[Leonardo/ISAST Network] New Leonardo Book Release: Aesthetic Computing, edited by Paul Fishwick

[Leonardo/ISAST]

NOW AVAILABLE from the Leonardo Book Series and MIT Press

AESTHETIC COMPUTING, edited by Paul A. Fishwick

In Aesthetic Computing, key scholars and practitioners from art, design, 
computer science, and mathematics lay the foundations for a discipline 
that applies the theory and practice of art to computing. Aesthetic 
computing explores the way art and aesthetics can play a role in 
different areas of computer science. One of its goals is to modify 
computer science by the application of the wide range of definitions and 
categories normally associated with making art. For example, structures 
in computing might be represented using the style of Gaudi or the 
Bauhaus school. This goes beyond the usual definition of aesthetics in 
computing, which most often refers to the formal, abstract qualities of 
such structures--a beautiful proof, or an elegant diagram. The 
contributors to this book discuss the broader spectrum of 
aesthetics--from abstract qualities of symmetry and form to ideas of 
creative expression and pleasure--in the context of computer science. 
The assumption behind aesthetic computing is that the field of computing 
will be enriched if it embraces all of aesthetics. Human-computer 
interaction will benefit--"usability," for example, could refer to 
improving a user's emotional state--and new models of learning will emerge.

Aesthetic Computing approaches its subject from a variety of 
perspectives. After defining the field and placing it in its historical 
context, the book looks at art and design, mathematics and computing, 
and interface and interaction. Contributions range from essays on the 
art of visualization and "the poesy of programming" to a discussions of 
the aesthetics of mathematics throughout history and transparency and 
reflectivity in interface design.

Contributors:

James Alty, Olav W. Bertelsen, Jay David Bolter, Donna Cox, Stephan 
Diehl, Mark D'Inverno, Michele Emmer, Paul Fishwick, Monica Fleischmann, 
Ben Fry, Carsten Görg, Susanne Grabowski, Diane Gromala, Kenneth A. 
Huff, John Lee, Frederic Fol Leymarie, Michael Leyton, Jonas Löwgren, 
Laurent Mignonneau, Frieder Nake, Ray Paton, Jane Prophet, Aaron 
Quigley, Casey Reas, Christa Sommerer, Wolfgang Strauss, Noam 
Tractinksy, Paul Vickers, Dror Zmiri

Paul A. Fishwick is Professor of Computer and Information Sciences and 
Engineering at the University of Florida.

release date: May 2006
The MIT Press
A Leonardo Book
ISBN 0-262-06250-X. 488 pp., 201 illus.

To order this book and to learn more about other titles in the Leonardo 
Book Series please visit the Leonardo Book Series website at: 
http://lbs.mit.edu

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