The Library

Anyone interested in cellular automata has probably heard of this book. I actually bought it… but not to read (it’s unreadable b/c Wolfram praises himself on every page). I bought it as an artifact because of its huge size (requiring a special binding) and its typesetting—which was also apparently innovative.

Software engineer, creative coder, aspiring generative artist, fridgebuzz.tez/.eth

Coder, collector, cat dad.
Minted CryptoKitties in 2017.
Posting daily art appreciation casts of art from my collection.

TBH this is the only book I bought without intending to read it. (It had been ruthlessly mocked by mathematicians as solipsistic claptrap, so I figured it wasn’t worth it.) I did try, once. But the number of times the word “I” appears on each & every page was unbearable.

That's amazing, had forgotten it's possible to collect books with no intention to read them. Sounds like a heavy hobby though.

Artist and Book Publisher
www.objkt.com/@ryanthompson
www.ryanthompson.name

What’s special about the binding is simply that no hardcover book had ever been bound before at that size. Apparently only one company in western Canada had the technology to make the book. 🤷‍♀️ The typesetting thing refers to the hundreds of tiny, crisp diagrams, dozens per page. I need to find a reference.

I'm guilty of picking this book up at a thrift store and never reading a single page... I didn't notice a special binding or typesetting will have to look.

Collectionneur d’emotions ||
https://nftbiker.com

I’m not aware of anyone who’s read the book. I do believe that there’s an iPad version and a web version, which I *assume* have fewer unnecessary words and get more quickly to the point? Maybe that’s something I will check out.

I ordered this book 2 weeks ago, and still waiting for it. If it's not a good read, I will just look at the images then ;-)

Hosts /the-library — Moderates /gen-art /deca /newmasters
— Designs graphics + UI / Crafts code + technology / Collects art / Loves books / Builds community

I think what was being referred to was the amount of small text mixed with small diagrams like those shown on the page I posted. The diagrams in particular shouldn’t have been crisp at that size. There are hundreds of pages of notes like this. I’ll see if I can find a reference.

Thanks for sharing, Vanessa 🙏
20 $DEGEN 🫴🏋️‍♀️

Can you find an example for the innovative typesetting, that you mentioned? Would be interested…

Art and code since 1994. https://linktr.ee/mariuswatz