of this project has essentially three parts: visualization,
imagery (graphics), basic principles of scientific visualization (text), and
practical information on the use of various powerful visualization analysis and
image processing software, such as Mathematica, IDL, Spyglass Transfer and
Dicer, Photoshop, Voxelview,
Wayfront Visualizer, and Electric Image. Images will be drawn from a variety of
sources, including NCSA (National Center for Supercomputer Applications) in
Champaign, Illinois, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California,
Apple Computer, Inc., major film and television visualization research
companies, along with other sources across the globe.
 
Noteworthy book design features, in addition to the visuals and the use of a
second color, include icons with interstitial materials to indicate to the
reader the bridges between the book and the CD-ROM.
The book will consist of a preface, an introduction, seven chapters, a guide to
references, a glossary, index, and an appendix describing how the CD-ROM was
produced. In addition, there will be forewords contributed by David Nagel,
Senior Vice President of Technology at Apple Computer, Inc., and Larry Smarr,
Director of the National Center for Supercomputer Applications.
 
The entire book is produced on Apple Macintosh computers, while the CD-ROM is
done in HMS Macintosh format. The CD has Quicktime Supercard Interface, with
animations in Quicktime format, and sound. There are Mathematica Notebooks and
inclusion of Wolfram Research Inc.'s Mathreader (2.1 Version). This combination
book/CD-ROM project enables creation of a scientific visualization package more
powerful and unique than anything produced to date!
 
Author Information:
 
Robert S. Wolff is a Senior Research Scientist with the Advanced Technology
Group at Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, California. He was previously a
research scientist in planetary astronomy with the NASA/Cal Tech JPL in
Pasadena, California. Rob Wolff has worked on a number of planet missions,
including Voyager, Galileo and Pioneer Venus. Besides being an active member of
SIGGRAPH, Wolff is the Visualization Editor for Computers in Physics  magazine,
published by the American Institute of Physics, as well as a contributing
Editorial Board Member for the Mathematica Journal, published by Miller
Freeman. He has also written science fiction books, and in 1989 produced the
Apple Science CD, Volume I.
 
Larry Yaeger is a Principal Engineer with the Advanced Technology Group at
Apple Computer, Inc. His background includes computational fluid dynamics,
computer graphics imaging and neural network research. He was Director of
Software Development at Digital Productions and one of the principle architects
of their computer graphics rendering software. He also combined fluid dynamics
and computer graphics to create the simulation of the planet Jupiter seen in
the film "2010," and technically directed the special effects creation of the
opening title sequence of the film, "Labyrinth." While working at Apple for
Alan Kay's Vivarium Program, he designed neural network simulators, wrote
software to give Koko the gorilla a "voice," and built and filmed a
proof-of-concept system for integrating Macintosh graphics into routine film
production for "Star Trek: The Next Generation." He is currently working on
character recognition for pen-based microcomputers and combining computer
graphics, neural networks and genetic algorithms to study artificial life and
artificial intelligence.
 
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Images and Image Processing
Chapter 2: Imaging Numbers
Chapter 3: Through Canyons and Planets
Chapter 4: Visualization of MultiVariate Systems
Chapter 5: Volume Visualization
Chapter 6: Modeling, Animation and Rendering
Chapter 7: Visualization for Film and Television
Glossary of Terms
Appendix:  How This Book and CD-Rom Were Produced