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Wolfram's NKS now 100% online for free

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I'm a big fan of Wolfram's work in "A New Kind Of Science". Of course, I don't pretend to understand anything he's saying, but I do love the pretty pictures...

Anyways... he's released the entire contents of the book online. Not only is the book up there, but each section is linked to downloadable programs which demonstrate the principles in the chapter.

Scanning this again this morning reminded me of his "Principle of Computational Equivalence", which basically suggests that all processes that are not obviously simple can be viewed as computations of equivalent sophistication. There is a certain simplicity and beauty in his message. What if the entire apparent complexity of the-universe-as-we-perceive-it could emanate from an extremely simple rule?

Source: /.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    February 10, 2004
    haven't had much time to get into NKS but absolutely love 'Mathematica'.. used it a lot during my grad days..
  • Anonymous
    February 10, 2004
    Is NKS as accessible as Hawking's A Brief History of Time or Sagan's Cosmos? I have read both of those and readily enjoyed them. Based on your comment "Of course, I don't pretend to understand anything he's saying" I'm worried NKS might not be as "lay person"-friendly as Hawking's or Sagan's works. Is this a true concern, or said merely in jest? :-) Thanks.
  • Anonymous
    February 10, 2004
    I took mathematica for my math classes at UIUC, which is a couple of miles away from Wolfram. The manager of the math department had apparently known Stephen Wolfram for a long time, and I'll always remember one of the questions on an exam (written by said manager), about how Stephen Wolfram was a Romulan. I can't remember exactly how it related to math though :-) I loved that class.
  • Anonymous
    February 10, 2004
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    February 10, 2004
    A little post to get my link "above the fold" <LOL>. The comment layout needs a little work Cameron.
  • Anonymous
    February 10, 2004
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    February 10, 2004
    Scott - great comments, would love to hear more about what you know about CA. Will look at your site ASAP.

    In the meantime, I didn't understand specifically what you meant by "the comment layout needs a little work". Can you expand? And I'll try to amend the situation.

    Finally, in defense of Wolfram, didn't he go to lengths in the book to state that, although others had worked on CA before him, he believed he was the first to extend the scope of the approach to pretty much everything?
  • Anonymous
    February 10, 2004
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    February 10, 2004
    The comment has been removed