This book is the first comprehensive volume on the computer simulation of plant development. It contains a full account of the algorithms used to model plant shapes and developmental processes, Lindenmayer systems in particular. With nearly 50 color plates, the spectacular results of the modelling are vividly illustrated. "This marvelous book will occupy an important place in the scientific literature." #Professor Heinz-Otto Peitgen# "The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants will perform a valuable service by popularizing this enlightening and bewitching form of mathematics." #Steven Levy# " ... the garden here is full of delights and an excellent introduction to L-systems, ..." #Alvy Ray Smith, IEEE Computer Graphics and its Applications#

Half a billion years of evolution have turned the eye into an unbelievable pattern detector. Everything we perceive comes in delightful multicolored forms. Now, in the age of science, we want to comprehend what and why we see.

Two dozen outstanding biologists, chemists, physicists, psychologists, computer scientists and mathematicians met at the Institut d'Hautes Etudes Scientifiques in Bures-sur-Yvette, France. They expounded their views on the physical, biological and physiological mechanisms creating the tapestry of patterns we see in molecules, plants, insects, seashells, and even the human brain. This volume comprises surveys of different aspects of pattern formation and recognition, and is aimed at the scientifically minded reader.