The computer image: applications of computer graphics. (book reviews) Stephen Gray.

The Computer Image: Applications of Computer Graphics

This handsome book presents an instructive overview, then examines seven applications of computer graphics, with 38 color pages of examples of computer art, animated films, synthetic landscapes, molecule models, computer-aided design, remote sensing, and astronomy.

A chapter on color discusses its importance in graphics, followed by a chapter on computer-aided business graphics. The last chapter, Polaroid Instant Photography in the Computer Graphics Camera, acknowledges Polaroid's contribution to the state of the art, and is an obligatory bow to the sponsor.

This isn't a textbook: the 38 pages of examples contain no text beyond brief titles and attributions. It is more of a coffee table book, to be dipped into for pleasure. It is a time capsule, defining and capturing the state of the art of computer graphics at a particular instant.

Review Grade: B