The retina-searing graphics you see here (SIC) (ed. note - page 86 & 87 of Wired 1.2 and here in when the bandwidth supports it :-) were generated by Clifford A. Pickover, Ph.D., using an IBM Power Visualization System, self-designed shape-generating and rendering software, and what Pickover calls the "fisherman's approach" to scientific visualization.
"Sometimes I consider myself a fisherman," Pickover explains. "Computer programs and ideas are the hooks, rods, and reels. Computer pictures are the trophies and delicious meals. A fisherman does not always know what the waters will yield; however a fisherman may know where the fishing is good, where the waters are fertile, what type of bait to use. Often the specific catch is a surprise, and this is the enjoyment of the sport."
The themes for Pickover's graphics are born of his interest in biology, mathematics, and science fiction. (He received his Ph.D. from Yale University's Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry.) "Interestingly," says Pickover, "many mathematical formulas give rise to organic forms on their own. Consider how easy it is to generate a seashell form from a logarithmic spiral, or blood-vessel branching patterns from simple fractal equations. As Galileo said, 'Nature's great book is written in mathematical symbols.' "
"Some of my ideas come in dreams, others from chance meetings with people," Pickover says. "Randomness plays such a great role. However, I do think it is important for individuals to allow chance into their lives so they can grab what interests them from the random wisps and eddies around them, and create something novel, or pleasing, or entertaining, or mystically profound."
Pickover's most recent of three computer philosophy books, Mazes for the Mind: Computers and the Unexpected (St. Martin's Press, 1992), is a shocking, fascinating stroll through an infinite idea zoo, housing examples of "the beauty, adventure, and potential importance of creative thinking using computers." Besides authoring books and articles, and editing scientific graphics journals, Pickover is a research scientist for a large computer corporation, and has received several patents for novel computer input devices and display methodologies, including a 3-D computer mouse.
