UD0PALDU@NDSUVM1.BITNET (DAVE UHERKA) (02/13/90)
A few weeks ago, Cliff Pickover mentioned a book of patterns he is
putting together. I'm sure this would not qualify for the book but
it is interesting anyway. It was mentioned by Gil Strang of MIT, author
of many books and articles on applied math, at the end of his talk at
a calculus session at the annual Math Society / Association meetings
in Louisville in Jan., 1990. He said a friend gave it to him the
previous day. It is simply this: Graph the equation y=sin(x) where
x takes on integer values 0,1,2,...,10000. At first thought one might
expect a random mess on the graphics screen, but that isn't what you get.
Then try graphing y=sin(x) for x=0,1,2,...,1000. The result is different
but still interesting.
My True BASIC program for plotting the graph is very long and complicated
but I will show it to you anyway:
set mode "egahires" !Set screen resolution
set window 0,20000, -1.5,1.5 !World coordinate window: x1,x2,y1,y2
for n = 0 to 10000
plot n,sin(n)
next n
end
When you use "n=0 to 1000" change the window statement appropriately.
The results are not too fractally but are interesting anyway. Please forgive
the misleading subject title of this note. I couldn't resist the pun.
Dave Uherka, Math. Dept., Univ. of ND