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CELLULAR AUTOMATA
A Discrete Universe
by Andrew Ilachinski (Center for Naval Analyses, USA)
"Every once in a while a book comes along that elegantly represents an entire field. CELLULAR AUTOMATA — A Discrete Universe, by Andrew Ilachinki, a book that functions beautifully on many levels, offers such a definitive text. First of all it serves as a delightful introduction to a fascinating subject, providing all the mathematics needed to appreciate the field. Ilachinski's explanations are refreshingly clear and simple. Secondly, it offers a comprehensive sourcebook, allowing researchers the luxury of being able to look up the progress made in exploring virtually any aspect or type of automata. For this field, such a source is especially important, since the journals that contain pivotal articles are not always available in every library. Ilachinski's organization is superb, with diagrams present in just the right moments. Finally, the book provides an interesting speculative work, offering valuable philosophical insight about the question: might the universe itself be a cellular automata, functioning on its most basic level as a simple computer using basic rules to process a series of bits? In summary, I would highly recommend this book to students, researchers, and anything who wonders about the underlying nature of the world itself."
Paul Halpern
Professor of Mathematics and Physics
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
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